It has already been two years for a Ransomware attack. Exactly on this day in 2017, WannaCry virus has spread like a wildfire for all the computers across the world. Computers from more than 150 countries got affected due to this virus. All the data present in the computers were encrypted. The hackers demanded cryptocurrency as ransom in order to unlock the files.
It was the biggest cyber attack that happened in the world. All the hospitals present in the UK declared it a major incident. All the computers went offline due to the malware and this includes the computers of government and private organizations, railway stations, etc.
WannaCry Ransomware- Biggest Cyber Attack that the World Has Ever Faced
The malware was spread across various computers with the help of networks using the Windows SMB protocol. The virus spread from one computer to another at lightning speed and before even knowing, it has affected the computers in 150 countries. It has been believed that the hackers’ group was operating from North Korea.
Microsoft anticipated the attack and hence released update patches to the computers. But it didn’t reach the users right on time hence the havoc was created. Any computer which is exposed to the internet was capable of getting attacked.
In just a few hours of time, the ransomware was able to cause a lot of financial damage. The victims started sending bitcoins to the wallets provided in order to get their files back but everything was in vain.
Finally, Marcus Hutchins, a security researcher was able to stop the spread of this malware. He was on vacation at the time of the attack but worked and stopped the ransomware.
The threat that was caused back then due to leaked NSA tools still exists. There are millions of computers out there that can be attacked with this malware.
Source – TechCrunch