What is ongoing WannaCry ransomware attack and how to protect yourself from it?

What is WannaCry?

Wana Decryptor 2.0

This malware is a kind of trojan virus called as "Ransomware".This ransomware holds the infected computer hostage and demands the victim to pay ransom in the form of bitcoins (Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically).The victim needs to pay $300 in order to get back there files.If the user doesn’t pay the ransom without three days, the amount doubles to $600. After seven days without payment, WannaCry will delete all of the encrypted files and all data will be lost.

How to protect yourself from WannaCry ransomware?

To protect your pc from ransomware attack it is important to update your antivirus and apply this security patch by Microsoft released on Friday.Both offline and online tools are  available but its best to update your Windows OS.

How does it work?

When a computer is infected by this malware it tries to connect to a central server to get the information for activation and once its get connected to the server it starts encrypting all the files present in the computer.After the completion of encryption of the files it shows user the wana decryptor 2.0 dialog box containing the details about decryption,payments and other relevant information.

How does wannacry spread around the world?

Most ransomware  is spread hidden withing documents,PDF and other files sent via email or through secondary infection on computers already affected by viruses that offer a backdoor for further attacks.So it is necessary that all the files should be scanned properly before copying into one's PC with up-to-date antivirus (Genuine).