WikiLeaks - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

Wikileaks – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly!

So just to start off – I’ll let you know that I’m a full supporter of the work and the activists that produce the public information provided by WikiLeaks.

I have a lot of respect for the likes of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden - and associated groups that bring forward to the public eye the exploits that have been in use for years by the NSA, CIA etc.

Ok, that’s the Good done with! – now the bad…

The unfortunate result of releasing these exploits into the public domain is that black hat dev and cyber criminals will jump on these straight away and start producing malware like Wcry ransomware and also bitcoin mining botnets (Adylkuzz ) - which were not noticed until Wcry hit the news (the exploits had already been in circulation, un-noticed and mining bitcoins for the criminals).

Now the Ugly…

Basically - I’m not calling “end users" ugly but, the fact of the matter is that end users are (the weakest link) not aware enough to be using systems that they can’t distinguish a spam email from a real email! Or a false (phishing) website. They shouldn’t be allowed access to emails or the internet. As for system Admins – if they aren’t keeping all of your systems updated/patched – it’s time to let them go!

In summary – End User Awareness is key. Also, patches are key. Knowledge is key! (Wikileaks).

Useful links:

Free patching Software for home users: https://heimdalsecurity.com/en/

Wikileaks: https://wikileaks.org/

Me: https://www.cybrary.it/0p3n/ransomware-protection/

Free for Home and Business Anti Ransomware Software thanks to cybereason.com:  https://ransomfree.cybereason.com/