NITDA alerts Nigerians on Petya ransomware attack
Following the rampaging spill of ransomware in the world, the management of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which implements the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordinates general IT development and regulation in the country, has alerted Nigerians on another deadly cyber-attack, similar to the recent ‘WannaCry’ attack.
This attack, called, ‘Petya’ ransomware or ‘GoldenEye’, not only encrypts files but also encrypts hard drives, rendering entire computer system inaccessible.
The attack, the agency said has paralysed businesses across the world and is spreading quickly, using a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that was patched in March 2017- the same bug that was exploited by the WannaCry ransomware
The reports indicated that countries affected so far include Ukraine, Denmark, Russia, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the USA.
The Agency stated that while its CERRT team is working round the clock along with other stakeholders to come up with effective defence mechanism for the Nigerian cyberspace, other Network Administrators in the public and private sectors as well as, individuals should take the following measures recommended during the recent WannaCry attack: isolate the system from your network to prevent the threat from further spreading; remove the system from Network; and do not use flash/pen drive, external drives on the System to copy files to other systems.
The statement by the Agency added that, as a general precautionary measure and as the security of systems remain collective responsibility, individuals and organisations should: regularly update their operating systems with the latest patches; regularly update their software applications with latest patches; turnoff unnecessary/unneeded features; avoid downloading and opening unsolicited files and attachments; adjust security software to scan compressed or archived files; and avoid indiscriminate use of wireless connections, such as Bluetooth or infrared ports.
By Tony Nwakae
