On Friday afternoon, malware (malicious software) was released as part of a mass spam/ phishing email campaign which has so far affected over 200,000 machines in 150 countries. While Friday’s attack has been largely mitigated, new variants are emerging so we must stay vigilant.

Any new attack will take the form of an email inviting you to click on a link or open an attachment. If you do so, the malware begins encrypting the files on your PC or laptop before moving to company file servers. Once encrypted, there is no way for you or your IT department to unencrypt the files. The only fix would be to restore from the last good backup.

To that end please be extra vigilant while dealing with email messages. If you see any suspicious emails, please err on the side of caution and do not click on any links. Please Ignore it, Report it and Remove it.

• Ignore it – Don’t click on the malicious link, don’t submit your user ID and password, and don’t panic!
• Report it – In the first instance, you should report it to your IT team or INNOVATE.
• Remove it – Delete the phishing email from your inbox and your ‘Deleted items’ folder.

If you would like to discuss further measures to protect your organisation from Ransomware attacks such as WannaCry, we can advise you on the implementation of appropriate security measures. INNOVATE solutions can give you effective security with advanced threat protection, quick detection, and dynamic containment that reduces the impact of a ransomware attack.

You can also Download our Whitepaper on Ransomware to learn more about:

• What Ransomware is and what it does
• Protection against Ransomware
• How to handle a critical disruption
• How to secure your company against Ransomware
• Cisco’s Layered Ransomware Defence