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Microsoft has issued a critical Windows update to older machines to prevent a vulnerability which could allow attacks to spread in a similar way to WannaCry.
The computing giant has taken the drastic and unusual step of providing a fix to systems it no longer supports, including Windows XP – its popular operating system released almost 18 years ago.
Microsoft says the vulnerability affects a part of the Remote Desktop Services feature on some previous versions of Windows, which could allow devastating malware attacks to pass from vulnerable computer to vulnerable computer, as WannaCry did.
WannaCry notably hit parts of the NHS in May 2017, disrupting 80 trusts across England alone because they were either infected by the ransomware or had turned off their devices or systems as a precaution.
[Update: The official Microsoft announcement should have been included in the story. Please be aware this warning applies only to older version of Windows; Windows 8 and 10 are not affected. (Hat tip to user "All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us") --martyb]
(Score: 4, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Thursday May 16 2019, @02:16PM (1 child)
Really? Ahh such purity! Don't use Windows, even a little bit, never feel forced to to muck about with it because someone else just has to have that game or office or tax software or whatever?
Yes, I've turned off RDS before. You can get to the whole list of Windows services through the Control Panel. On Windows 8.1, it's Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Services. There are several Remote Desktop services, and they can all be set to manual, or if you're feeling extra hatred of such misfeatures, disabled. Remote Registry is another one that's good to shut down. And hey, if you're not using Windows networking, just need the TCP/IP stack, you can turn off the Server and Wrokstation services as well. Lots of other services can be stopped. Not doing any printing from that machine? Shut off the Print Spooler!
Windows 7 should be nearly the same or the same, as I recall, but M$ is forever rearranging the menus.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday May 16 2019, @03:01PM
I had started a long reply but you've covered much. Yes, MS keeps rearranging things trying to fool people into thinking the newest Windows is so much different and better. Win10 pops up most of the same applets / snapins that look like XP / 2000. I like that they're still there, but it's tedious to keep remembering where they are depending on Windows version.
I'll add: go into Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services and turn OFF the basic Remote Desktop Services services (for example: I always turn OFF all SSDP and UPnP stuff, but always check Dependencies - you may break a critical service.)
All Windows versions I've installed (all of them really except Vista) have Remote Desktop disabled, but "Remote Assistance" is enabled, and I always disable it.
I'll also add: if you're behind a firewall, and most router / gateways are firewalls, and it's configured properly (no open ports from Internet) you should have no worries.