Background

Hospitals, major companies and government offices have been hit by a massive wave of cyberattacks across the globe that seize control of computers until the victims pay a ransom.

About the attack

• More than 75,000 ransomware attacks in 99 countries, making it one of the broadest and most damaging cyberattacks in history.
• 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.
• Ransomware worm that stopped car factories, hospitals, shops and schools in more than 100 countries.
• The country most affected by WannaCry is UK, where 48 of the 248 National Health Service trusts were impacted, causing widespread disruption to health services in the country.

Alert from GOI

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the central agency coordinating efforts on cyber security issues, has issued a critical alert and has advised the installation of relevant patches to protect against any data breaches. WannaCry malware, according to CERT-In, spreads by using a vulnerability in implementations of Server Message Block in systems running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Source : HT

GS III : Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security.