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NITDA alerts on new cyber-attack, petya ransomware

By Nkechi Onyedika-Ugoeze, Abuja
29 June 2017   |   2:57 am
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has alerted Nigerians on another deadly cyber-attack similar to the recent ‘wannacry’ attack.According to the agency, the attack, called ‘petya’ ransomware or ‘goldeneye’, not only encrypts files but also encrypts hard drives, rendering entire computer system inaccessible.

Director General, NITDA, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has alerted Nigerians on another deadly cyber-attack similar to the recent ‘wannacry’ attack.According to the agency, the attack, called ‘petya’ ransomware or ‘goldeneye’, not only encrypts files but also encrypts hard drives, rendering entire computer system inaccessible.

NITDA, however, assured Nigerians that members of its CERRT team are working with other stakeholders to come up with effective defence mechanism for the Nigerian cyberspace

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Director-General of the agency, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, said the attack had paralysed businesses across the world and is spreading quickly with reports indicating that countries affected so far include Ukraine, Denmark, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the United States (U.S.)

Pantami observed that the malware is spreading using a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that was patched in March 2017 — the same bug that was exploited by the WannaCry ransomware.

He, therefore, called on all citizens, especially critical stakeholders in the IT industry, to support NITDA in this onerous task by always following best practices as well as being proactive in the way information and systems are handled.

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