Financial Times: May 14 2017:
Cyber attack exploited vulnerability in ‘retired’ software that is still in use
Microsoft has taken the rare step of issuing a fix for versions of Windows it had previously “retired”, in an attempt to halt the global spread of the malware that hit the UK’s National Health Service on Friday.
Though technically no longer supported by the company, the software — including the once highly popular Windows XP — is still in use on some PCs, leaving users exposed to attacks.
While not acknowledging any failure on Microsoft’s part for the havoc wreaked by he WannaCry computer worm, Phillip Misner, a Microsoft security expert, said in a blog post that the company had found it “painful” to see so many customers affected.
The flaw in Windows first came to light in March, when a leak of cyber-weapons developed by the US National Security Agency included code that took advantage of the previously unknown problem.
Microsoft issued a patch at the time that could be applied to current versions of Windows, and Mr Misner said that would have protected users against WannaCry, provided they installed the fix on their machines.
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