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Last Friday, a cyber attack disrupted IT services worldwide. It affected around 48 NHS trusts in the United Kingdom and also affected global delivery company FedEx . In total, the virus has believed to have led to around 57,000 infections in 99 countries.
The cyber attack was a specific type of ransomware called WannaCry. Ransomware is a computer virus that encrypts files on computers and for people to decrypt these files and gain access to them again, they have to send money (a ransom) to the hackers.
Cyber security experts have advised against not paying the ransom as there is not a guarantee that the files will be decrypted. The user is then often placed on a list that states they have paid for ransomware before and is then targeted in the future.
The specific ransomware virus, WannaCry exploits a specific vulnerability in Microsoft which released a software patch to fix it in March. Although this happened, many users didn’t install the updates in their computers and this is how the hackers were able to encrypt the computers.
In the UK, around 80% of cyber attacks can be prevented by taking out a cyber essentials course that is backed by the government. The cyber backed security certification scheme sets out a good baseline of cyber security suitable for all businesses in all sectors. Take a look at the certification here.
A step by step guide
If you or anyone you know has been affected by this, the National Cyber security centre has a step by step guide here on how to help. Click here for this step by step guide.
If you’re looking for cyber liability insurance then click here to find out more about what Todd and Cue can do for you. You can also call our team on 0191 482 0050 or email info@toddcue.com.
