The WannaCry ransomware attacks that began Friday are a dramatic demonstration of the value of making regular backups of your valuable content. Ransomware encrypts the data in your storage system or personal computer, only making your data available to you again if you pay the ransom.

The WannaCry ransomware attack spread to 150 countries, impacting over 10,000 organizations and 200,000 individuals in over 150 countries. The attack was based upon a security flaw in Windows XP. The attacks began on Friday afternoon, infecting England’s National Health Service and spread to many other companies and individuals. A 22-year-old cyber-security expert known as MalwareTech slowed the attack by registering a domain name he discovered in the ransomware’s code. However since then at least two new variations of the ransomware have cropped up.

Whatever the outcome of the current WannaCry attacks on individuals, companies and organizations; it points out the value of having good clean backups in a secure storage system in order to recover data otherwise hidden behind ransomware.  These attacks also show the value of having the latest security patches installed and a comprehensive security software running on your computers and servers.

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