Russia’s Top Religious Official Sprays Holy Water on Computers to prevent Cyber Attacks

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Just as the UK’s NHS, corporations, and government agencies around the globe react and try to overcome the recent ransomware virus attack WannaCry (which we reported here) that forced thousands of computers offline, Russia has come up with a novel way of dealing with the cybersecurity situation: holy water.

The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church was invited to the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to douse the computers with holy water to protect them from incursion.
Apparently, it’s a common and regular custom in Russia for Orthodox priests to bless server rooms and other bits of modern technology. Several other images of the practice surfaced in replies to the now-viral photograph.

With little separation between church and state in Russia, the Orthodox Church is considered one of the country’s most important institutions with firm ties to the government. Its leader, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, has power which is comparable to the Pope and he collaborates closely with President Vladimir Putin in matters of state, whom he once described as “a miracle of God.”

So for you Cyber Security guys and gals out there in Ireland, urgently trying to keep hackers, virus’s and ransomware at bay, maybe a bit of holy water is going to be the answer to your prayers, just be careful to not get it inside your Mac as I am not sure Applecare will be keen to replace due to ‘holy’ water damage.

I’m not sure how successful the Russian holy water preventative measures have been in preventing cyber attacks, but who knows we may see the Catholic Church in Ireland funds creating their own cyber security combat force armed with litres of holy water straight from Lourdes and judging by how many large organisations were victims of the recent WannaCry attack, I’m sure there are organisations out there who need every blessing they can get.

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