Is it right to pay the WannaCry Ransomware to get data back?
Last Friday a major ransomware based cyberattack was launched on global scale which left hundreds of computers infected with the WannaCry. Security experts had advised the users to update their Windows in order to minimize the threat of the ransomware. However the major question which is being tackled by the infected users is ‘whether to pay up the ransom or not’?
Most of the security experts had put forward the advice that one shouldn’t pay the ransom in any given scenario. For a number of users paying a sum of $300 isn’t too much to get back their encrypted data stored back to its original state. But paying ransom will only made the attackers resolve stronger and they will be compelled to bring much higher level of threats which can lead massive financial and other losses.
Paying isn’t the right course of action
The people behind the WannaCry ransomware has set up a number of digital wallets to track the Bitcoin payments made for the ransom and it shows quite a number of people are willing to part with their money in order to get their data back. A number of security experts have stated that these people are dealing with the criminals and they shouldn’t expect the honest transaction. The reason behind such statement is that on analyzing the WannaCry it was found that its design doesn’t offer any promises of regaining the access to the files in any way even after paying the ransom.
A UK security firm called Hacker House experts has stated that a usual ransomware works by encrypting all the data present on the computer then asks for a ransom. When the ransom is paid then hackers tend to provide the key which helps in decrypting the data but in case of the WannaCry it requires a manual human operator to activate the decryption process.
In simple words paying the ransom will not result in getting back the encrypted data to its original form in any manner in WannaCry hacking. Security researchers had tried to get in touch with the people behind the WannaCry ransomware but they had remained silent. Therefore when the victims try to contact the WannaCry hackers in order to get the key for unlocking the files then it’s doubtful that someone will heed to them.
What you should be doing instead?
WannaCry has mainly targeted the business networks on the global scale by exploiting the vulnerability present in the Windows operating system. All those users who had been affected by this WannaCry ransomware should note that they are not likely to get their data back unless they had backed their data on a spate device earlier.
Therefore people should make a habit of backing up their files on a spate device or a different machine on a regular basis. It is also possible to get rid of this WannaCry ransomware from the device or system but the process is certainly isn’t a straightforward one. A technical support website called Bleeping Computer has set down a guideline for removing the ransomware but it involves downloading of some specific programs.
