Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

M$ still support embedded* XP systems (until ~2020) so they're just making public a patch that exists anyway.

*Gaming machines, pub quiz, airport schedule displays etc

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

It's not just government though is it. Far more commercial organisations have been hit.

Maybe MS could just develop products which don't have so many serious vulnerabilities that require patching in the first place. ;)

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

XP is a very old operating system at this point and for major architectural changes they need to move on with new releases. XP was supported for 12 years and the British government had a contract for even further support which they, foolishly, cancelled in 2015. How long can Microsoft be expected to continue providing support for an operating system released in 2001? The world has moved on.

As papa smurf said the fault here lies with the Government and the NHS. You simply cannot justify using XP so long after it's release and long past it's generous support window ending. They had more than enough time to to update or commission new software that was dependent on XP. They had more than enough time to update the hardware. Microsoft have been aggressively warning about the end of support for over 5 years.

An XP machine connected to the internet is a recipe for disaster.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

Well you can always use Apple instead :D

I can remember sitting in front of a terminal and it would go unresponsive. Ah yes the computer is about to crash and restart and thats back in the 1980's.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

Windows 10 is more secure. The nature of software means it's always an arms-race with these things and the nature of the threat evolves.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

I beg to differ, my XP SP2 machine is permanently connected to the net, has never been patched since the OS was installed over 10 years ago and does not get infected. The issue is NOT the age of the OS but the stupidity/naivety of the staff using the computers.

This worm affects all versions of windows upto and including W10.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

XP2 stopped receiving security patches years ago. It may be possible to keep to secure if you know what you're doing but vulnerabilities remain.

I hadn't heard Windows 10 was vulnerable to this. Ars state it's not: https://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2...dows-versions/ whereas previous ones such as Windows 8 and 7 are still in their extended support cycles so should have been patched already. Any Windows 8 or 7 machine that kept up to date would also not be vulnerable.

This post better explains what happened: https://www.troyhunt.com/everything-...pt-ransomware:

So the flaw in previous versions of Windows allowed this to spread so fast. A single computer might be hit by the negligence of staff but unpatched computers caused to to spread.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

It's not the date of release that we should be looking at, but the date it ceased to be sold. I've had to replace my Windows Vista with Windows 10 after only about 7 years' or so use out of it. They should continue to support software for about 15 years at least after the last date they stopped selling it. Not everyone can afford to replace their computer on a regular basis, which is what I had to do.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

lol The NHS would be bankrupt if they did that. ;)

I've managed to stay trouble free since the days of Win 3.1 (touching wood :erm: ) so quite happy with with what MS have provided. Then again I don't go surfing dodgy sites and blindly clicking on every email I receive.

I know personal responsibility seems to be going out of fashion in some areas of our lives but maybe HMG should launch a new public information campaign. How about:

THINK before you CLICK!!

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

Now over 200,000 people affected in 150 countries.


Cyber-attack threat escalating - Europol - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39913630

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

I actually saw on a gaming forum someone admitting they were now opening any email so they could see what this does and it was ok because if anything happened to his laptop he would get his dad to sort it out. Suddenly made it clear to me how these things spread so quick.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

There really are some very simple//stupid people out there and no matter what HMG (or anyone else for that matter) does they can't really prevent naive idiots or even dangerous individuals with terrorist sympathies from doing such things.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

Yup.. Although you can also get infected from visiting mainstream sites. There are cases where someone manages to place malicious code into those ad networks which in turn exploits a bug in the browser or OS to install itself and then game over man, game over.

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

Smurf-mad IT expert who saved the world from ransomware virus now helping GCHQ prevent new attacks


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...e-virus-lives/

Re: Large Scale Cyber-Attack Hits 40 NHS Hospitals
 

That's why I use a script blocker. It's the most likely way for a malicious website to gain access to your machine. I also blacklist all those trackers that target advertising.