Here we go again. The world wide major hack of government systems that
has locked up all their files and a demand for bit coins to release them.
The whole British National heath Scheme is held to ransom.
Why on earth does anyone connect any critical system to the internet ?
I wonder if our electrical system is so connected ?
I remember many years ago I asked a friend who was involved with the
communications system of the Electricity Commission if they would be
using the internet.
No way he said, we have our own microwave links everywhere and no one
can get at us. Actually not quite correct but much more difficult.
This was around the time when Kevin Mitnick was a black hat hero.
Here we are today when people connect their systems to the internet
and believe they have it all sorted.

Wasn't whatever the 'thing' is pinched off U.S military intelligence? WTF!

The worst part is that politicians and bankers want us to go cash free.

Just imagine.
Trying to pay for something when internet gets hacked.
Someone hacks your account try to prove you had one.
Transfers your funds to there account.
Try to pay when the internet is not working.
You want funds while traveling you will pay a fortune in commissions, exchange rates and other fees.
How stupid can they get you want to buy an ice cream or small value item How long will it take the banks to put a limit on purchases per month or week.

I am sure others can think of more.

Some other organizations effected.

Germany's Deutsche Bahn national railway operator was affected, with information screens and ticket machines hit. Travelers tweeted pictures of hijacked departure boards showing the ransom demand instead of train times. But the company insisted that trains were running as normal.
Renault: The French automobile giant was hit, forcing it to halt production at sites in France and its factory in Slovenia as part of measures to stop the spread of the virus.
FedEx: The US package delivery group acknowledged it had been hit by malware and said it was "implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible." .
Russian banks, ministries, railways: Russia's central bank was targeted, along with several government ministries and the railway system. The interior ministry said 1,000 of its computers were hit by a virus. Officials played down the incident, saying the attacks had been contained.
Telefonica: The Spanish telephone giant said it was attacked but "the infected equipment is under control and being reinstalled," said Chema Alonso, the head of the company's cyber security unit and a former hacker.
Sandvik: Computers handling both administration and production were hit in a number of countries where the company operates, with some production forced to stop. "In some cases the effects were small, in others they were a little larger," Head of External Communications Par Altan said.

Continued

China too was materially impacted, to the point where not only local ATMs had been taken offline, but Chinese traffic police, immigration authorities and various public security bureaus and schools have suspended normal work until the malware threat is resolved.

In addition to China, South Korea and Japan have also been seriously impacted.

Anyone want to trust their information on internet now?

Cash free? I'm going back to cash as much as is possible; it's just too easy to be robbed, given the lack of interest that the so-called authorities show in protecting systems.

I mean, how stupid were we to meekly accept 'pay wave' on our credit cards? Lose your card, or have it stolen these days, and you may as well leave $100 notes around for the thieves to spend, because they can swipe as many times as they like, all over the place, for amounts up to $100 until you get your card cancelled.

The bulls..t artists who blather on about how we need to protect our money are the very people who enabled the crooks in the first place.