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Many firms hit by global cyber-attacks


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This could have been posted in several sections I guess, but here seems as good as any, with the highest traffic:

Global ransomware attack causes chaos

It seems to be a variant of the Wannacry ransomware attack a couple of months ago, known as Petya/Petrwrap.

I have to say, if early indications are correct, and it is exploiting the same weaknesses on systems that haven't been updated, then some people in charge of IT departments need sacking.

They were even warned against this by the guy credited with halting the original attack:

 

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We sent out a memo about this at work. Cryptoviruses/ransomware are nasty things.

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Just now, Dark_Grey said:

We sent out a memo about this at work. Cryptoviruses/ransomware are nasty things.

One of my vendors was just telling me that they actually paid someone a ransom to get access back to their crap. I didnt realize that the whole ransom part of it was literal until then. 

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58 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

One of my vendors was just telling me that they actually paid someone a ransom to get access back to their crap. I didnt realize that the whole ransom part of it was literal until then. 

It's actually quite an elegant virus. It encrypts your personal files, then leaves a big ransom message on your screen asking you to call a number to "unlock" your files.

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Why cant authorities trace the numbers or the bank accounts? I know I'm naïve about this tech stuff but it seems like something could be done?

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4 hours ago, Farmer77 said:

One of my vendors was just telling me that they actually paid someone a ransom to get access back to their crap. I didnt realize that the whole ransom part of it was literal until then. 

It's very literal:

South Korean web host pays 'record' $1m to hackers amid intense ransomware extortion

 

2 hours ago, skliss said:

Why cant authorities trace the numbers or the bank accounts? I know I'm naïve about this tech stuff but it seems like something could be done?

It's not that straightforward with bitcoin:

"Bitcoin is pseudonymous, meaning that funds are not tied to real-world entities but rather bitcoin addresses. Owners of bitcoin addresses are not explicitly identified, but all transactions on the blockchain are public. In addition, transactions can be linked to individuals and companies through "idioms of use" (e.g., transactions that spend coins from multiple inputs indicate that the inputs may have a common owner) and corroborating public transaction data with known information on owners of certain addresses. Additionally, bitcoin exchanges, where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies, may be required by law to collect personal information."

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Security researchers have discovered a "vaccine" for the huge cyber-attack that hit organisations across the world on Tuesday.

The creation of a single file can stop the attack from infecting a machine.

However, researchers have not been able to find a so-called kill switch that would prevent the crippling ransomware from spreading to other vulnerable computers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40427907


 

 

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