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Via NPR Ransomware Attacks Ravage Computer Networks In Dozens Of Countries
First, there were reports of Spain's largest telecom being hit with pop-up windows demanding a $300 ransom, paid in the cryptocurrency bitcoin, to access files. Then, at least 16 hospitals in England's National Health Service were affected, locking doctors and nurses out of patients' records unless they paid up. Then came word that networks around the world were under attack Friday.
Wana Decryptor exploits a Windows flaw that was patched in Microsoft's Security Bulletin MS17-010 in March. But on machines that haven't been updated or patched, the malicious code encrypts all of an infected machine's files — and then spreads itself.