Last month, we alerted the campus to the WannaCry ransomware attack on unpatched Windows computers. Another ransomware attack (Petya) is taking advantage of the same vulnerabilities. As the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) indicates in its warning, “Using unpatched and unsupported software may increase the risk of proliferation of cybersecurity threats, such as ransomware.”
Even if you have installed software that defends an unpatched older system against WannaCry, Petya is likely to take advantage of the vulnerabilities unless you’ve run Microsoft’s MS17-010 update. Petya attacks have been seen in multiple countries–including the United States.
More information
- US-CERT Petya warning
- Petya ransomware attack strikes companies across Europe, The Guardian, 6/27/17.