Photo: Wikimedia
On Monday, the 15th of May 2017, a lot of employees in the whole wide world received the message they have always dreamt of: their superior informed them to stay at home for the day until further instructions.
The cause was a widespread ransomware attack that hit computers running on Microsoft Windows - particularly older versions - everywhere in the world. As news of the cybernetic assault spread over the weekend, a lot of business owners decided to let the IT specialists boot the systems first on Monday, just to make sure everything was safe.
Some of the more high-profile companies and organizations hit included the British National Health Service and a certain FedEx, among others. Unlike other types of virus infections, this ransomware attack finds data files on the host's hard drive and then proceeds to encrypt them. After that, a ransom message is displayed demanding a payment in Bitcoin to be able to access the files again.
One month later, we though the WannaCry attack (as it was called) was behind us. Well, it seems news reach the land down under fairly slower, as approximately 55 traffic cameras in Victoria appear to have been infected by the ransomware worm.
According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the department claimed that, despite the attack, the cameras worked within parameters. However, the camera commissioner has now been informed of the situation, and if the investigation finds that drivers have received false fines due to the tempering with the system's software, they would have to be withdrawn.
However, a local news radio claims the department knew about the infection from earlier in June, but it didn't report it until the story made it on air last week.
Unlike other situations where the WannaCry ransomware worm was involved, it would seem the Victoria traffic cameras were not directly targeted by an attack. Instead, they were infected by a contractor who connected a piece of hardware that contained the virus.
Depending on what the investigation finds, the WannaCry ransomware worm might finally do some good in the world - a bunch of drives might see their speeding tickets written off, and we all know (or, at least, can imagine) how good that must feel.
Some of the more high-profile companies and organizations hit included the British National Health Service and a certain FedEx, among others. Unlike other types of virus infections, this ransomware attack finds data files on the host's hard drive and then proceeds to encrypt them. After that, a ransom message is displayed demanding a payment in Bitcoin to be able to access the files again.
One month later, we though the WannaCry attack (as it was called) was behind us. Well, it seems news reach the land down under fairly slower, as approximately 55 traffic cameras in Victoria appear to have been infected by the ransomware worm.
According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the department claimed that, despite the attack, the cameras worked within parameters. However, the camera commissioner has now been informed of the situation, and if the investigation finds that drivers have received false fines due to the tempering with the system's software, they would have to be withdrawn.
However, a local news radio claims the department knew about the infection from earlier in June, but it didn't report it until the story made it on air last week.
Unlike other situations where the WannaCry ransomware worm was involved, it would seem the Victoria traffic cameras were not directly targeted by an attack. Instead, they were infected by a contractor who connected a piece of hardware that contained the virus.
Depending on what the investigation finds, the WannaCry ransomware worm might finally do some good in the world - a bunch of drives might see their speeding tickets written off, and we all know (or, at least, can imagine) how good that must feel.
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