The WannaCry malware misfortune could have been prevented if people kept their automatic Windows updates on.
No matter who tells you to disable the automatic updates from Windows; do not listen. A lot of businesses have IT people working to fight this problem but your average person on their laptop or desktop probably doesn’t. That is where Windows is there to help you.
Both Apple and Windows offer some type of automatic update that patch holes where hackers can get in. If you have updated your Windows system since Vista you were protected from the malicious cyberattack, WannaCry because Windows found this weakness before the hackers did.
Although updates can sometimes come at the wrong time they require zero effort from the user. Once the feature is enabled, the PC does all the work for you.
One important thing to understand is when dealing with a device you must be proactive instead of reactive because once you lose files you may never get them back. The default setting on a Windows device is to have your system update automatically. They make it even easier on you with extras like warnings to save your work before it updates or preferred times to automatically update, like in the middle of the night.
This system is not flawless. They are frequent, too frequent, and sometimes you don’t even notice a change. However, Windows is working on this. They are making more significant changes over a longer span of time. Nonetheless, this annoyance can’t compare to the result of not updating your device.
According to Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Officer, “This attack demonstrates the degree to which cybersecurity has become a shared responsibility between tech companies and customers. The fact that so many computers remained vulnerable two months after the release of a patch illustrates this aspect. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, there is simply no way for customers to protect themselves against threats unless they update their systems. Otherwise they’re literally fighting the problems of the present with tools from the past,” found in this article by Troy Hunt.
If you haven’t already, enable automatic updates on whatever device you are reading this on.