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UK Auditors Blast NHS 'Basic' Security Failures Over WannaCry Cyberattack

The UK's National Audit Office (NAO) has said the country's health service failed to "follow best practices" to prevent the WannaCry cyberattack. [19459003

The National Health Service (NHS) was one of the first major victims of May's International Bitcoin ransomware, which demanded users pay $ 300 in order to regain access to infected computers.

Despite being a "relatively unsophisticated attack, "the NAO said in a new report, the NHS was easy prey. WannaCry "

" There are more sophisticated cyber-threats out there than WannaCry, so the Department of Health and the NHS need to get their Act to ensure the success of the NHS is better protected against future attacks, "it advised.

The report comes as a new variety of ransomware known as Bad Rabbit makes its way across the world, infecting public computer systems in Russia, Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe and even Japan.

WannaCry was the most prolific attack of its kind, spreading easily due to a conspicuous lack of security guarding the IT systems of its victims.

"The NHS could have gotten rid of this attack if it had been taken out of the UK by the government and the public.

"… The NHS and the department need to get s "

Though the discovery of an antidote, WannaCry's effect was limited after a certain point, and the attack was notable for the correspondingly meager amounts collected by hackers. This led Russia's Internet advisor Herman Klimenko to the perpetrators were children.