WannaCry 2019: Ransomware still thriving

Two years after WannaCry first crippled hospitals, shipping companies, and government agencies worldwide, the ransomware strain is still actively infecting systems. A Healthcare IT News report found that WannaCry remains one of the most detected ransomware families, largely because organizations still haven’t patched the vulnerability it exploits.

Why WannaCry Is Still Spreading

WannaCry targets a known Windows vulnerability (MS17-010) that Microsoft patched in March 2017. The fact that it’s still spreading tells us something uncomfortable: many businesses still aren’t applying critical patches in a timely manner.

The reasons are predictable: legacy systems that can’t be updated, flat networks where one infected device spreads to everything else, and IT teams that lack visibility into what’s actually running on their network.

What This Means for Your Business

If your organization doesn’t have a current inventory of every device and application on your network, you’re operating blind. You can’t patch what you don’t know exists, and you can’t protect what you can’t see.

Effective ransomware prevention starts with the basics:

• Asset inventory: know every endpoint, server, and IoT device on your network
• Patch management: apply critical security updates within days, not months
• Network segmentation: prevent lateral movement if one system is compromised
• Continuous monitoring: detect threats before they spread across your environment

These aren’t advanced capabilities. They’re foundational, and most managed IT providers should be delivering them as part of standard operations. SMBs are particularly vulnerable to these attacks, as we detail in our post on why ransomware increasingly targets small and medium businesses.