Microsoft vowed to no longer update Windows XP, its aging operating system, back in 2014. However, a month ago, the company was forced to take drastic action and send out an emergency security patch to Windows XP computers last month during the outbreak of the WannaCry ransomware. Now, a month later, the company is including the OS in the company’s round of security updates on Tuesday.
“In reviewing the updates for this month, some vulnerabilities were identified that pose elevated risk of cyber attacks by government organizations, sometimes referred to as nation-state actors or other copycat organizations. To address this risk, today we are providing additional security updates along with our regular Update Tuesday service. These security updates are being made available to all customers, including those using older versions of Windows. Due to the elevated risk for destructive cyber attacks at this time, we made the decision to take this action because applying these updates provides further protection against potential attacks with characteristics similar to WannaCrypt.”
– Adrienne Hall, General Manager, Cyber Defense Operations Center, Microsoft.
The security patches do not only roll out to Windows XP but to Windows Vista (which was the most affected operating system version during the WannaCry attack) as well as newer Windows operating systems. Assuming you have automatic updates enabled, you will not need to take any action to receive the patches.
As usual, Microsoft is urging customers to upgrade to newer operating systems to ensure better security. It is currently unknown who tipped Microsoft off to ensure that the company include its old operating systems in the security patch to ward off potential new attacks.
Source: Microsoft Blog
