Availability of WannaCry decryptor no reason for slacking: Expert

PETALING JAYA: Despite having found a decryptor for the infamous WannaCry ransomware that has hit over 200,000 devices worldwide, Malaysians have been urged to take the safe route by continuing to protect their devices.
IT security service provider LGMS founder Fong Choong Fook said the public should in fact be more cautious about the prospect of a second wave of attacks, urging all who are still using obsolete Windows devices to have their systems upgraded.
“The fact that there is a decryptor available now does not mean Malaysians can be relaxed about it. They still need to pay attention.
“Knowing the vulnerabilities of the Windows system, we should expect more forms of ransomware coming up.
“The public should be more careful, and continue backing up their devices, updating with the provided patches, and have their systems updated to the latest software,” he told theSun today.
Security researchers Adrien Guinet and Benjamin Delpy had, over the weekend, claimed to have found a way to recover the unknown encryption keys used by the ransomware.
Both these decryptors, WannaKey and WannaKiwi, however, only work if the affected computers have not been rebooted upon infection by the WannaCry worm.
Meanwhile, Fong said he has to date received information that at least 16 devices locally have been affected by the ransomware.
CyberSecurity Malaysia however has only received two official reports of the attack so far.
The WannaCry ransomware works by encrypting files on targetted Windows computers before demanding a ransom be paid in the crypt-currency Bitcoin.
It has hit over 200,000 systems from some 150 countries, with hackers charging US$300 (RM1,297) for their files to be decrypted.