Protect Against WannaCry: Microsoft Issues Patch for Unsupported Windows
In the wake of the largest ransomware attack in the history that had already infected over 114,000
Windows systems worldwide since last 24 hours, Microsoft just took an unusual step to protect its customers with out-of-date computers.
Microsoft has just released an emergency security patch update for all its unsupported version of Windows, including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 8, Server 2003 and 2008 Editions.
So, if your organization, for some reason, is still running on Windows XP or Vista, you are strongly advised to download and APPLY PATCH NOW!
WannaCrypt,
or also known as WannaCry, is a new ransomware that wreaked havoc across the world last night, which spreads like a worm by leveraging a Windows SMB vulnerability (MS17-010) that has been previously fixed by Microsoft in March.
A large number of successful infections of the WannaCry ransomware at an astonishing pace concludes that either significant number of users have not yet installed the security patch released in March (MS17-010) or they are still running an unsupported version of Windows for which Microsoft is no longer releasing any security update.
Moreover, if you are using Windows 10, you are on the safe side.
"The exploit code used by WannaCrypt was designed to work only against unpatched Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (or earlier OS) systems, so Windows 10 PCs are not affected by this attack," Microsoft says.
Once infected, WannaCry locks files on the computers and requires victims to pay $300 in Bitcoins to get back the control of their systems, along with a threat to double the price to $600.
But there's no guarantee of getting your files back even after paying the ransom.
