How To Protect Yourself From WannaCry

The ransomware attack is holding computers hostage all over the world.

Here’s what you need to know about it to keep yourself as safe as possible.

WannaCry attack started on Friday of last week, locking people out of their computers by encrypting their files and demanding them to pay up to 300$ in Bitcoin. To make matters worse the price doubles after 3 days. To receive a decryption key or risk losing your important files forever. What’s worse is that the malware also acts as a worm, which means that it has potential to infect computers and servers on the same network!

This attack exploits a vulnerability in older Windows operating systems, namely:

Windows 8

Windows XP

Windows Server 2003

Although if you are using a more recent version of windows and you have stayed up to date on system updates then you should not be vulnerable to the current iteration of WannaCry.

If you haven’t been keeping up to date on the newer versions of windows and updates then you WILL be vulnerable until and unless you do so.

If you are a MacOS user, Linux or even Chrome OS, then you don’t have to worry about this particular threat. Mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android don’t have to either.

Here are some of the steps you can take to ensure you have the best chance of avoiding this virus.

Turn Windows Update on if it’s disabled.

It’s quite common for people to disable microsoft’s automatic updates as they can be quite intrusive (I know I have before!) It’s highly recommended that you leave them on for now as microsoft is constantly releasing patches to help combat the virus.

Install a dedicated ransomware blocker.

Don’t assume that your current antivirus has one, most don’t even have one at all. Especially heavily outdated versions.

This step is completely optional as the patches from microsoft will suffice but if you share a computer with some less tech experienced family members who like to click everywhere, this may be a good idea.