WannaCry Ransomware Attack Analysis

This assignment examines the WannaCry ransomware attack of 2017. It delves into the reasons behind the outbreak, explaining how a vulnerable system allowed the virus to spread rapidly. The document further explores the impact of the attack and outlines solutions to mitigate such threats in the future, emphasizing the importance of encryption, updated software, firewalls, and user awareness.

Running head: CYBER ATTACK AND INFORMATION SECURITY
CYBER ATTACK AND INFORMATION SECURITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Part A- Question 1...........................................................................................................................2
What was the problem?................................................................................................................2
Who were affected due to the data breach?.................................................................................2
How did the problem occur?........................................................................................................3
Why did the problem occur?........................................................................................................4
What are the solutions of the problem?.......................................................................................4
References....................................................................................................................................6
Part B- Question 2...........................................................................................................................7
What was the problem?................................................................................................................7
Who were affected due to the data breach?.................................................................................8
Why did the problem occur?........................................................................................................9
What are the solutions of the problem?.......................................................................................9
References..................................................................................................................................11

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Part A- Question 1
What was the problem?
Scottrade bank recently faced a security data breach of its database in April 2017. It had a
database of more than 20000 customers. The data base was not secured properly and it was left
open to the public. Chris Vickey who was the MacKeeper researcher created the database which
was designed on March 31. Vickey informed that the copany was contacted by him and later
connected to a staffer on the Scottrade bank (Ablon et al., 2016). The security team of the
Scottrade bank assured to make the information secure. After some days he informed about the
resolving of the problem. But the data was leaked eventually in the month of April. The
customers who lost their data included personal details, credit cards details and also their account
details. The number of credit cards profile which was exposed is more than 48000. Also the
social security numbers, names, addresses and phone numbers were also exposed due to the data
breach (Young, 2014). These data are undoubtedly most confidential according to priority list on
the basis of security level. This data should be secured by the bank and the exposure of the data
was really unexpected and created lack of reliability in the customer. On April 2 it was first
informed by a third party vendor named as Genpact. Genpact informed that the data set was
informed to a cloud server that did not made the security protocols in a correct way (Federgreen
& Sachs, 2015). Due to this reason the information was not secured at all. That file included
information regarding the loan application information which was a small B2B unit placed in
Scottrade bank. It had a non public information of more than 20000 people and businesses.

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Who were affected due to the data breach?
Due To the security breach undoubtedly the 20000 people and businesses were affected
as their confidential data was exposed to public. Any unwanted access of those data can lead to a
high damage of the data. Information like phone number, address, names was exposed due to that
data breach. Some details regarding the information of the credit card was also left exposed due
to the security breach (Gao, Zhong & Mei, 2015). The amount of information was not in a small
range and the people loosed their reliability on the bank. The bank was also affected in terms of
reliability issue with the customers. The bank was really affected in terms of customer
satisfaction. It was task of highest priority of the bank so that the bank can make the security
with highest priority. Any hacker could take the advantage of making the insecure data in their
own purpose.
How did the problem occur?
The data breach was happened due to the lack of proper security set up of the
information. On April 2 it was first informed by a third party vendor named as Genpact. Genpact
informed that the data set was informed to a cloud server that did not made the security protocols
in a correct way. Due to this reason the information was not secured at all. That file included
information regarding the loan application information which was a small B2B unit placed in
Scottrade bank. It had non public information of more than 20000 people and businesses (Gray,
2015). It is also informed that the data set was also not encrypted. The data can be easily
accessible by the unwanted people due to the lack of security features like encryption. The main
issue in this case was that the third party vendor was unable to deliver the security features to the
banking portal.

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Why did the problem occur?
The problem took place due to many factors. The designer of the security system was
unable to make the system properly secured. Chris Vickey who was the MacKeeper researcher
created the database which was designed on March 31 (Peltier, 2013). Vickey informed that the
company was contacted by him and later connected to a staffer on the Scottrade bank. The
security team of the Scottrade bank assured to make the information secure. After some days he
informed about the resolving of the problem. But the data was leaked eventually in the month of
April (Renaud, 2017). The third party was also unable to make the data security assured. Zenpact
which was the third party responsible for the design of the security system related to the bank’s
information was unable to stop the Data loss. Genpact informed that the data set was informed to
a cloud server that did not made the security protocols in a correct way (Kuo & Varki, 2014).
Due to this reason the information was not secured at all. That file included information
regarding the loan application information which was a small B2B unit placed in Scottrade bank.
It had no public information of more than 20000 people and businesses. It is also informed that
the data set was also not encrypted.
What are the solutions of the problem?
Here are some solutions to the security problems which are given below.
 The information of the banking system should be secured with encryption (Kwon
& Han, 2017). Encryption makes a data in coded form so that the unauthorised
access can be stopped.
 The access of the third party vendor should be more restricted. If the third party
vendor makes any security feature then that should be verified.
 Antivirus and the firewalls should be more powerful and updated.

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 The software and the hardware system should be uddated and maintained
frequently.

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References
Ablon, L., Heaton, P., Lavery, D., &Romanosky, S. (2016). Data Theft Victims, and Their
Response to Breach Notifications.
Federgreen, W. R., & Sachs, F. E. (2015). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/618,434.
Gao, X., Zhong, W., & Mei, S. (2015). Security investment and information sharing under an
alternative security breach probability function. Information Systems Frontiers, 17(2),
423-438.
Gray, M. F. (2015). U.S. Patent No. D746,305. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
Kuo, H. C., &Varki, S. (2014). Are Firms Perceived As Safer After an Information Breach?.
ACR North American Advances.
Kwon, S. M., & Han, C. H. (2017). Empirical Investigation on Information Breach Effect on the
Market Value of the Firm: Focused on Source and Long Term Performance. Journal of
Society for e-Business Studies, 21(2).
Peltier, T. R. (2013). Information security fundamentals. CRC Press.
Young, E. (2014). Educational privacy in the online classroom: FERPA, MOOCs, and the big
data conundrum. Harv. JL & Tech., 28, 549.

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Part B- Question 2
What was the problem?
A cyber attack was started during the time period of 12th of May 2017 and it was occurred
in a global platform. Mainly the computers which are windows based was targeted by the virus
(Collier, 2017). The virus was known as WannaCry ransom ware which surely encrypts the
important documents of a network that is made vulnerable. The virus then asks ransom to
provide the description of Bit coin Crypto currency. More than two lack thirty thousand
computers of one hundred and fifty countries were affected by this virus. Many big organisations
were affected due to the cyber attack made by the virus. The main attack was in form of slowing
down the computer system and also in form of theft of making the system vulnerable
(Chakravartula & Lakshmi, 2017). The virus is designed in such a way that it does not give a
chance to the computer security system to identify its presence and then it gets spread into the
system in a silent way. Through other ways many unknown versions initiated to spread through
the computers. There are many research works which function to run a file without any presence
of Ransomware. Many security patches were created by Microsoft and most of those were based
on the windows platform le windows 8 and windows 7. Encryption should be done in the files so
that the viruses having a ransom nature can be easily identified. The virus can be multiplied
easily through the DoublePulsar software in the network. The threat of this virus was spread
immediately after damaging of the websites of the international organizations. Many big
organizations and websites became the attack of the WannaCry virus.
Who were affected due to the data breach?
The organisations which are affected due to the WannaCry cyber attack are given below.

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 The telecom providers of Russia were highly affected by the WannaCry virus.
The interior ministry and the railway system were highly affected by the attack of
the WannCry virus (Kuner, 2017). Lot of damage was caused due to this cyber
attack although the actual number of affected computers is not exactly known.
 The national healthcare system of UK was hugely affected by the WannaCry
virus. Many cases of appointment cancellation, operation delay were found by the
organisations.
 Many packages were delayed of the FedEx logistics company which was reported
as an attack of the WannaCry cyber attack.
 Nissan was also an affected organisation which shut down the factories to avoid
the spread of the virus.
 The computer system of police of Andhra Pradesh was also affected by the
WannaCry virus.
 The WannaCry virus also affected around 100000 university computers situated
in China (Martin, Kinross & Hankin, 2017). More than 70% of the software
which were affected by the virus was from black market.
 The Japanese organization also becomes the attack of the virus but in that case the
threat report is of lower priority.
 The attack of the virus also affected the computing system of one of the biggest
brand Renault.

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Why did the problem occur?
The problem was taken place first on 12th May 2017 around 8.24 am GMT. An European
downloaded a compressed ZIP file which was actually initiated the virus. The starting of the
virus required some housekeeping for performing so that it can be distributed in the network
system (Renaud, 2017). It is seen that there is a command that can be used to increase the
accessibility of the virus that can be uploaded into the main system. The actual link was not
accessible as it was only virtualised to the main system and the idea of making the system more
vulnerable was by making the virus hidden in the main system. Due to the feature of this virus it
got time to infect the whole hardware and the software system. For better knowledge of the of
the system another spying tool was used and its name was EternalBlue (Mohurle & Patil, 2017).
The virus got a chance to be shared easily in the website due to the presence of the loophole in
the system. It is noticed that due to the sharing of the memory in the systems the virus is also
shared in a faster way (Siponen, Mahmood & Pahnila, 2014). The domain was purchased by him
and the for this reason the virus was shared for the initiation of the attack by the virus. This leads
the virus to be speeded very fast into the network system. Then the item was bought and the
domain was also activated. The vulnerability level of the virus is very high. Whenever the virus
is shared the system becomes vulnerable and it also stop functioning in a desired way. The attack
of the virus may be in a random way.
What are the solutions of the problem?
Following steps are taken to overcome the cyber attack due to the Wanna Cry virus.
 The information should be encrypted
 Software should be made that stops ransomeware.
 All the antivirus and firewall system should be updated frequently (Wirth, 2017).

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 The main windows system should be up to date in a periodic manner.
 People should be more aware of downloading hazardous and unwantred files that
may cause harm to the computers.
References
Chakravartula, R. N., & Lakshmi, V. N. (2017). Combating Malware with Whitelisting in
IoT-based Medical Devices. International Journal of Computer Applications, 167(8).
Collier, R. (2017). NHS ransomware attack spreads worldwide.
Kuner, C., Svantesson, D. J. B., H Cate, F., Lynskey, O., & Millard, C. (2017). The rise
of cybersecurity and its impact on data protection. International Data Privacy Law, 7(2), 73-75.
Martin, G., Kinross, J., & Hankin, C. (2017). Effective cybersecurity is fundamental to
patient safety.
Mohurle, S., & Patil, M. (2017). A brief study of Wannacry Threat: Ransomware Attack
2017. International Journal, 8(5).
Renaud, K. (2017). It makes you Wanna Cry.
Siponen, M., Mahmood, M. A., & Pahnila, S. (2014). Employees’ adherence to
information security policies: An exploratory field study. Information & management, 51(2),
217-224.
Wirth, A. (2017). It's Time for Belts and Suspenders. Biomedical Instrumentation &
Technology, 51(4), 341-345.

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