Windows 10: Microsoft patches Windows XP to fight 'WannaCrypt' attacks

Until they get hit, Fafhrd! They won't be so blissful then. *Sad

 

As far as I can see, us, "the little guys" were not a target as typically we don't have much to loose, not nearly as much as organizations anyway. Some offline backup of important stuff would make treats like that just annoying. If if they hit me right now I'd be back in business in half an hour at most.

 

Not only that, I'm pretty sure that if MS hadn't issued these patches, they'd be inundated with support calls, whether or not the software was in "warranty" or not. IOW, it costs money to field all the calls they'd potentially receive, tell the caller that no, they're not covered and risk the ire of the general public . . .

I can hear the comments now . . .

"Yeah, Microsoft created a patch for those XP systems they were committed to supporting until 2019, but wouldn't release it to us who didn't have the wherewithal to (fill in the blank for yourself). Really, it wouldn't have cost them much more to let us download the patch to save our skins."

And then, you'd hear:

"It's just like a big corporation! Take care of the big customers but chunk us little guys in the dirt! They don't care about us!"

So, as your post tends to say, Count, releasing a patch for Windows XP and 8 plus Windows Server 2003 is good all the way around. There are fewer systems out there to help spread this plague, Microsoft gets a little credit (although some would give 'em a black eye) and the end user wins. Yes, I know it was killed this time, but these terroristic criminals will try again with something nastier.

And then, there are those who would blame the little guy for not having the riches the big guy has. Thankfully, Microsoft has shown it's not quite that hard-hearted yet.

 

Speak for yourself, Count. *Smile My daughter was hit the very first day. I think it may have been something else, but it was, from all information, Ransomware of some sort.

She's going to get a lesson in security, probably tomorrow, since today is Mother's Day.

 

A lesson in proper backup too I hope.

 

MS had an opportunity to gather some Good Will by releasing the patch for older, unsupported systems, and they would have been stupid not to take the opportunity.

 

Ummm, I do believe proper backup would be included in security. *Smile

 

The "vicious cycle" would be repeated reinfections from pockets of unpatched systems - all old Windows versions still connected - if Microsoft did not make the patches available to legacy Windows versions too. As I said in post#5 of this thread:

Forward thinking - there will be copycat exploits, with loopholes plugged by the malchicks, it's not over yet.

 

I'm thinking now about all those non official XP versions, those which were touched and all. Aren't they more easy to infect?

 

Windows Update Catalog and do a search for kb4012212
Is the 'medicine' for un-patched XP and W7 machines. I just did it on y old HP laptop with XP.