Following a major ransomware attack with WannaCry virus, researchers have accidentally found ‘Kill Switch’ to stop further infiltration to unaffected systems. However, the criminals have launched a new variant, WannaCry 2.0, where the Kill Switch is futile.Unpatched PCs and systems are still vulnerable to attack. As per the latest information, around two lakh computers across the globe have been attacked within a short span of time. The new version is yet a powerful poison to the whole world. WannaCry is a ransomware that has the self-proliferating capacity and infects unpatched vulnerable windows. This worm-like character makes it more dangerous compared to other ransomware's and it utilizes the windows exploits leaked from NSA for the attack (ETERNALBLUE).MalwareTech researcher accidentally found Kill Switch to give a full stop on this spreading malware. But on the other hand, it did not help to repair computers already infected. Costin Raiu, the director of global research and analysis team at Kaspersky Labs has confirmed the launch of updated variant - Kill Switch free WannaCry 2.0. This has made the global security officers alert and cautious. Industry experts and researchers predict that we will have to witness more number of variants of this malware in the coming weeks. The only way through to escape from this havoc is to patch up your systems and update the windows. Do not open any Email attachments from unknown people, or even from known persons, if you are not expecting an attachment, for a couple of days. Read more on WannaCry ransomware attacks:https://securereading.com/massive-ransomware-attacks-using-leaked-exploits-from-nsa/Microsoft has launched patches for even unsupported versions of Windows to protect their customers. The supported versions have already received the patches in March 2017 and users are strongly advised to keep their windows updated.Also, antivirus vendors have taken stringent measures against the circulating WannaCry worm. All entities are therefore advised to patch up and update the windows, use a good antivirus and to practice basic security measures.
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