The recent Ransomware attack (known as the WannaCry Virus) I am sure you are aware has been all over the news since it started infecting thousands of machines globally on Friday 12th May 2017, it has caused disruption to large organisations at an unprecedented scale, most alarming and plastered all over the news was the damage done to NHS trusts all over the UK, this attack will not stop there as more vulnerable machines are switched on Monday morning and beyond.

What the experts say

• McAfee’s article on this latest outbreak
• Microsoft have released a customer guidance article to help

What YOU can do

There are many things YOU can do to prevent this attack and future variants

• Identify computers with out of date operating systems such as Windows XP and remove them from the corporate network.

• The WannaCry Virus was written to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows systems not running the MS17-010 security patch that was released in March, we urge all our customers to deploy this patch as soon as possible, more information on this patch can be found here.

• Ensure you are running the most up to date Next Generation Anti-Malware software. There are many solutions out there that can prevent this type of attack by simply upgrading to the latest version. You may already be licenced for Next Gen Security with anti-ransomware but not realised or had the resources to deploy it. If you are not sure or need to look at something new we are at the end of the phone.

• Educate the End Users. This type of virus spreads from one click of a suspicious web link or opening a malicious e-mail. Users need to be aware of what to look for and to report it immediately if they are unsure about something they have received.

• Ask for help, we are not just here to sell software. Our Security Consultants can offer expert advice and Professional Services to ensure you are protected against this attack and any future variants.

Important Recommendations

We recommend all our existing customers ensure that they are protected from new variants of Ransomware by running the latest version of your preferred security product. For example McAfee Endpoint Security 10.5 is the latest next gen Anti-Malware from this vendor and can stop most of the latest threats and Ransomware on its own just by being kept up to date. In extremely rare cases where there is a new threat that the software doesn’t know about there is also an additional module called Advanced Threat Protection (ATP).

This is a new module which is available as part of the Complete Endpoint Threat Protection suite (formerly Complete Endpoint Protection—Enterprise). This module houses Dynamic Application Containment (DAC) and Real Protect technologies which can stop ransomware and all other zero day attacks in their tracks. Both DAC and Real Protect integrate with the McAfee Endpoint Security framework. Please see page 3 of the FAQ on Endpoint Security for more details. You can migrate from your current McAfee suite to obtain these capabilities.

Please speak to your account manager should you require details on costing for this any other vendors next gen products that can stop Ransomware.