On May 12th 2017 a new strain of the Ransom.CryptXXX (WannaCry) began spreading widely impacting a large number of organizations, particularly in Europe. WannaCry encrypts data files and, according to latest reports, asks users to pay a $300 ransom.
WannaCry exploits a vulnerability in the Windows operating system for which Microsoft issued a patch on March 14th. If you are running Windows you are advised to check as soon as possible that the system has been updated .
For further details about how best to protect yourself against WannaCry and ransomware generally please refer to the link below from Symantec.
https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/what-you-need-know-about-wannacry-ransomware..