WannaCry ransomware attack
The WannaCry ransomware attack was a worldwide cyberattack by the WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm, which targeted computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The attack started on Friday, 12 May 2017, and within a day was reported to have infected more than 230,000 computers in over 150 countries. Parts of Britain's National Health Service (NHS), Spain's Telefónica, FedEx and Deutsche Bahn were hit, along with many other countries and companies worldwide. WannaCry spreads across local networks and the Internet to systems that have not been updated with recent security updates, to directly infect any exposed systems. A "critical" patch had been issued by Microsoft on 14 March 2017 to remove the underlying vulnerability for supported systems, nearly two months before the attack, but many organizations had not yet applied it. Those still running exposed older, unsupported op