WannaCry Microsoft NSA and Worm Virus

I hope you are having a great mothers day and you have remembered to call your mother.

BACKGROUND

Anyhow, I originally was not going to post anything regarding the recent WannaCry internet worm, but I figured I would help you find some links you might find useful.

As you probably are already aware, there is a worm spreading throughout the internet via an exploit that was developed originally by the United States National Security Agency or NSA.

You can find out more information about the worm, how it was developed in these two following videos by a YouTuber who goes by the name of Barnacules Nerdgasm. He is a former Microsoft Developer, was an insider, and is useful to listen to in cases like this.

- This video describes how the exploit at the heart of the internet worm was developed.
- This video he describes how to protect yourself and some other information.

Here is another blog post on someone who analysed the malware. (Credit Swamper with providing the link)

HOW TO PATCH

So if you are running a version of Windows that still receives updates, you should run Windows Update now. I would also recommend updating your anti virus. You should do these two steps continuously for the next little while until the worm really dies out of news reporting.

If Windows Update is not moving fast enough for you or it is hung like it sometimes does, you can go to the Windows update Catalogue and manually download and install the patches. When you search for the update you are looking for make sure to type in all the text of the update including most importantly the KB number.

- Here is the link to the (non creators update) version of Windows 10 patch.

Windows XP

If for some crazy unknown reason you are still running the 2000s era Windows XP and haven't yet been deluged with all sorts of spyware malware viruses, and other such stuff, Microsoft took pity on you and released a patch for this operating system as well as Server 2003, and Windows 8. You can download this patch here. You should do this NOW. After you need to start to make plans to transition away from this very dangerous operating system.

Want to switch?

Personally I do not use Windows for any of my critical stuff, as I switched from Microsoft to Linux several years ago.

If you are interested in also moving away from Microsoft stuff, you can check out Ubuntu and other flavors in the links below. Note that you can load these things on a USB stick or a DVD (remember those things) and try it out before you install it.

- Ubuntu
- Kubuntu
- Linux Mint

But I'm running a Mac and I don't have to worry about all this security crap...

"Despite iPhone's minority share (14.5%) of the global smart phone market in 2016, a specialized unit in the CIA's Mobile Development Branch produces malware to infest, control and exfiltrate data from iPhones and other Apple products running iOS, such as iPads. CIA's arsenal includes numerous local and remote "zero days" developed by CIA or obtained from GCHQ, NSA, FBI or purchased from cyber arms contractors such as Baitshop. The disproportionate focus on iOS may be explained by the popularity of the iPhone among social, political, diplomatic and business elites.
...
Improvise (JQJIMPROVISE)
'Improvise' is a toolset for configuration, post-processing, payload setup and execution vector selection for survey/exfiltration tools supporting all major operating systems like Windows (Bartender), MacOS (JukeBox) and Linux (DanceFloor). Its configuration utilities like Margarita allows the NOC (Network Operation Center) to customize tools based on requirements from 'Fine Dining' questionairies."  - Wikileaks

That code was made public a few months ago as well. Make sure you are updating your Apple products as well. There are versions of Ransomware for Mac and Linux too.