Computer Virus Attack !

WannaCry

In May 2017, WannaCry, the latest global hacking took control of computers and demanded digital ransom. WannaCry is a ransomware virus that took advantage of Microsoft computer operating systems vulnerability, the virus held computers hostage until the user meets the demands. Once a Windows computer is infected, the virus encrypts files on the PC’s hard drive, then demands a ransom payment. The attack affected major companies, Government offices, oil companies, and banks in over 99 countries. Prominent victims of the attack were the National Health Service (NHS) located in the U.K which disrupted operations causing patients to go to other facilities, Spain’s telecom company Telefonica, U.S based FedEx located in South America, Germany, Russia, and Taiwan. WannaCry was caused by North Korea using cyber tools stolen from the National Security Agency in the United States. The attack exposed shortcomings in governments as well as business around the world it shows cybersecurity can exploit malicious software. While no set of defenses that guarantee to withstand a cyberattack there are ways to reduce the risk. Organizations should better manage their computers firewall, increase their cyber-security and remove vulnerabilities like this to prevent future attacks. Microsoft has also taken steps to protect users against threats by releasing updates to current and past systems which removes the flaw.

Mirai

In September 2016, Mirai creates headlines by launching some of the most powerful and disruptive DDoS attacks. A DDoS botnet attack was unleashed in network devices running on Linux exploiting the weak security on many IoT devices by bombarding a server with traffic until it collapses. Attacks from Mirai are much larger than most DDoS attacks because Mirai is made up of “internet of things” (IoT) devices such as cameras and DVR players. The Mirai creators have admitted to creating, operating, selling the botnet to other cyber criminals, and responsible for the hijack of many devices. The massive attack set its major target on Dyn an internet management company in which caused some users to experience slight delays, the company also provides services to

twitter, Netflix, Reddit, and Pinterest. The cyberattack brought down much of America’s internet and is likely the largest DDoS attack in history in which amassed more than 300,000 devices, exploiting victims for money and click fraud advertising. Mirai devices that become infected can be cleaned by restarting them unless the default credentials are changed the vulnerable device can become re-infected with a matter of minutes going back online. To protect a device and prevent them from becoming infected such as doing research on the capabilities and security features of an IoT device, change default credentials, disable features and services that are not required, regularly check the manufactures website for firmware updates, and disable Telnet login and use SSH where possible.