Even if you did not happen to be online in the past week (which is highly unlikely), you must have read the news about the WannaCry ransomware. The malware came out of nowhere and according to reports has affected more than 57,000 computers in over 150 countries across the globe. But what exactly is WannaCry?
WannaCry is a Trojan virus that is also called as a ‘ransomware’. if this virus affects your computer, it will hold it ‘hostage’. This means that the malware will block access to all your files and folders until you pay a ransom to decrypt the files. At the time of infection, it is reported that WannaCry demands you to pay $300 in Bitcoins as a ransom. The ransom increases to $600 if you do not make the payment within three days. If that was not enough, WannaCry will delete all the encrypted files if the payment is not received within seven days and all your files will be lost.
Such malwares are basically spread through email attachments and when visiting compromised websites. You should be very careful with the emails containing attachments. If you sense anything suspicious, just mark the email as spam and report to the email provider without opening the email. What this means for the mobile app ecosystem If you consider the fact that the number of mobile devices are increasing everyday on a global level, it won’t be a wrong assumption that mobile users could be on the radar of hackers. More so because of the increasing number of app downloads on mobile devices. You would say that the Apple store, Google Play store and Windows app store only house verified apps, then where is the risk? Well, there are plenty of third-party app stores that provide you apps for free, such apps which are not available on these verified platforms. Just think if the apps on the third-party store are affected with a ransomware like WannaCry, how long would it take to spread? Not long, I would say.
The implications of a ransomware affecting mobile devices can be really bad. Let’s talk about a scenario. If you are a financial institution, and your mobile app is affected by a ransomware, it would mean that all your customers will be affected. This can result in data breach, revenue loss and your company’s reputation could be at stake. Would you ever want yourself to be in this situation?
Prevention is always better than cure, and Quixxi can help you prevent any kind of cybersecurity attacks. Quixxi has been developed to help business, developers and users to prevent cybersecurity attacks and to protect any mobile apps from being hacked. Quixxi’s security experts continuously build solutions to protect businesses from such attacks. Businesses and individuals can use Quixxi to do risk assess/threat assessment on their mobile apps and apply antihacking/protection solution. It can not only help you save your job and your company but also its users.
It is worth saying that, when you can do something now , why do you WannaCry later! If you want to learn more about how to protect your app or business from ransomwares such as WannaCry, contact us at info@quixxi.com. Conclusion Now, when we are a little more aware about the threats that the web and mobile apps are susceptible to, it only make sense to strengthen our cyber security hygiene. Being vigilant to fraudant emails/websites and using a solution like Quixii can help us counter these attacks. If you are interested in learning more about this solution, visit them at www.quixxi.com.
