Brace yourself! With 7 hack tools to WannaCry's 2, EternalRocks is worse

What you need to know about the new cyber threat, and the steps you should take to protect yourself

Not even a week has passed and reports of a new cyber attack is making rounds across the globe. A new strain of malware that uses Microsoft's Server Message Block (SMB) networking protocol surfaced on Sunday, the Fortune reported on Sunday

Last week, the Wannacry, which is ransomware that encrypts files on infected machines and demands payment for unlocking them, affected systems worldwide. 

A majority of the affected systems had unpatched versions of Windows 7 that made their systems more vulnerable to infection.

The matter came to light as a researcher alerted the world about the EternalRocks worm through a tweet on Saturday.

A second tweet was posted assuring the netizens across the world of further updates on how to deal with the attack. It also shared details of the worm, which was allegedly emerged in the first half of May 2017. (Read more: Here)

However, researchers have said that the WannaCry malware has certain loopholes that made containment easier. But are we secure from the bigger, scarier and more dangerous EternalRocks? Lets hope so.

How is EternalRocks different from WannaCry?

Although the malware uses the same route and flaw to infect Windows-enabled systems, it is said to be way more dangerous, because EternalRocks reportedly uses seven hacking tools that were leaked from the NSA.

The Wannacry malware, even with just two NSA tools, wreaked havoc affecting over 48,000 systems in India itself.  Globally, it affected 150 countries and affecting over 2,40,000 machines across the globe.

Much like its precedent, the EternalRocks malware can spread easily to other systems using the NSA tool EterenalBlue. However, containing the virus can be an uphill task as there is no kill switch.

Apart from the EternalBlue tool, the worm uses six other NSA tools, with names like EternalChampion, EternalRomance, and DoublePulsar (which is also part of WannaCry), reported the Fortune.

Moreover, even if the malware does not lock or corrupt files, it leaves the system vulnerable and prone to infection from external sources. Remote commands can be used to weaponise the infection any time.

What you need to do to protect your systems from wroms, viruses, malwares
 

Update your Windows OS asap. Much like WannaCry malware, the SMB worm is more likely to infect systems with older versions of the operating system.


Install and update your anti-virus software.


Install or activate system firewall to maintain a barrier between suspicious links and your system


Try to avoid setting obvious and simple passwords. If using personal details like names or dates, try using a combination of alphabets and numbers. A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters is also a safer approach.

If you have a pirated version of Windows, your system is more vulnerbale to infection. It is best to intall a genuine version of Windows OS at the earliest.