WannaCry Success Indicates Complacency In Online Security
Ransomware is no joke to begin with and this latest immense example has evidently forced a massive number of people to face that reality rather abruptly. The biggest question from a security standpoint is: Why did this even happen? I can think of two good reasons why it should NOT have happened, both of which are focused on standard operating procedures when it comes to maintaining a healthy computing environment. Windows Operating Systems have always had security flaws which ended up having to be patched by Microsoft, sometimes quicker and other times not so quick however the flaw which WannaCry exploited WAS PATCHED by Microsoft last month! Simply following basic online security procedures would have prevented the WannaCry ransomware from infecting a given computer system. The other good reason this should not have happened - especially on the scale that this global infection has occurred - is that if proper backup procedures were followed then the WannaCry infection could easily be eradicated by restoring the most recent (or at least a recent) backup. The only uncertainty there is when the infection actually got in as opposed to when the payload executed. These two factors make it clear that WannaCry success indicates complacency in Online Security.