A 22-year-old cybersecurity pro in the U.K. stopped yesterday’s global ransomware attack, WannaCry. A link to his blog explaining how he did it is below. It’s technical – in plain language and somewhat simplified, his work started when he obtained a sample of the malware, ran an analysis and “instantly noticed it queried an unregistered domain” which he promptly registered. Then he:
- diverted some of the malicious traffic into a sinkhole “a server designed to capture malicious traffic and prevent control of infected computers by the criminals who infected them”
- gathered data on the geography of the infections, and
- reverse engineered the malware to look for vulnerabilities.
He continued his detective work and reached out to colleagues over Twitter – collaboration and rapid action worked. Ultimately the sinkhole trapped the infection and halted its spread. You can read his blog here: https://www.malwaretech.com/2017/05/how-to-accidentally-stop-a-global-cyber-attacks.html
Don’t become complacent and assume someone else will fix the problem. In healthcare there are steps you should take to prevent ransomware. The HIPAA Security Rule contingency plan is a blueprint for preparing for and recovering from a ransomware attack. It requires data backup, disaster recovery and emergency mode operation plans that enable you to resume normal operations and maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your data. Always update your software, install the patches provided, and train your staff to stay alert.
Without a contingency plan, you’ll be in the unfortunate position of paying ransom to a criminal to decrypt your data who may take the money and run – RanScam! Or take the money and also sell your data.
Follow HIPAA and thumb your nose at the cyber criminals.
More information for Microsoft consumers is here: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/
