Ransomware Attack 2017 : How to Prevent Your PC

One estimate put it as high as a billion dollars, but till Saturday, some $33,000 had been paid into the several bitcoin accounts associated with the ransomware, according to Elliptic, a company that tracks online financial transactions involving virtual currencies

Cyber attack in Australia 2017: Business hit by ransomware

MICROSOFT has responded to the global cyber attack that’s compromised hundreds of thousands, pointing the finger at a big “problem” in the US. http://www.news.com.au

LIKE HAVING TOMAHAWK MISSILES STOLEN

UK HOSPITALS HIT HARD BY ATTACK 

Who got hurt by the ransomware attack says money.cnn.com

Hospitals, companies, universities and governments across at least 150 countries were hounded by a cyberattack that locked computers and demanded ransom.

It's one of the largest attacks ever carried out. The attack hit more than 200,000 victims, according to Europol. That number has grown since Friday, when attacks were first reported.

Global Companies

FedEx: The company said it was "experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware" and was trying to fix the problems as quickly as possible.

Nissan: The carmaker said in a statement that "some Nissan entities were recently targeted" but "there has been no major impact on our business." 

China

Colleges: Internet security firm Qihoo360 issued a "red alert" over the weekend, saying a large number of colleges and students in China had been hit by the ransomware attack.

Gas stations: State-run media in China reported that some gas stations saw their digital payment systems shut down, forcing customers to bring cash. 

Germany

Deutsche Bahn: The German railway company told CNNMoney that due to the attack "passenger information displays in some stations were inoperative" as were "some ticket machines." 

Russia

Russian Central Bank: State media agency Tass reported the bank discovered malware bulk emails to banks but detected no compromise of resources. The central bank reportedly said those monitoring the cyberattacks found "no incidents compromising data resources of banking institutions."

Russian Railways: State media said a virus attacked the IT system of Russian Railways, but it did not affect operations due to a prompt response. The company said the virus has been localized and "technical work is underway to destroy it and update the antivirus protection."

Interior Ministry: The Russian Interior Ministry acknowledged a ransomware attack on its computers, adding that less than 1% of computers were affected. The statement said antivirus systems are working to destroy it.

Megafon: A spokesperson for Russian telecommunications company Megafon told CNN that the cyberattack affected call centers but not the company's networks. He said the situation was under control. 

Spain

Telefónica: Spanish authorities confirmed the Spanish telecom company Telefónica (TEF) was one of the targets, though the attack affected only some computers and did not compromise the security of clients' information. 

United Kingdom

National Health Service: At least sixteen NHS organizations have been hit, according to NHS Digital. "At this stage, we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed. We will continue to work with affected (organizations) to confirm this," the agency said. The NHS has said hospitals have had to cancel some outpatient appointments because of the attack. 

  

Ransomware attack: India issues red alert, experts warn of more trouble today says www.hindustantimes.com

The spread of the virus WannaCry, which locked up more than 100,000 computers, had slowed on Sunday, but new versions of the worm were expected even while the world was yet to take stock of the extent of damage from Friday’s attack.

 

Marin Ivezic, cyber security partner at PwC, said some clients had been “working around the clock since the story broke” to restore systems and install software updates or restore systems from back-ups.

Monday is expected to be a busy day, especially in Asia which may not have seen the worst of the impact yet, as companies and organizations turn on their computers.

RANSOMWARE:

It’s a kind of computer attack, which encrypts your data and asks money as ransom to you. 

Source: The evolution of ransomware by Symantec

There are numerous variants for each type (for example, CrytpoWall is on its 4th version); No one can map all the existing ransomware out there (because most ransomware attacks go unreported); New ransomware is coming out in volumes at an ever-increasing pace.

PREVENTION FROM ATTACK

Steps to be followed:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Click on Windows Firewall.
3. Turn Windows Firewall on (Public and Private both)

 Open IP Address of the system.

1. Click Advance settings and then Click WINS (Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP)

Open Windows Firewall

1. Click Advance settings.
2. Click Inboud Rules ---> New Rules 
3. Click on Port and then click on NEXT button.
4. On Specific Local Port write 445 then NEXT button.
5. Click Block the Connection and the NEXT button.
6. Name (Block TCP Port 445) then click FINSH button.

Have a Great time.