Wannacry Ransomware Epidemic

You may have seen the news this weekend. Criminal hackers have released a new strain of ransomware that spreads itself automatically across all workstations in a network, causing a global epidemic. If you or a co-worker are not paying attention and accidentally open one of these phishing email attachments, you might infect not only your own workstation, but immediately everyone else's computer too. Be very careful when you get an email with an attachment you did not ask for. If there is a .zip file in the attachment, do not click on it but delete the whole email. Remember: "When in doubt, throw it out!

FedEx Corp, Renault, Nissan, Russian banks, gas stations in China, and Spanish telecommunications firm Telefonica which reported 85% of their systems being down as a result of a cyberattack earlier today, and ironically the Russian Interior ministry had 1,000 machines encrypted. Even the German Railways were infected. Dozens of hospitals in the UK were shut down. Cybersecurity experts have long used the phrase "where bits and bytes meet flesh and blood," which signifies a cyberattack in which someone is physically harmed. This monster has infected hundreds of thousands of systems in more than 150 countries. Monday morning when people get back to work, these numbers will only go up. Many of these computers were running outdated Windows XP operating systems. Others had current operating systems that were not properly patched.. This threat exploits a Windows vulnerability that was patched in March of this year. All of the computers managed by RC Consulting’s Remote Monitoring and Management system were updated with this patch in March and are not vulnerable to the spread of this exploit. If you are not on our management system it is imperative you confirm these updates were installed on your machines. All computers are still vulnerable to the initial infection by clicking on infected websites or malicious email links and attachments. If you have questions or concerns about your systems, please feel free to call to setup an appointment to check out your computer status.