WannaCry virus isn't new!

Hey guys, today I'm going to explain you some interesting facts about this dangerous threat. I would like to explain it to a general public, so everyone should understand it. 

Introduction:

First of all, I want to make clear the concept of informatic virus. A virus is a informatic program, who wants to modify your system. Other name for it is malware. 

If I say the word hacker, most people is going to imagine a dangerous criminal. It's a wrong thought because a hacker is a person with high level of informatic knowledge (It doesn't means a criminal).
There are many types of hackers:

•   White hat hackers: They are "the goods". They try to find vulnerabilities on webs or programs. Then, they notify the bug to the developer to help him.
• Black hat hackers: This type of hacker is the most dangerous to a internet user. They just want to cause damage. They sometimes hijack you to get your ransom (your cash). Some virus, such as WannaCry, are created by them. 
• Hacktivists: This are a very important part of the hacker community. They work for political purposes such as fight against goverment crimes. One example of them are the hacker group Anonymous. They are famous because of his number of hackers members. They usually carry out DDoS atacks. In future posts I will explain this atacks

Well, now let's focus on WannaCry. This virus is a ransomware. It means that the virus is going to encrypt your data. Well, encrypt is other way to say encode the data. If the virus infects you, it's going to use a exploit (a vulnerability of the system) to get the control of the system. This process is hard to explain, but that is the idea.
This type of virus has been existing since 1989! WannaCry has got fame because it has impact in about 150 countries, and more than 200 000 people. 

Now we know how it works but... Is it impossible to be safe from it? Let's talk about security methods.

Have you fed up of update your windows? Do you think that It´s unnecesary? You are wrong! 
The updates have a high importance, they prevent exploits such as the ones who takes WannaCry. Microsoft has published windows updates for his OS, even the olds such as windows XP or Vista.
The way that the virus use to infect you is usually an email that if you open it, it is going to try to  

Sounds very pessimistic but, If i pay, can I recover my data? Should be like that, but not always it happends. If you pay, it means that you want to keep your data, so you will be in the spotlight of black hat hackers. You will probably receive more virus because the hackers know that you can pay the rescue. The payment is in bitcoins, the most popular cryptocurrency. It's a problem because the payment is hard to track. In future post, we will explain what it is.

WannaCry has been in the news because has caused huge problems in big companies, such as Telefonica, Nissan, etc. Telefonica, has been threatened and the company had to pay 300 bitcoins. It is equivalent to about 650 000 euros!! (700 000 $). Telefonica is a big company, so the rescue is insignificant if we compare it with the data that could be lost.

Conclusion: 

1. Update your windows (or try Linux (in future post we will explain it 😁))
2. Get an antivirus software, there are powerful and free solutions.
3. Don't open suspects emails!
4. Read our blog :)

Don't forget to write a comment

See you soon!