Important Topics: A Massive Ransomware Cyberattack, Ebola, and…Umm…Ice Cream

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By Daisy Luther

Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

This week on Survival Saturday, while CNN and a bunch of people on Twitter are aghast that President Trump had 2 scoops of ice cream, the real news is the biggest cyber attack EVER and a new Ebola epidemic.

The NSA may indirectly be to blame for the biggest hack attack ever.



A cyber attack swept the globe on Friday as a new strain of ransomware called WannaCry caused infections in at least 99 countries. The internet security company Avast reported more than 75000 separate attacks.

According to a report on Wired.com, the attack has caused some major crises:

A new strain of ransomware has spread quickly all over the world, causing crises in National Health Service hospitals and facilities around England, and gaining particular traction in Spain, where it has hobbled the large telecom company Telefonica, the natural gas company Gas Natural, and the electrical company Iberdrola. (source)

In the United States, FedEx was hard hit by the attack. (source)

And really, even though they weren’t actually responsible for the attack, it appears that the NSA may be responsible due to a backdoor called EternalBlue in Windows software – one that was allegedly exposed during the massive Shadow Brokers dump released last month. (source)

Here’s how it works:

Ransomware works by infecting a computer, locking users out of the system (usually by encrypting the data on the hard drive), and then holding the decryption or other release key ransom until the victim pays a fee, usually in bitcoin. (source)

This was not unforeseen.

Internet security pioneer John McAfee’ company, McAfee Labs predicted this in an annual report about the cybersecurity threats facing us in 2017. The report reads:

Ransomware will be the primary threat. One of the challenges when making threat predictions is linking potential motivations with actual opportunities. Some widely publicized IoT device hacks or vulnerabilities are simply too difficult to conduct on a large scale. We are certain that ransomware will readily migrate to IoT, as it has proven to be a relatively easy way for criminals to make money. Disrupting one or more IoT devices, their control plane, or their cloud aggregation point, and holding them hostage is an easier and faster way to make money than compromising a large number of devices quietly to siphon data. We already see IoT devices being held for ransom in the power distribution and health care verticals. (source)

People are actually upset that Trump got an extra scoop of ice cream.



Because we don’t have serious issues to worry about with this administration, like Attorney General Jeff Sessions running amok, CNN breathlessly broke the news that President Trump got an extra scoop of ice cream.

This horrifying abuse of power was originally exposed without the fanfare in a Time magazine article, which also reported some other abuses, like special salad dressing, extra sauce for his chicken, and Diet Coke instead of water:

The waiters know well Trump’s personal preferences. As he settles down, they bring him a Diet Coke, while the rest of us are served water, with the Vice President sitting at one end of the table. With the salad course, Trump is served what appears to be Thousand Island dressing instead of the creamy vinaigrette for his guests. When the chicken arrives, he is the only one given an extra dish of sauce. At the dessert course, he gets two scoops of vanilla ice cream with his chocolate cream pie, instead of the single scoop for everyone else. The tastes of Pence are also tended to. Instead of the pie, he gets a fruit plate. (source)

But CNN blew the lid off the whole thing in a report headlined, “Trump gets 2 scoops of ice cream, everyone else gets 1.” (source) Which, incidentally, sounds like something my kids might have said when they were 4 and 9.

It really makes you wonder if Vladimir Putin likes ice cream too.

In conclusion, I’d just like to say that if I was the president, not only would I have extra ice cream, I would always claim the corner piece of cake because it has more frosting than the other pieces. Because. I’m the president, that’s why.

Ebola is back.



In news that you should actually pay attention to, the World Health Organization has declared another Ebola epidemic. (source) The last time there was such an epidemic, the dreaded disease made it to the shores of America, and the fact that it didn’t become widespread was NOT because it was handled properly. (source, source, and source) It was sheer luck.

The fact that this epidemic is currently in the North East Congo should set your mind at ease, although not so much that you don’t keep on eye on the situation. With the availability of rapid air travel, these types of things can spread incredibly quickly.

In fact, it was in just such a scenario that the whole thing almost started in the US back in 2014. A man from an Ebola-stricken region traveled to the United States. He went to the hospital, only to be turned away to go back to his apartment building and stay with his family. He returned later, presenting with full-blown Ebola. His nurse did not use the appropriate protective gear and also contracted Ebola. (source)

That’s how quickly it can happen. One person on a flight. Although it didn’t occur in 2014, had the victim been contagious, every person on the plane with him would have been exposed. When they got on connecting planes, they would have flown to all corners of the country, where they would have exposed others.

In 2014, I wrote that the only way to protect yourself and your family was to go into full lockdown mode, and self-isolation is still the best way to prevent contracting most pandemic illnesses. Here’s an updated article about prepping for a pandemic. Be on the lookout for a pandemic preparedness course from Preppers University within in the next month. It’s a project we’d already been developing before this new outbreak even occurred, but we’re speeding up the timeline to provide this important information.

Incidentally, the New Jersey biopharmaceutical company Soligenix just received a Japanese patent for an Ebola vaccine on May 9. (source)

This Week in Preparedness…

The next session of Prepping Intensives begins tomorrow night. Are you signed up yet? Learn more about them here or go ahead and get registered. This could be the most important class you ever take.

The big story this week was that an organic farm in Oregon is about to be sprayed with pesticide against their will by the government of Sherman County, Oregon. Go here to find out how you can help save Azure Standard Farm.

Other Preparedness and Self-Reliance Articles of Interest:

Other Articles of Interest

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

Do you have any news links you want to share? What are your thoughts on the topics above? Now’s the time! Please post your links in the comments section below and join the discussion!