Okay, by now, I'm sure most of you have heard about the ransomware attacks popping up around the world, the most known one being that in the UK. That said, let me just put this out there:

UPDATE YOUR OS. What do I mean by this? It has been confirmed that the biggest chunk of this cyber attack in the UK could have been prevented by a simple update for Windows 10. "But I hate Windows 10!" Hun, I give no craps about whether or not you hate it right now, I'm talking about how to protect yourselves and others. (Additionally, this update protects anyone with a Windows computer so that's not even relevant at this moment.)

Simply update the security stuff, let Windows 10 do its updates, and don't click on anything hinky. If you don't have administrative permissions to update, contact your IT department and BUG THE CRAP OUT OF THEM. It's inexcusable.

That all said, most importantly, keep your heads.

Very important! I was following this closely when it was breaking news.

Though, you do not have to upgrade TO Windows 10; this issue affects Windows all the way from XP to 10, and there are now patched for ALL of them. (Microsoft even put out patches for outdated, unsupported OS just to help wrangle this. Get your computer to download the latest updates ASAP, on all Windows computers.

This ransomware (Wcry, if you want to google it) is vicious. Back up your data, update your computers, and do not open attachments from emails you're not EXPLICITLY expecting. Remember, spoofing a sent address isn't terribly difficult and can easily be overlooked.

Stay protected!

If you receive an email with your bank, Paypal or else and it looks fishy and ask for redirect to weird links and form to be filled: don't. If you must, contact said places and double check with them. If you are touched by a ransomware, don't pay anything at all. You'll most likely need to take your computer and put it back to "industry default setting". Even then ... It's no guaranteed to work. It will permanently remove everything in your computer. Make sure to save your things in Cloud, backup or on a separate hard drive (that's what I am doing).