preview

Ransomware Persuasive Speech

Decent Essays

By now, you may have heard about "WannaCry"... It's a ransomware attack that began last Friday and it's still ongoing. WannaCry has infected more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries so far.

What's Ransomware?

Ransomware holds your computer hostage... like a kidnapper would. It renders your files inaccessible and then instructs you to pay the "kidnapper" to access them. A word of caution - Paying the ransom is no guarantee that the cyber criminals will honor their part of the agreement. Learn more about ransomware here.

The image below shows what popped up on a WannaCry victim's computer screen. As you can see, the cyber criminals encrypted the victim's files and demanded payment. If the victim doesn't send money to them by a certain …show more content…

You can follow @actual_ransom on Twitter to see how much money the WannaCry crybercriminals collect from their victims in real time. As of May 16, 2017, 2:17 p.m. EST, that figure was over $71,499 USD.

The good news is, you can protect yourself from Ransomware and other cyber crime. I created a short list for individuals and organizations below. If you're in the cyber security field, please add anything you can think of in the comments!

Tips for regular folks...

Make it a habit NOT to click links in your emails or instant messages. If a friend sends you a message with a link, ask your friend to confirm sending it before you click the link. Infected devices can send random messages to people in a contacts list. Be aware of spoofing and mimicry in email addresses and web addresses - Examples...PayePal instead of PayPal or an email from order-update@amazon.ru instead of order-update@amazon.com Cyber criminals tend to send emails with titles that create urgency or concern...like "Pay your Invoice NOW" or "Re: Invoice 32467". During the holidays, they send emails claiming that your package couldn't be delivered. Sometimes the messages appear to be coming from UPS, FedEx, or USPS. Delete! Go directly to the mail service site to track your …show more content…

For example, you can use an external hard drive. Important: Disconnect this drive from your computer when you're not actively backing up your files. Cyber criminals prey on victims who are using outdated software with known vulnerabilities. Some vendors, like Microsoft and Adobe, send regularly scheduled updates and emergency patches. Enable automatic updates or visit the software vendor’s website and follow the instructions. Use reputable antivirus software, BOLO for updates, and install them immediately. Disable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). RDP is a Windows function that grants access to a computer remotely. Ransomware can exploit this. Disabling RDP is really easy to do. Here's how. If your computer is not running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016. Stop reading and do this now: Go to Microsoft's Customer Guidance for WannaCrypt attacks and follow the directions to protect yourself. Here's how you can tell what version of Windows your computer is

Get Access