What You Need To Know About The WannaCry Ransomware Virus

On May 12 a ransomware virus, WannaCry, was released on the Internet and rapidly spread to hundreds of thousands of Microsoft Windows based computers in over 150 countries.  The malware encrypts critical files on a computer, such as Excel, Word, and other important files, and seeks out backup copies for encryption as well.  Once it infects a system, it requires the victim to pay approximately $300 in digital currency (Bitcoin), and immediately tries to find other systems to infect.