Topic: Each student will locate and review an article relevant to the topic of the class. The review is between 400-to-550 words and should summarize the article. Please include how it applies to our

business continuity

Business operation - Wanna Cry Virus

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Business continuity deals with being able to continue after a security event has occurred. In the month of May, 2017 Wanna Cry Virus was a ransomware virus that was spread across the Internet. It targeted all windows machines by exploiting a Windows vulnerability. The group behind this was the Lazarus group which has strong ties to the North Korean government. The virus encrypts all the files on the hard drive of the computer making all the information stored on it inaccessible unless a ransom was paid with cryptocurrency to provide a key that would decrypt it. The program works by attempting to connect to a URL that is hardcoded on its source code. If the connection attempts fail, then it immediately encrypts all the files on the hard drive. The virus targeted the Service message block protocol on the Microsoft Windows platform that connects to various other terminals on the same network and then introducing arbitrary code that would get executed to perform the encryption. Many companies offered to pay the ransom in order to retrieve their information and dealing with recovery in this manner. The NSA also recommended this option to the organizations that were under attack. The NSA was aware of this exploit and purposely failed to report it; using it to exploit organizations and foreign attackers, they named the virus EthernalBlue. Microsoft also developed a patch and put it out but it was a little late. All systems were not compromised as Microsoft did release the patch for this issue almost 2 months ahead of the attack. Later, the NSA was hacked and this information got released by a group ShadowBrokers. Companies like Boing, the Health Department of Britan are some of the victims of the virus. This is a classic example of how unpatched systems are a weak link in any network and how it vital to have all the patches available to be well tested and promoted to production to avoid the situation as such. It is also very important for the information on security vulnerabilities to be shared. If the NSA has immediately alerted Microsoft of the issue instead of exploiting it for their gain, we would have seen a lot less impact of the virus as the patch would have reached more customers sooner. The WannaCry virus cost NHS alone over $100 million. Most of these companies were not prepared for such a situation and ended up paying hefty penalties. Business continuity must also include the inclusion of cyber attacks and its prevention and Wanna Cry Virus was a prime example.

Fruhlinger, J. (2018, August 30). What is WannaCry ransomware, how does it infect, and who was responsible? Retrieved from https://www.csoonline.com/article/3227906/what-is-wannacry-ransomware-how-does-it-infect-and-who-was-responsible.html

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