The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 31: June/July 2017 | Page 22

TECHNOLOGY
Hear it from the experts…
ARE YOU
RANSOMWARE READY?
In the wake of the recent global cyber attack
affecting our NHS and other recognised
companies such as Nissan, FedEx and Deutsche
Bahn, many experts are wondering how 200,000
people succumbed to such a widespread attack.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED? WHAT IS RANSOMWARE?
The ransomware that affected 61 NHS
hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies
across England and Scotland, exploited a
vulnerability in unpatched Windows XP
machines, which form the backbone of
many NHS systems and essential services.
Once in the system, this ransomware
was able to spread to other machines
throughout the network like wildfire and
impacted thousands of patients across the
country. Ransomware is a type of virus/malicious
software which sole purpose is to deny
access to your computer files until a sum of
money is paid out.
Typically ransomware restricts access by
encrypting your entire file system and in
some cases, these files are not decrypted
even when the ransom is paid! The strain
of ransomware named “WannaCrypt”,
which was the culprit of the recent attack,
encrypted more than 200,000 devices in
over 150 countries and demanded payment
in the region of $500.
The economic impact of an attack on
this scale is still unknown and only time will
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017
tell. It is a bit cliché to say but “prevention
is always better than cure” and it is
advisable that essential measures are taken
to protect your business against future
attacks.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
CIS are ensuring that all our clients and
businesses in the local area are protected
against this vulnerability.
Our message is clear, it’s important
that all machines are fully patched with
recent Windows security updates, that an
appropriate level of anti-virus is in place and
that you have a strong backup position to
recover your system if you are unfortunate
enough to experience a ransomware
attack. Disaster recovery is key and CIS
are experts in delivering solutions that will
help keep your business running if you’re
affected. We would like to restate the
message expressed by many cyber security
experts of ensuring that best measures are
in place and not to give into the demands
of the hackers by paying the ransom.
Contact CIS for a FREE
vulnerability assessment by
calling 01367 700 555
@CIS_Oxford