Recent ransomware attacks in over 150 countries, affecting thousands of public and private computers and networks, have shifted the focus to cybersecurity. Malicious hackers distribute ransomware through email attachments. The majority of individuals have no qualms about opening an attachment, which has resulted in a rise in ransom assaults in recent years. The following are noteworthy recent ransomware attacks.
WannaCry
The malware became widely distributed, infecting approximately 30,000 machines and networks. Affected people report seeing a pop-up screen requesting payment of $300 in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. They received warnings of permanent database destruction.
Hackers known as Shadow Brokers discovered a vulnerability in Microsoft operating systems and then developed a program to exploit it, preventing millions of users from accessing their computers. According to Elliptic, on the first day of the assault, bitcoins linked with Shadow Brokers had received more than $33,000 in bitcoins.
Microsoft stated that it has developed a fix for the vulnerability, however, there are concerns that many of the affected individuals would not benefit due to the widespread usage of counterfeit operating systems.
Kirk ransomware
One of the most heinous ransomware programs available is scanning Drive (C:) and encrypting specific extensions in addition to targeting over 600 file types. Once the encryption process is complete, the files and folders will appear with a ‘.kirked’ extension, along with a ransom note featuring Star Wars artwork of Captain and Spock with the phrase, “Oh no!” Your data has been encrypted by the Kirk Ransomware!”
Once hacked, users will need to transfer Monero coins to a Monero Wallet and send an email to [email protected] with the wallet address and machine name. Officials in charge of cyber security have not been able to develop a workable decryption code, and affected members must pay hackers to get access to their data.
Philadelphia ransomware
This is a nightmarish scenario for the global health sector. As was the case with WannaCry, it propagated through spear-phishing emails. The hospitals received an email with a shortened URL that led them to a personal storage space infected with the Philadelphia ransomware and bearing the emblem of the targeted hospital.
Employees would get imprisoned after clicking on a few links that triggered the ransomware, which would then infect whole network systems. Once Philadelphia has gained access to the system, it communicates with the C&C server and downloads all data from the network’s machines.
The server creates a victim ID, a ransom price of 0.3, and a Bitcoin wallet ID for the ransom payment. It isolates the victim until the ransom is paid. Fortunately, cyber security made significant progress by apprehending a 19-year-old who was attempting to distribute the ransomware in Austria.
Conclusion
However, the relevant authorities lack the data necessary to examine the scope of such cyber ransomware assaults since the majority of incidents go undetected. The greatest defense against ransom attempts is to use legitimate operating systems and to keep them updated regularly. You’ll be safer with the most up-to-date protection against new-generation ransomware.
Avoid opening unconfirmed emails or clicking on embedded links; doing so will cause the ransomware to begin downloading on your machine.