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Month: May 2017
Massive Ransomeware Hits 74 Countries
(CNN):Â Security firm Kaspersky Lab has recorded more than 45,000 attacks in 74 countries in the past 10 hours. Most of the attacks have targeted Russia.
What is it?
The ransomware, called "WannaCry," locks down all the files on an infected computer and asks the computer's administrator to pay in order to regain control of them. Researchers say it is spreading through a Microsoft Windows exploit called "EternalBlue," which Microsoft released a patch for in March. A hacking group leaked the exploit in a trove of other NSA spy tools last month.
"Affected machines have six hours to pay up and every few hours the ransom goes up," said Kurt Baumgartner, the principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab. "Most folks that have paid up appear to have paid the initial $300 in the first few hours."
Sixteen National Health Service (NHS) organizations in the UK have been hit, and some of thosehospitals have canceled outpatient appointments and told people to avoid emergency departments if possible. Spanish telecom company Telefónica was also hit with the ransomware.
Spanish authorities confirmed the ransomware is spreading through the EternalBlue vulnerability and advised people to patch.
"It is going to spread far and wide within the internal systems of organizations -- this is turning into the biggest cybersecurity incident I've ever seen," UK-based security architect Kevin Beaumont said.
Kaspersky Lab says although the WannaCry ransomware can infect computers even without the vulnerability, EternalBlue is "the most significant factor" in the global outbreak.
How to prevent it
Beaumont examined a sample of the ransomware used to target NHS and confirmed it was the same used to target Telefónica. He said companies can apply the patch released in March to all systems to prevent WannaCry infections. Although it won't do any good for machines that have already been hit.
He said it's likely the ransomware will spread to U.S. firms too. The ransomware is automatically scanning for computers it can infect whenever it loads itself onto a new machine. It can infect other computers on the same wireless network.
"It has a 'hunter' module, which seeks out PCs on internal networks," Beaumont said. "So, for example, if your laptop is infected and you went to a coffee shop, it would spread to PCs at the coffee shop. From there, to other companies."
According to Matthew Hickey, founder of the security firm Hacker House, Friday's attack is not surprising, and it shows many organizations do not apply updates in a timely fashion. When CNNTech first reported the Microsoft vulnerabilities leaked in April, Hickey said they were the "most damaging" he'd seen in several years, and warned that businesses would be most at risk.
Consumers who have up-to-date software are protected from this ransomware. Here's how to turn automatic updates on.
It's not the first time hackers have used the leaked NSA tools to infect computers. Soon after the leak, hackers infected thousands of vulnerable machines with a backdoor called DOUBLEPULSAR.
Microsoft Copies Apple (again): Introduces “Night Light” for Windows 10 PCs
Well, Microsoft has their photo copiers going as they introduced a new 'feature' with the latest update to Windows 10 - called Night Light.
According to information from Microsoft:
Did you know that with the Windows 10 Creators Update, you can now lower the amount of blue light emitted from your PC at night with Night light?
By reducing the blue light emitted by your screen, the Night light feature helps you sleep better. With Night light, when you’re working late, your brain is better ready to power down for a good night’s sleep. Smartphone users love this feature and now, it’s coming to Windows 10 with the Creators Update.
For more information about "Night Light", click here.
Large scale Cyber-Attack Cripples United Kingdom Hospitals
An update to this story can be found here.
LONDON (CNN) - Hospitals in the UK were crippled by a "large-scale" cyber attack on Friday that forced operations to be canceled and ambulances to be diverted.
Health workers reported being locked out of their systems and seeing messages demanding ransom payment to regain access. NHS England described the incident as a "ransomware" attack.
At least 16 organizations connected to the National Health Service (NHS) in England reported being affected. "The investigation is at an early stage but we believe the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor," NHS Digital said in a statement.
"At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed. We will continue to work with affected organisations to confirm this."
NHS Digital said it was working with the government's National Cyber Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England to help the organizations affected "to manage the incident swiftly and decisively." It said the attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS.
Barts Health NHS Trust in London said on its website it was "experiencing a major IT disruption and there are delays at all of our hospitals."
The problem is also affecting the switchboard at Newham hospital, Barts said.
The East and North Hertfordshire Trust also said it was "experiencing significant problems with our telephone network," in an online statement.
Another NHS Trust in Derbyshire tweeted: "We are aware of a major IT secure system attack. All IT systems have been temporarily shut down. More information will be available shortly."
