Global ransomware attack puts Manitoba systems on alert

The global WannaCry ransomware attackhas Manitoba's government agencies and departments on edge and reviewing their own computer security protocols.

An email was sent Monday morning to all government employees warning civil servants to think carefully before opening an attachment or link in an email, a Manitoba spokesperson said.

As of Monday afternoon at 4:15 p.m., the spokesperson reported no provincial departments have been affected by Wannacry.

The ransomwareis spread by people clicking on links inemails thatbringup a red screen which says, "Ooops, your files have been encrypted."

The attack then locks up a user's files, making them inaccessible, and demands a ransom payment inBitcoinsto prevent files from being destroyed.

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Every government computer has antivirus software, the provincial spokesperson said, and Manitoba "regularly updates security systems to ensure all information remains safe and protected."

TheWannaCry attack, which began in London Friday, has since affected computers in 150 countries, including Britain's hospital network, Germany's national railway,FedEx and scores of other companies and government agencies.

In Ontario, anOshawa hospital was affected but officials said their security system was able to deflect the attack.

To the west in Saskatchewan, a cyber attack caused sporadic outages of government websites Monday but it's still unclear whether the attack is part of Wannacry.

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While there is no evidence the Wannacry attackhas infiltrated health-sector computers in Manitoba, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said employees are being urged to avoid opening any suspicious-looking emails.

The warning about malware was sent out by Manitoba eHealth, a spokesperson said, noting there are a number of precautions in place in the WRHA systems.

Protect your home computers: expert

Winnipeg tech expert Michael Legary says Wannacry is a wake-up call for people to update their personal systems and avoid unfamiliar emails.

"It's good hygiene for information security and this is a perfect example this week of not enough of us are doing that on a regular basis," said Legary,who helped create innovation alley in Winnipeg and now works with the city.

"We have to be vigilant every day with security, so making sure you're running the latest version of your operating system and making sure that you ran all the updates that are available for your computer, using an appropriate firewall or updated router for your home computer that can block these types of things or attempt to filter them."

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Wannacrymainly targets Windows computers and is not designed for Macs or smartphones, he said. But that doesn't mean Macs are impenetrable.

Other attacks do impact Apple computers while phones are "becoming more susceptible," he said.

The only way to be absolutely protected is to avoid anything that comes from someone you don't know.

"When a ransomware attempts an attack, it might look like someone's sending you an invoice or money or a special Word document or a zip file you need to open," Legary said.

"Whenever you receive something like that from somebody you don't know you want to be wary."

Cyber security tips

7 years ago

Duration 3:03

CBC's Marjorie Dowhos talks with Michael Legary, a cyber security expert with the city of Winnipeg. He says this ransomware can hit anyone, not just corporations and government agencies.