WannaCry Attack

The widespread WannaCry ransomware virus has made its way to a Honda assembly plants computer network in Japan- and has forced Honda to temporarily shut down operations. Reports from Japan claim that the virus has affected the carmakers computer networks in North America, Europe, China, and other parts of the world as well. The shutdown has delayed production of some of the Honda’s key vehicles, including the Accord sedan and Odyssey minivan. The plant, which is located about an hour northwest of Honda’s Tokyo headquarters, produces approximately 1,000 vehicles every day.

The WannaCry virus was discovered about a month ago after rapidly infecting computer networks around the world. It briefly shut down operations at a number of British hospitals, among other things and caused production delays at both French automaker Renault and its Japanese alliance partner Nissan. More than one million computers in 150 various countries were affected by the ransomware attack. U.S. intelligence agencies have reason to believe that the virus was unleashed by the North Korean government.

Hackers wouldn’t normally be able to pull off such a feat without tricking unassuming internet users into providing their passwords to their networks, which is the traditional way that hackers capitalize on easy online revenue. However, experts on the topic say that new software is being developed to bypass this step. A security hole in outdated versions of Microsoft Windows made these particular attacks possible.  Businesses are often slow to upgrade their operating system, and many fail to update the system in order to protect it from various security holes of the like.

As for how Honda is doing, production has resumed and they have taken steps to reinforce their virus protection regimen to avoid any similar occurrences in the future.