India One Of The Worst Affected By WannaCry, Says QuickHeal Co-Founder
Older versions of the Microsoft operating system are the most susceptible.
Computers across the world have been crippled by a malware attack with hackers demanding a ransom worth $300 in bitcoins to free encrypted files.
India is one of the 150 countries affected by the 'WannaCry' ransomware worm and computers are still at high risk, Sanjay Katkar, one of the co-founders and chief technology officer of QuickHeal Technologies, said in a phone interview with BloombergQuint.
Computers with older versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system have been the worst affected. “Most of the computers are connected to the net, so if it enters your network, it spreads across all the computers very fast,” said Katkar.
The solution he said was to install the Microsoft patch MS17010 and back it up with adequate anti-virus protection in the system to control or prevent the virus from spreading.
If that patch is there, then the spread of malware will slow down because it cannot clear automatically thereafter. Next is to make sure that they have adequate Antivirus protection and which is up to date. These are the two steps they (computer users) should take.Sanjay Katkar, Co-Founder & CTO, QuickHeal Technologies
In an office environment, it is imperative to switch off the router immediately after a computer is detected with the malware, Katkar said. This will prevent the virus from spreading across the office.
If you don’t open an email in your inbox, it will not affect your computer. But if your computer is unpatched and is connected to the network where other computers are infected, then it spreads by the network activity. If your machine is not patched and it is connected to the network where there is at least one infected computer across somewhere, it immediately affects your system.Sanjay Katkar, Co-Founder & CTO, QuickHeal Technologies