Worldwide ransomware campaign May 2017

On Friday May 12th, a worldwide ransomware campaign was started. This campaign is based on the WannaCry ransomware family which consists on a number of ransomware variationsand have known to wreak havoc worldwide. The attack is initiated from a simple

email with an attachment of either a Word or a PDF file. The email text includes a social engineering statement that tricked people into clicking on the attachment containing the ransomware worm. Following the opening of the attached file, the worm begins to work by exploiting a known Microsoft vulnerability.  The ransomware scans computer folders and encrypts most of the useful files. After encryption, the ransomware displays a message that requires the user to pay hundreds of dollars for the de-encryption of the data.  As of May 14th, it is clear that hundreds of organizations in about 100 countries have been infected with WannaCry ransomware, including a number of hospitals in the UK, motor production companies in France, and the Telephone company in Spain.