This year has seen a lot of tech developments for the good, a lot has been happening on the bad side too, but we never like talking about this. Well this was not the case when a hospital in Ontario was attacked by malicious programs recently. The administrator of the Joomla CMS based website admitted that the website was directing their visitors off to unintended websites. The sites that were being landed on have been labeled as sources of ransomware that was present on other computers on the hospital’s computer infrastructure. As expected when things like this happen, their IT security provider denied the revelations.
The administrator of the website revealed to us why the site was acting in such a way. They said it had an outdated version of the CMS on which it is built, version 2.5.6, while the most secure version of Joomla is the 3.4.8. The website has since been upgraded and made secure of the loopholes. It is now safe to visit the Norfolk General Hospital’s website – that is what the owners say. I can just imagine how many other unreported attacks have occurred and are affecting computers around the area from this.
Asking web hosting providers in Calgary about what they think about the hospital’s attacked website, they were eager to let us know some valuable insights. A British-Columbia based security expert also divulged their thoughts on the website’s security issue. They had already alerted the hospital about the security issue and advised that it be made offline from visitors until it had been resolved. Upon checking if they had upgraded the version, a negative came back. So the website is safe to visit, but still runs on the old version of Joomla. The consulted security expert warns how it will just take a little time until it gets attacked again.
Web hosting calgary based websites and even those from outside the area requires that all sites be up to date in as far as security is concerned. This is so that other websites don’t get infected from malicious files that propagate fast. The local computers infected all require antivirus software installed on them to keep everything on them safe. The case is not the same for web hosting calgary companies, they have to ensure their services are totally secured from possible threats.
With the strand of attack that hit the hospital being advanced everyday, there is a huge challenge for security specialists the world over to develop scalable security features. Other websites in Toronto and all over Canada have been attacked and are leaking ransomware to their unsuspecting visitors. Some 10 thousand attacks have been stopped through close monitoring of systems by Malwarebytes, a software solution to the situation, which if you have not thought of installation, should read around and check if your computer is under risk.
Elsewhere in the world, MacAfee says they noticed a rise in malicious programs since the end of 2015. A cause for security levels to rise.