On May 12th, 2017, a new strain of ransomware called WannaCry began spreading across Europe and Asia, forcing a number of large organisations into paying a ransom, in return for the release of their files.

The WannaCry ransomware exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows, that without patching, leaves it open to attack.

As part of Sentis’ Managed Security service, this patch was applied when Microsoft’s security update was released on March 14th, 2017. Therefore, Machines supported by Sentis are not vulnerable to this particular strain of ransomware attack.

In light of this high-profile attack, it’s a great opportunity to tighten the reins on your business’ security protocols. We would recommend you consider a few things:

• Review your IT Usage Policy or Company Handbook; advise staff not to access their personal email using company equipment and to avoid using business email for personal reasons
• Keep antivirus and anti-spam software up to date – whilst these cannot protect us 100% from cybercrime, they provide a good level of security against attacks
• Educate staff to be diligent when opening email – cyber criminals are increasingly targeting individuals and businesses with carefully crafted replicas of genuine emails and senders

If you would like to know more about this ransomware attack or to discuss additional measures that you could deploy to safeguard your business against a damaging attack, please contact us on 0800 652 0804.