PETYA RANSOMWARE: A New Threat To ‘Cry’ About – and a Simple Prevention Tip
It was only a month ago that I wrote in this space about the world’s lucky sidestep of the intended havoc mounted by the WannaCry ransomware attack. As our clients and regular readers of this site know, Red Level takes the ransomware menace very seriously: The damage and the expense such exploits cause is real and considerable, the potential negative impact they pose is increasing, and the exact nature of the threat is constantly changing. For IT professionals, WannaCry, Cryptolocker and their fellow travelers are a continual source of aggravation, unease, and extra work. We know we can’t afford to be complacent, even for a moment. That’s why we were unhappy, but unsurprised, to learn of the new problems caused by Petya, a ransomware variant currently wreaking havoc in Europe, Australia, and in at least one US hospital. Like WannaCry and Cryptolocker before it, Petya functions by unbreakably ...