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Samantha Donaldson
Guest Author
However, with every great thing comes risk and, for the tech industry as a whole,
this risk comes not only in the form of the sometimes dangerous advancements
they provide our world with but also in the form of the people who hope to tear
them down piece by piece. These people who hide in the shadows of technology
and deploy their code maliciously are often referred to as hackers, and their need
to destroy companies and make money off others is exactly why the tech industry
is still fighting against the tides of change.
With data breaches slowly rising every day, particularly in the business world, and
countless businesses flourishing despite it, it’s no surprise that every hacker is
working to tear apart new encryption methods and get a piece of these business
giants. In turn, it is quickly becoming harder and harder to keep customer data safe
in the digital world.
However, on May 12th, one ransomware had spread so quickly and in such a way
that not only the tech and business industries were affected, but even healthcare
providers and average citizens found themselves completely locked out of their
own computers and files likewise.
Once the ransomware was able to deploy itself, it began to spread to other devices
within the network that also did not have the proper patches and took control of all
of their files as well. According to various sources, once the files had been taken,
the hackers would leave only two files left: one which would contain instructions on
what had just happened and one explaining how to pay them via Bitcoin, the most
dominant cryptocurrency of the internet, in order to ‘possbily’ receive their files
once more.
The hackers demanded $300 of each targeted computer and claimed that if they
had not received payment in three days, the price would double. After a week, the
hackers stated that they would delete all the files retrieved leaving you with
nothing. Currently, it is reported that the hackers have tricked people into sending
over $41,000 throughout the time the ransomware spread. According to Talos,
WannaCry also doesn’t really target only valuable computers such as business
computers or tech giants but rather targets anything it can get its hands on, “The
file tasksche.exe checks for disk drives, including network shares and removable
storage devices mapped to a letter, such as 'C:/', 'D:/' etc. The malware then
checks for files with a file extension as listed in the appendix and encrypts these
using 2048-bit RSA encryption.”
With this being said, WannaCry appears to have been solely spread through SMB
meaning that, in order to be hit behind a firewall, ports 139 and 445 would have to
be open and the hosts would have to be listening to inbound connections as well.
Once one machine behind the firewall is infected, this could rapidly spread to any
other machines in the network due to it being self-propagating.
Throughout the span of five days, the virus rapidly spread to over 150 countries
and, in fact, you can see the rapid spread via this map using data compiled by
Malware Tech. However, perhaps, the worst aspect of this virus was not just the
people who had been infected, but rather the chaos it brought to the healthcare
industry and their patients as well.
In fact, in the UK alone, WannaCry hit 16 different hospitals, this was far from the
only country affected, and the only hospitals hit likewise. During this time period,
many were denied healthcare access, which is a very serious issue considering the
recent research release in New York determining that a “third-wave” of asbestos-
related diseases was upon us, among other things such as surgeries needing to be
performed and pregnancies occurring throughout those five days. In fact, the
National Health Service (NHS) says 16 of its organizations were attacked by
WannaCry which resulted in doctors being locked out of patient records and
forcing emergency rooms to send patients to other hospitals.
With over 200,000 machines infected across the globe, it seemed as though this
ransomware was a lost cause—that was until one young individual proved that you
can be a hero without even knowing it in the blink of an eye.
Although the young hacker recognizes that the skills gap is still a problem, he
actually feels that universities are a joke and feels that teaching yourself is the best
way to accomplish your dreams. After registering a garbled domain name hidden in
the malware and halting the WannaCry ransomware attack, Hutchins claims the
attack may be halted but could return if not handled properly. However, perhaps,
we are in good hands, as the young hacker is now working alongside the Global
Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to prevent another attack from occurring.
So, at the end of the day, the big question we must ask ourselves is what this
means for the tech industry and how it will affect our future and our security as a
whole. In truth, this ransomware attack may just lead to the future of young
individuals in technology and a more secure world overall.
With Hutchins joining the GCHQ to try to prevent another massive attack, it only
makes sense that this is the start of the youth joining tech giants to create a better
tech industry overall. Although Hutchins may not believe in the usefulness of
universities, it is highly important that our schools recognize the value of the
students they are teaching and provide them with the kinds of learning
environments that can ultimately help them to fill in the skills gap and change our
world as a whole. For instance, by learning how to develop critical thinking in
students, you can create a future generation that understands how to solve
problems and work together in unique, yet ultimately more effective, ways.
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