WannaCry Ransomware: Ίσως να φαίνεται απίστευτο ότι εξακολουθούμε να ανακαλύπτουμε κενά ασφαλείας σε software που useshas been going on for decades. Most of us might expect that, at least for software that hundreds of millions of people use every day, bugs should have been found and fixed.
But the chaos caused by the WannaCry ransomware last week shows how difficult it is to ensure that even in the most used software, things will not go wrong and even on a large scale.
This is because software is seldom designed or written in isolation. Sometimes developers rely on old codes written by others and link them to other systems that can not even be built. The code is often hurriedly written by developers who intend to fix it later. And as business priorities change, the coding format must be changed, whether we refer to coding languages used or how to manage projects.
Instead of pursuing perfection, software development is more often a compromise. Think of an office building in the middle of a busy city: it may have to be built over old drains and underground railroads. The project manager hopes that the basement will not start flooding, or even worse, that the foundations will not rot and will collapse the building.
This does not mean that software companies should abandon: the importance of robust code and secure software can be increased by using it from automotive to medical equipment.
But writing now and fixing it later doesn't seem to be one anymore choice. It might be for a trivial piece of software, but it's not for the developers who develop critical systems we rely on every day.
But others who are not developers should recognize the importance of creating and maintaining software security by rewarding companies that set these standards as a priority.
We should also recognize that the software will inevitably leave us “hanging” occasionally. This may involve supporting the systems and data but also prepare for the worst. It also means that we should better understand the risks we face.
Too many events allowed WannaCry to be so aggressive (leaks of hacking CIA tools, vulnerabilities in older ones Windows, systems that were not updated).
All the signs (see the leaks WikiLeaks (more CIA tools) indicate that more "storms" will follow, perhaps larger than the latter.
More “WannaCry” are coming, and this will be soon, so get ready.