Question

Using resources on the Web, books, or journals, find a computer virus outbreak that you consider to have been the worst in history. Write a brief summary describing the attack, and explain why you think it is the worst. Was it widely spread? How quickly did it spread? What damage did it do?

Answer 1

Answer)
The WannaCry Ransomware is ransomware / cryptoworm / malicious program and this malicious infection has been used in a worldwide cyberattack which targeted the computers running MS Windows and has encrypted the data and demanding the ransom payment to decrypt the data. The malicious program is used to infect the computers running the older version of Windows which are missing the latest patches and updates on the computers. The attack affected the huge number of 200,000 computer systems in over 150 countries.

It used a transport worm to spread and replicate itself and also encrypting data and demanding the ransom payments in the cryptocurrency. When the worm spread tot he computers, it uses encryption algorithms which encrypt the hard drive on the computer and thus the data of the user is encrypted. The user then gets the message on the computer, to give out a ransom payment in some form of medium to unblock the computer and thus is the ransomware.

To mitigate this threat, we need to update software to latest versions, update the patches which are to be applied to the OS and systems, installs firewalls and anti-malware and antivirus and update them with security definitions regularly, we should not download any suspicious software or emails and click any suspicious links which can land us in trouble.