WannaCry RansomWorm Loves Windows 7

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,601
It is very interesting to find out that almost all Windows boxes that fell to the WannaCry RansomWorm were of the 7 variety. It is also just as interesting to find out that Windows XP boxes crashed when trying to run the code, which may have been a good thing.

Two-thirds of those caught up in the global WannaCrypt/WannaCry ransomware attack were running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system without the latest security updates, a survey for Reuters by security ratings firm BitSight found.

So what it all comes down to is, if you are going to run legacy operating systems, then you should damn well be sure to make sure your patches are up to date. Microsoft was well ahead of this WannaCry issue, but many did not patch their systems for whatever reasons, be those of sloth or genuine application impacts.

Any organisation which heeded warnings from Microsoft to urgently install a security patch it labelled "critical" when it was released on March 14 are immune, experts agree.
 
Or does this mean Windows XP may be getting so old that its now a pain to target? Kind of like trying to target a modern virus to infect windows 98, why would you?

Protection in legacy!!!! Excuse me while I go back to writing Quick Basic code on my old X86 IBM machine from DOS 5.1 :)
 
I would have to agree with azuza001! What I get out of this is screw patching, run an OS so old no one knows how to target it any more! Now where are my Windows 95 floppies? Or maybe Mac OS 9 if you really want under the radar?
 
zexelon said:
I would have to agree with azuza001! What I get out of this is screw patching, run an OS so old no one knows how to target it any more! Now where are my Windows 95 floppies? Or maybe Mac OS 9 if you really want under the radar?
Click to expand...

why stop there when you can go a step farther and run a OS that is so old and outdated it doesn't even have network connectivity functions /s
 
This is why I only open suspicious mails on my Windows Phone. Windows phones do not get virus. :p
 
I think the biggest reason behind this is companies changing the firewall settings on their computers. I just happened to look at a Windows 7 x64 bit computer that was domain joined. By default the Windows firewall is blocking SMB inbound for the domain profile. This means someone went out of their way to reconfigure the default firewall to allow SMB-in to work in the first place. I actually don't think a default install of Windows 7 or higher is actually vulnerable to the worm portion as long as it is using the public or domain profile, as the virus wouldn't be able to bypass the built in firewall to infect other computers. But all of that gets thrown out the window once you put on a 3rd party antivirus that takes over the firewall settings, or start making changes to allow other software to work. If you happen to choose the "private" network instead, then this would also allow SMB-in by default.
 
"Windows 7 operating system without the latest security updates"
Wouldn't be a problem if they didn't keep breaking windows 7 updates :mad:


Guess I'll go back to running OS9 on my TRS-80 color computer :p
 
If Windows 7 users ran the patches that Microsoft pushed through Windows Update, they would no longer be Windows 7 users.
 
Maybe Microsoft should have fixed Windows Update at some point in the last... couple years? It's been slow and broken for ages, and you have to manually install patches just to get it working on new installs.
 
My Windows 7 machine has been running 24/7 for the past year. I only reboot it to install updates.
 
So is it almost all, or two thirds? You know an article is shady when it contradicts itself with it's own lies. Two thirds is nowhere near all. And based on the market share of 7 66% is not bad, considering twice as many computers run 7 as 10. So another bullshit article trying to sell some bullshit.
 
In ither news going to a bech a third times increses risc of getting shot in the head by a dog swimmin in the ocean by 50%.

God old Misuse of statistics to bring fear among people that don't get statistisks.

Kets not remember ms iwn liability on people not enabling updates due to ermm. Firced win 10 updates. Spy. Erm telemetry updates etc.
Ms made updates a thing not to trust.
 
The reason not many Windows 10 computers were infected is because they are too busy installing updates or stuck in a reboot loop already.
 
aokman said:
The reason not many Windows 10 computers were infected is because they are too busy installing updates or stuck in a reboot loop already.
Click to expand...

I get this is sarcasm but to you and others it's not really far off base. Basically some are describing Windows, Windows 10 in this case as essentially non-functional. Impossible to install or update, constant crashes, malware, spyware, etc. I have no idea how I have hundreds of programs from AAA games to open source software to a VR headset, two keyboards 4 monitors, 3 3D with 3D BD playback support, a TV tuner, 3D facial recognition web can with 4k 30 FPS/1080 60 FPS support on an overclocked 10 core CPU with 2 overclocked 1080 Tis, 6 TB of total storage with programs taking up about half of that.

Somehow I'm not stuck in an endless update loop.
 
heatlesssun said:
I get this is sarcasm but to you and others it's not really far off base. Basically some are describing Windows, Windows 10 in this case as essentially non-functional. Impossible to install or update, constant crashes, malware, spyware, etc. I have no idea how I have hundreds of programs from AAA games to open source software to a VR headset, two keyboards 4 monitors, 3 3D with 3D BD playback support, a TV tuner, 3D facial recognition web can with 4k 30 FPS/1080 60 FPS support on an overclocked 10 core CPU with 2 overclocked 1080 Tis, 6 TB of total storage with programs taking up about half of that.

Somehow I'm not stuck in an endless update loop.
Click to expand...

Oh I know its not far off lol... I run an OSX hack and reboot to Windows maybe once in 3 weeks for a game then the PC chews up my internet for 2 hrs installing updates like I have nothing better to do...

My PC has bricked itself twice from win10 updates.
 
heatlesssun said:
I get this is sarcasm but to you and others it's not really far off base. Basically some are describing Windows, Windows 10 in this case as essentially non-functional. Impossible to install or update, constant crashes, malware, spyware, etc. I have no idea how I have hundreds of programs from AAA games to open source software to a VR headset, two keyboards 4 monitors, 3 3D with 3D BD playback support, a TV tuner, 3D facial recognition web can with 4k 30 FPS/1080 60 FPS support on an overclocked 10 core CPU with 2 overclocked 1080 Tis, 6 TB of total storage with programs taking up about half of that.

Somehow I'm not stuck in an endless update loop.
Click to expand...
So since your computer runs fine, the rest of the worlds populations computers must be fine as well. Nice to know!
 
Hagrid said:
So since your computer runs fine, the rest of the worlds populations computers must be fine as well. Nice to know!
Click to expand...

The way some describe it though not a single Windows device I or anyone else uses should work period. I was just using my sig rig as an extreme case, something that complex should see far more issues that most consumer Windows devices. If I can't get updates installed it would be hard to get 200 games installed along with another 200 or so apps.
 
The vast majority of businesses are running Windows 7, so there's that. Also, Microsoft's spy updates and forced Windows 10 installations probably encouraged a lot of people to turn off Windows Update in Windows 7. And Microsoft delayed the patch for 1 month - how many PCs were infected in that time?
 
Last edited:
Delicieuxz said:
And Microsoft delayed the patch for 1 month - how many PCs were infected in that time?
Click to expand...

Since WannaCry did exist until a couple weeks ago and the patch came out in March, 61 days prior to WannaCry attacking systems, the answer is zero.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top