Posted on 05/13/2017 10:11:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The so-called WannaCry virus once again placed the cyberactivities of the U.S. National Security Agency in a global controversy. Experts criticized the spy agency for not only developing a dangerous tool to exploit a vulnerability in Windows computers, but also letting it fall into the hands of criminals.
...
After surfacing Friday, the attack continued to gather momentum.
“I don’t see how it’s going to end,” said Phil Lieberman, president of Lieberman Software. “There’s this list of problems with security that have gone on for the last 10 or 15 years that weren’t fixed and that people didn’t take seriously. And now the bill is coming due.”
By Saturday evening in Europe, the cybersecurity firm Avast was reporting that it had recorded a “massive peak” of WannaCry attacks, bringing the total to 126,000 computers in 104 countries.
Although no corner of the globe seemed immune, Europe initially appeared to be hardest hit, particularly the United Kingdom, where the National Health Service suffered an attack on 48 centers.
The NHS was particularly vulnerable because so many of its systems ran on Windows XP, a version of the operating system Microsoft stopped supporting years ago.
“The widespread nature of this attack suggests that organizations are still slow to patch significant vulnerabilities like the one currently being associated with this event,” said Travis Farral, director of security strategy at the cybersecurity firm Anomali.
Microsoft took the extraordinary step of issuing software patches this weekend for old versions of Windows, such as XP.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Lot of folks not patching I guess.
Im too lazy tonight to create a new thread or even check to see if this has been posted or not... but I just read it and it related to yours...
‘Accidental hero’ halts ransomware attack and warns: this is not over
I read his blog last night, and he said they can just take the kill switch out, and use it that way. That may be what is happening today.
People just need to keep their updates current and not click on any file or link that you aren’t 100% sure of. I’ve been getting lots of spam emails from banks claiming my account has been blocked the last couple of days, but it stopped today. It makes me wonder if that may have been related. More like a phishing scheme.
Keeping all your files backed up is another good safeguard, but they can still slow down a business considerably.
>Lot of folks not patching I guess.
Lots of morons not thinking before they “click” on that wich lands in their domain. Idiocy, dogma and moranic ability will prevail until humans wise up.
Just what the truth is I can’t say anymore ...
Lot of folks not patching I guess.
It has, but a mediocre coder can change the source code and re-release in literally minutes. It just slowed the spread a bit. Everything out there is not spreading, but I guarantee a new version without the kill switch has been released by now.
It is literally e-Ebola.
Saturday it was squelched by a guy in Britain. While the times may have written the story before they heard...,this is no longer true.
IF you check out Drudge you would know that.
Old stale news
IF the kill switch is removed then the people sending it lose total control....that is not what they want
Diligent use of NoScript will save a lot of people a lot of grief. Even “reputable” sites can serve up malware.
NoScript - - good way to go!
All it takes is one dumba$$ to click a link in an email and the whole company goes down.
Try telling that to that bumpkins running the show out in Nowhere, Kansas where I used to work.
(yes, I’ve told the story a few times, lol)
Only if the “victim” deliberately French kisses the virus.
There are dozens of ransomware programs in the e-universe.
Just don't download attachments from strangers or click on websites you haven't heard about before.
And install some good security software.
McAfee scans every attachment before I open it for the first time, and it disables every email link that connects to a suspicious website (you have to manually re-enable the link if you know the website is safe).
I had no idea that I had accounts as Wells, Chase, etc...
I wouldn’t pay these sob’s a dime. Anything on my computer that is important is already backed up offline. I would throw this machine in the trash and buy another one before I’d pay a nickle to some should be dead scumbag hacker.
Phishing and spear-phishing represent the majority of malicious exploit distributions around the world today. Despite being “shouted down” by other FReepers calling me a Microsoft fanboi, which I freely admit I am, Microsoft isn’t the problem here. This is a user education issue.
If you choose to use Microsoft products, following their guidance on keeping your system protections current. Use the Windows firewall, Windows Defender, and keep UAC (User Account Control) turned on. Review your system settings under Control Panel, and search the Internet for anything you might need to know more about.
Otherwise, go buy a Mac or learn Linux. Microsoft isn’t the most exploited OS on the market because it’s unsafe. They’re the most exploited OS on the market because they have the biggest market share. Microsoft is the second largest IT security company in the world by investment. They’ve dumped over US$1B into security in the last year. Hate them if you want. They’re not going anywhere.
I was getting the same emails for the last few days and they also suddenly stopped.
I knew it was crap
For people that are STILL using XP, which MS long ago stopped supporting because it is so old. It's kinda like thinking the "3 second rule" of eating dropped food works in a subway bathroom.😝
They already got me.
Thought I had the best anti virus!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.