Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

No Known Ransomware Works Against Windows 10 S, Says Microsoft (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the comforting-news dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: According to Microsoft, "no Windows 10 customers were known to be compromised by the recent WannaCry (WannaCrypt) global cyberattack." That's great news for anyone running the latest version of the OS, and the software giant says it is working to ensure Windows 10 remains safe from other future attacks. However, if you want to guarantee your safety from ransomware, then Microsoft points out there's an even more secure option to consider -- Windows 10 S. The new, hardened Windows 10 variant only runs apps from the Windows Store, which means it can't run programs from outside Microsoft's ecosystem, and that includes malware. Which is why, as Microsoft says, "No known ransomware works against Windows 10 S."

23 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Neither do the applications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    None of the applications I regularly use are supported on Win10 S, so I guess it's as useless for me as it is for the ransomware developers.....

    1. Re:Neither do the applications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The most secure system is one that nobody can access

    2. Re:Neither do the applications by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      I have the most secure operating system ever. It does nothing but play minesweeper. Internet connections automatically fail to protect the system integrity. The OS and the single minesweeper application are stored in ROM and cannot be modified either with or without a password.

      This is more secure than Windows 10 S and slightly more useless.

    3. Re:Neither do the applications by tigersha · · Score: 2

      Back in the day when MacOS 9 was still non-multitasking the US Army ran their webserver on it with the assumption that if you can't log in to the machine remotely (the server did not support SSH, telnet or anything else) you can't hack it. Apparently it worked for them.

      --
      The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
    4. Re:Neither do the applications by butzwonker · · Score: 2

      Are you serious or joking? I honestly can't tell.

    5. Re:Neither do the applications by Flea+of+Pain · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I just assumed Microsoft deleted their database on known ransomware so they could claim that no KNOWN ransomware works.

      --
      Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
  2. None? by Carnildo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I believe the correct response to this is "Challenge Accepted".

    --
    "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
    1. Re: None? by UltraZelda64 · · Score: 2

      That would be easy enough. If it is ransomware the person writes, just get yourself infected by it and willfully pay the ransom.

    2. Re:None? by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      No known ransomware runs on my pet rock, either.

  3. Also.... by Groo+Wanderer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Also, no known useful software works on Windows 10 S either. Quite the tradeoff.

    Before you scoff at this as random trolling, think about what the odds are that Adobe, Autocad, and any real software packages are going to take a 30% haircut required by the MS store to run on this turkey. Sure MS programs will be there but Steam worn't be, nor will much else useful other than a sub-section of Windows Phone apps.

    But no malware as of today will run. They said the same thing about Windows 8.x upon release. And Windows 7, and.....

    1. Re:Also.... by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Windows 10S is ransomware, why would it let other ransomware run. It's like kidnappers, allowing other people who claim to be the kidnappers, getting the ranson and make no mistake, M$ is kidnapping your digital life with windows 10$ and holding it to ransom, pay or lose it.

      M$ knows most consumers dislike them, just buy their gear because of existing lock in and now seeing that it is their only source of customers, they are attempting to force more people into the XBox domain. Seriously gullible idiots, who are paying to hand over control of their computer and their digital life to one corruptly monopolistic corporation, how popular is M$, just look at the lose phone (calling a winphone would be a lie).

      Yet the moronic fuckwits, rather than reforming and trying to become a better supplier and regain popularity, is simply trying to force more lock in, to extort it's customer base, either sign and pay for life or be cut off. It looks like people are preferring to be cut off.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    2. Re:Also.... by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Irrelevant when your entire customer base suffers from Stockholm syndrome.

  4. Yeah but nobody wants to USE Windows 10 S! by Chas · · Score: 2

    Because the amount of software that works on Windows 10 S bites syphilitic camel wang.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  5. well.. by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No known ransomware works on a TURD, either.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:well.. by Darinbob · · Score: 3, Funny

      Please submit 1 Bitcoin in order to get your shit back.

  6. Ba dum tish by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 2

    No ransomware works on Windows 10S ...because nobody uses it.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  7. Key Word by amiga3D · · Score: 2

    Known is the key word here. It's not the problems you know about, it's the ones you don't that get you.

  8. So, let me get this straight... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If the S version is supposedly better, why offer a $50 "upgrade" to the less secure non-S version? You can't have it both ways. Either you own your walled garden or you accept your open platform. You can't offer an upgrade to a version you're claiming is superior.

    Moreover, they're basically arguing that their software is more secure because it's hobbled by design. A rock is similarly secure against WannaCry, but that doesn't mean it's actually useful for everyday computing tasks.

  9. the other shoe drops by beckett · · Score: 2

    Windows 10S is the ransomware.

  10. 10S, a push to education, doomed to fail?? by labnet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Windows 10 S is clearly a push into the education market: but google has has had Chrome For Education for several years now: and the big advantage of Chrome Management Console (CMC) is it being active directory in the cloud done right. CMC makes it super easy to lock down, manage and update education targeted computers (it's also great for digital signage)
    I haven't used Azure AD, so it would be interesting if any /.ers have a comparison of the two systems.

    Apple had an awesome opportunity here after they created a whole new locked to a store OS niche, but never capitalised on it by giving schools the tools to manage the platform.

    Now the only reason PC's are still selling, are office and legacy programs. Think custom business programs written in .NET and specialised CAD/CAM software. MS have lost the first mover advantage to chrome, and I doubt this move will get it back.

    --
    46137
    1. Re:10S, a push to education, doomed to fail?? by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      I regularly use exactly two programs for which I still need Windows. (I don't consider Apple a contender because of hardware lock-in and boutique pricing.) Neither of them are Office -- there are already reasonable alternatives for that. The moment Lightroom and Photoshop are available on Chrome or Mint, Microsoft has seen the last of me. (There are things called "lightroom" and "photoshop" on Android, but they're still mostly toys.) Apple saw the last of me some years ago, when I finally retired the G4.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  11. can't run programs outside store? by sad_ · · Score: 2

    you can browse the web right? because it has the edge browser (you know, the most secure browser of the big 3).
    sure, edge might run in a container or something similar, and those are secure, right?
    better read up on the last pwn2own - https://arstechnica.com/securi...

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  12. Re:Malware doesn't go through official channels by tepples · · Score: 2

    The old wipe-and-Linux won't work if Windows 10 S devices come with Restricted Boot, which means UEFI Secure Boot that a device's owner cannot reconfigure. Microsoft licensed Windows RT only to OEMs who promised to configure all Windows RT devices with Restricted Boot.

    Even without Restricted Boot, wipe-and-Linux will fail if manufacturers of components of said devices fail to cooperate with driver developers. You'll likely end up with unaccelerated graphics, no audio, no network, and no suspend.