The WannaCry Scourge And Other Avoidable Tech Issues

Security And Consequences

If you don’t have IT security in your operations, there will be consequences. Why? Well, ask yourself this: what do you know about how computers are manufactured? What do you know about how software is manufactured? And what do you know about government regulations pertaining to big-ticket computer development?

Here’s where it all comes together: in the wake of 9/11, and the increasing radicalization of worldwide global resistance groups, technology has exploded. It has also become a pervasive aspect of modernity. MySpace led to Facebook, and Facebook led to everyone in the world spending hours daily utilizing social media.

So Windows operating systems, and many cellular phone companies, represented an easy viewing window to daily activities of regular people; the goal being to “counteract terrorism”—ostensibly. The NSA put a backdoor in everything, and did so at the manufacturing and development level.

Now: that information became public back in March, and as a result, some clever hackers decided they would exploit it. When that data became public, a “patch” was issued to cover the programming which allowed for monitoring and manipulation remotely. Many businesses took the patch, many did not.

Enter WannaCry

In May, the observant hackers who had realized most computers had a backdoor which required no user protocol violations finalized their newest ransomware iteration, “WannaCry”. What WannaCry ransomware did was invade through open SMB ports. Nobody had to mess up to be infected with this software.

Thousands of systems—likely hundreds of thousands or more—were infected with WannaCry in early May, 2017. The spread of the virus has been identified and eliminated—the worm’s been killed!—for the most part. See, those who developed it understand they just had to slightly rewrite it to keep use it.

Any computers not properly patched were and are vulnerable to WannaCry and its transitioning iterations. The lesson to be taken from this historically terrible viral scourge?

Firstly, you want to patch as expediently as possible. Secondly, you want backup and data recovery solutions immediately available so you can just do a reboot when compromised. Third, getting involved with cloud computing support options makes a lot of sense, because they make patching and rebooting much more doable.

Solutions

According to CBISecure.com, one of the best cyber security services in Detroit, MI, “A strong cloud asset inventory can solve the headaches and put control into how your organization is utilizing cloud applications.” Cloud apps expedite security, and collaterally, they’re very good for product and services development.

You can use cloud-based applications the same way you would use those traditionally employed on internal data centers, but with a fraction of the cost naturally involved in the maintenance of a given data center.

Cloud computing technology additionally allows for utility of Big Data and IoT applications, as well as applications which allow for payroll collection, and even convenient timekeeping. Such things can curtail your infrastructural costs substantially, making it so that you have increased capital that can be used for expansions.

The Ups And The Downs

Now there are security issues with the cloud, but if you think about it critically, you may be able to see how those issues actually make your security as a cloud service user even greater. Basically: it’s the prerogative of a cloud provider to continuously monitor operations and apply the most cutting edge tech solutions—otherwise they lose business.

This means your data is better-secured against external threat than most small to medium-sized businesses’. You always need backup solutions, too; and they are more quickly applied via the cloud should the worst-case scenario manifest.

Kevin Bennett is an influencer marketing pro with Brown Box Branding who is passionate about building authentic relationships and helping businesses connect with their ideal online audience. He keeps his finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving digital marketing world by writing on the latest marketing advancements​ and focuses on developing customized blogger outreach plans based on industry and competition.