Don’t Cry, Even If You WannaCry

Don’t Cry, Even If You WannaCry



It’s been an interesting week in the world of cyber security as we’ve watched the WannaCry ransomware outbreak burst into mainstream attention. All Crucial clients with Windows services have been notified and hand-checked by our SysAdmin team.

WE STRONGLY URGE ALL CUSTOMERS USING WINDOWS COMPUTERS AT HOME TO ENSURE THEIR SYSTEM IS UP TO DATE.

This particular vulnerability was patched by Microsoft in March 2017, which they provided via Windows Updates. If your computer is completely up to date, there should be no cause for concern.

WannaCry can stop you from using any affected Windows Desktop PC or Windows Server, or prevent you from accessing your data. It has worm-like characteristics and targets PCs which do not have the latest security updates. Typically, ransomware is defined as: “a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.”

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

  • Do not open attachments in emails which are unsolicited.
  • Ensure that any Windows computers (Servers and Desktop computers) are completely up to date.
  • You can mitigate the risk of being infected by not exposing protocols such as SMB to untrusted networks including the Internet.
  • If your system has been infected, we recommend restoring from your most recent backups and then report the cyber security incident to the Australian Government Cyber Security Centre: https://www.acsc.gov.au/incident.html