smart move
Covert infections will eventually allow the author to switch larger number of victims to ransomware mode. I guess something like it was to be expected.
Miscreants have created a strain of malware that targets the same vulnerability as the infamous WannaCrypt worm. EternalRocks worm uses flaws in the SMB Server Message Block (SMB) shares networking protocol to infect unpatched Windows systems. Unlike WannaCrypt, EternalRocks doesn't bundle a destructive malware payload, at …
More like culling of the weak and infirm....
XP: "I'm not dead!"
Customer: "What?"
Microsoft: Nothing -- here's your next forced update.
XP: I'm not dead!
Customer: Here -- he says he's not dead!
Microsoft: Yes, he is.
XP: I'm not!
Customer: He isn't.
Microsoft: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
XP: I'm getting better!
Microsoft: No, you're not -- you'll be stone dead in a moment....
// you know the rest.
Only the award looks like it should go to Windows 7, not XP. There is emerging analysis that a tiny fraction of affected machines were XP and the primary platform of preference for WannaCry was Windows 7. For instance, https://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2017/05/windows-7-not-xp-was-the-reason-last-weeks-wcry-worm-spread-so-widely/
I suspect that probably says more about the relative number of unprotected Windows 7 machines offering their SMB ports for pwnage, although it does leave a little potential kudos on the table for those who may have made a decision to continue using XP but taken sensible precautions.
After August 2015 the only way to continue using a Windows 7 system was to disable automatic updates. Those who failed to do this were (almost) sure to wake up using Windows 10 at some moment before August 2016 (or later). In the light of this, it is not surprising that most infections are on Windows 7 systems. There probably are not many Windows 7 systems left in the world which are being patched on the regular basis.
Nah, try the unofficial updater built on GNU tools: wsusoffline.net
Yeah - because it's such a good idea to rely on an unknown[1] 3rd-party for your system updates.
[1] Regardless whether it's built with open-source or not. That won't stop them injecting malicious updates if they chose to.
WannaCrypt/EternalRocks style malware? Or taking a chance on Microsoft not killing all their operating systems, except Windows 10, with their beta security updates?
I do not trust MS to do anything not in their own interests. They do think they own our computers and can tell us how they want us to be using them.
Not at all surprised, more deserved suffering for XP-tards, no sympathy or pity due!
I'd say that Microsoft is the lesser of the two evils and it's often easier to mitigate or fix their issues, basically these XP-tards should have upgraded to the far more secure Windows 7, years ago. Offensive compromise and modification can be far worse hassle to resolve that a failed update.
What should be in place for all OS's is network port filtering blocks to stop risky ports like SMB being accessible on insecure networks like the Internet or public WiFi, using NAT in a router to block all unmapped ports, and if possible IP-range white-listing of ports by a firewall in XP to further limit exposure e.g. using Ghostwall.