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Almost All WannaCry Victims Were Running Windows 7 (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: According to data released today by Kaspersky Lab, roughly 98 percent of the computers affected by the ransomware were running some version of Windows 7, with less than one in a thousand running Windows XP. 2008 R2 Server clients were also hit hard, making up just over 1 percent of infections. Windows 7 is still by far the most common version of Windows, running on roughly four times as many computers as Windows 10 worldwide. Since more recent versions of Windows aren't vulnerable to WannaCry, it makes sense that most of the infections would hit computers running 7. Still, the stark disparity emphasizes how small of a role Windows XP seems to have played in spreading the infection, despite early concerns about the outdated operating system. The new figures also bear on the debate over Microsoft's patching practices, which generated significant criticism in the wake of the attack. Microsoft had released a public patch for Windows 7 months before the attack, but the patch for Windows XP was only released as an emergency measure after the worst of the damage had been done. The patch was available earlier to paying Custom Support customers, but most XP users were left vulnerable, each unpatched computer a potential vector to spread the ransomware further. Still, Kaspersky's figures suggest that unpatched XP devices played a relatively small role in the spread of the ransomware.
I take no responsibility for what I say. Even though I'm never wrong
If MS hadn't tried to force Win10 down Win7 user's throats maybe more would have been installing patches.
Monocropping leads to viruses whether agricultural or operating systems. Not much more to be said than that other than to point out Intels are the ultimate monocrop and they have a gigantic backdoor called the Management Engine.
In the age of global terrorism, one can expect engineered viruses for agriculture and computers to only increase till something we can't get past comes along. then we'll act in hindsight.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
So any Microsoft update patching this vulnerability is moot.
MS wanted everybody on Windows 7 to upgrade to Win10 pronto - so they got someone to write Wannacry and release it into the wild. =)
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
Supposing you have a machine that's hasn't been offline and not been updated for some time and then you connect to the internet and try to update it. Windows update is so slow and installs the updates in no special order - least important first, so Wannacry is going to get to you before Windows update has a chance to install that patch.
... Win7 easily allows the end user to disable updates, unlike win8/10 which will automatically re-enable them for you. A fully up to date win7 would also have received the patch in March that would have closed the vulnerability.
...because turning off windows update was the only way to stop ms from stuffing Windows10, Telemetry and other fuckups down our throat...
Didn't affect my AMiGA.
Windows updates stopped working on my Windows 7 machine about September last year and nothing except for a complete reinstall seems to get it working again - neither Microsoft repair tools, nor 3rd party tools, nothing. It just rolls back every update as failed for almost a year, and I guess I'm not the only one with this problem. So of course the latest patches are not installed.
But 90% of douchebags run something other than OSX or Windows.
DOS?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Well I guess they have to pay a hefty Bitcoin license now then.
DOS?
CP/M-86
If a patch was released months ago, why did so many people not install it?
And after paying the ransom they are now also broke.
[Citation required]
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
This does not surprise me. I have two systems on which the update process was broken on Windows 7. With auto-updates set for automatic mode, updates would not install. If you manually force the system to check for updates, it gets stuck in an endless loop showing a moving progress indicator. This is the best link I found to deal with the issue: http://www.askvg.com/fix-windows-7-keeps-checking-for-updates-for-hours/
If the process is broken and there's no notification, then all of these systems are vulnerable.
For 2 reasons:
1. MS pushing telemetry as updates.
2. W7 updates stuck at "Downloading 0%" for hours and hours, then failing.
So now I use wsusoffline every time a periodic "quality and security rollup" is released. It's not as convenient, but it works. I still have to check for telemetry.
P.S. problem # 2 was actually solved by stopping wuauserv, deleting the contents of %windows%\SoftwareDistribution\datastore and %windows%\SoftwareDistribution\downloads, and starting wuauserv again.
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
What doesn't get reported often enough is that pirated versions of Windows cannot be patched
Actually, yes they can.
and most of the infected computers were running pirated versions.
Alright... you just completely made that up, didn't you?
Team OS/2!
I'll wait for the Linux port. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
The company I work for is, like most companies, a Windows shop. However, in the case that there's a major issue with Windows the admins have MacBooks as their mobile device. That there will always be something that can access switches and other non-MS devices, and start the rebuilding process.
I was thinking the same thing.
Wannacry gets 75% of a 4 core more machine, while Windows Update burns up the remaining 25% perpetually checking for updates...
It is the rare exception to the rule that actually fixed Windows Update on Win 7 machine since the last time around because they broke it literally right before the windows 10 trickery. Most of the people that noticed just disabled the service. Those that fixed the service were then later met with "Roll Ups" instead of patches and thus most of those eventually disabled the service anyways.
"His name was James Damore."
I expect a class action suit to be filed alleging that a majority of those that were infected were put in that position by unethical behaviour of Microsoft forcing Windows 10 upgrades -- which forced those that wanted to stay on Windows 7 longer to turn off automatic patching of the operating system.
You have a 100% inability to do basic math :-)
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
They probably didn't report that second part of your statement because you pulled it out of your ass.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Not a clear cut instruction. Is it really SMB1 or SMB2 as the NAME of the entry?
Yes.
I'd like to draw on the collective wisdom of my fellow Slashdotters:
If I am one of those people who turned off Win7 updates to avoid being forcibly upgraded to Win10, can anyone recommend a good website that will guide me through updating Win7 to patch the WannaCry flaw, without adding the telemetry or other unwanted pieces of the upgrade?
I am more familiar with Linux but am forced to use Windows at work, but I insist on avoiding Windows n where n>7.
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]