Multiple companies across industries have confirmed attacks by a the latest bout of ransomware, including global law firm DLA Piper, U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck, and the Danish shipping company Maersk.
Although targets originally appeared in Ukraine—shutting down power plants, banking services and supermarkets—this latest cyberattack has quickly spanned critical economic sectors around the globe.
Businesses both large and small are at risk if they haven’t taken the appropriate measures.
Full protection from this threat can be achieved by:
- Updating and deploying security software with anti-ransomware capabilities
- Updating and securing operating systems on your network, including checking for any open SMB ports on any Internet-facing systems
- Locking down user accounts from having administrative powers and possibly even removing/shutting down admin systems that might utilize the PSExec method of spreading the malware
- If you are a business owner, making sure your users are aware of this current threat
- Opening emails with a high degree of scrutiny in the near future
The bottom line is that companies are still failing to adequately secure their IT systems from the EternalBlue vulnerability in the Windows Server Message Block (SMB) server.
- Microsoft issued critical security updates to patch this vulnerability on March 14, 2017. To verify that the MS17-010 patch is installed, follow the directions in this Microsoft support article
For customers using our security tools deployment, our software detected this ransomware in the zero hour, meaning they have been protected from the instant this attack began.
For more detailed information on the Petya ransomeware attack, our partners Webroot have published a great blog on the threats attack vectors here.
We’ve also come up with a free guide that lists the most common IT Security threats and what can be done about them. You can get your guide here.
If you have any concerns that your network isn’t fully protected please give us a call and we’ll be happy to assist.