Software Engineering Institute

On May 12, 2017, in the course of a day, the WannaCry ransomware attack infected nearly a quarter million computers. WannaCry is the latest in a growing number of ransomware attacks where, instead of stealing data, cyber criminals hold data hostage and demand a ransom payment. WannaCry was perhaps the largest ransomware attack to date, taking over a wide swath of global computers from FedEx in the United States to the systems that power Britain’s healthcare system to systems across Asia, according to the New York Times. In this podcast, CERT researchers spell out several best practices for prevention and response to a ransomware attack.