Search the Community

WannaCry was a disaster that could have been prevented if people took notice. If you didn’t hear about it you must have been asleep, here is a refresher. After WannaCry, most businesses took notice and updated their operating systems, patched them and took measures to avoid a further outbreak. But today, May 14th, 2019, Microsoft has released information that warns of yet another WannaCry-like worm. Note: If you are using Windows 10, you are OK, you are not vulnerable to this CVE. If not, and if you are still on Windows 7 then start upgrading to Windows 10 by using the Inplace Upgrade Task Sequence I explain about here or if you cannot upgrade immediately, then patch Windows 7 to protect it from this vulnerability. Vulnerable in-support systems include Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008. Downloads for in-support versions of Windows can be found in the Microsoft Security Update Guide. Customers who use an in-support version of Windows and have automatic updates enabled are automatically protected. Out-of-support systems include Windows 2003 and Windows XP. If you are on an out-of-support version, the best way to address this vulnerability is to upgrade to the latest version of Windows. Even so, we are making fixes available for these out-of-support versions of Windows in KB4500705. If however you are running Windows XP, yes…. that old unsupported operating system then take warning ! Today, Microsoft has warned against the wormable capabilities from this CVE (critical Remote Code Execution vulnerability) and they blogged about what to do to avoid it happening to you. Read that blog post here: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2019/05/14/prevent-a-worm-by-updating-remote-desktop-services-cve-2019-0708/ It’s very clear from their text that this is all about protecting customers from the next worm, so pay attention and if you have old operating systems that are in support and affected, then update immediately. Note: This is so serious that even Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are getting updates from Microsoft for this vulnerability. You can download those updates from Microsoft Catalog here. https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4500705/customer-guidance-for-cve-2019-0708

Ransomware has been around for a few years now but up until yesterday, it wasn't that well known about. This latest RansomWare called WannaCry has changed that for ever. Ransomware encrypted data on at least 75,000 systems in 99 countries on Friday. Payments were demanded for access to be restored. European countries, including Russia, were among the worst hit. Companies around Europe were hit and investigations are underway to see who was responsible. This was such a big attack that Microsoft released patches for unsupported operating systems (such as Windows XP) to allow those businesses still running them, a chance to protect themselves. Guidance available In addition to making patches available, Microsoft has published guidance to explain what is necessary in protecting yourself against this Ransomware and any others based on the same vulnerabilities (SMBv1). These vulnerabilities were patched by Microsoft in March of this year, but of course there were no patches (at that time) for unsupported operating systems such as Windows XP. Download Patches for unsupported Operating Systems To patch your unsupported operating systems, get over to this url and download the available patches. WannaCry has multiple vectors, but you should remove one vector, SMBv1. Do as follows 1. Block 445 inbound 2. Install MS17-010 3. Remove SMB1