In a timeline warning issued on May 14, 2019 posted on the Microsoft Security Response Center Blog titled 'Prevent a worm by updating Remote Desktop Services', Microsoft announced that an exploit exists for a vulnerability better known as BlueKeep. Simon Pope, director of incident response at Microsoft, states that such an exploit could "propagate from vulnerable computer to vulnerable computer in a similar way as the WannaCry malware spread across the globe in 2017 and nearly one million computers connected directly to the internet are vulnerable to BlueKeep".
While Windows 8 and Windows 10 users are not impacted by this vulnerability, Windows 2003, Windows XP and Windows Vista all are. Despite all of those vulnerable systems being unsupported for some years, Microsoft made the patch available to users which shows just how concerned it is by the "WannaCry 2" threat. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 are also vulnerable.
An update was posted on 30 May 2019 titled 'A Reminder to Update Your Systems to Prevent a Worm'. Microsoft ended the posting with this dire warning - We strongly advise that all affected systems should be updated as soon as possible.
In the WannaCry attack which was also on Microsoft's operating system, Microsoft discovered the EternalBlue vulnerability and posted on 14 March 2017 details of the vulnerability and the patches urging windows users to update and patch this vulnerability. The WannaCry attack happened on 12 May 2017, almost TWO months after the warning from Microsoft and organizations that had not installed Microsoft's security update from April 2017 were affected by the attack.
Would the world witness a cyber attack during this period between now and before 13 July, 2019? By the way, 4th July is the Independence Day in the United States.
Echoing the warning from Microsoft, we are also urging everyone to update their systems urgently. Do not procrastinate. The vulnerability is a public knowledge now and hackers do not wait for you to update your systems. Take urgent and immediate steps.
Don't say you have not been forewarned as the warning is from Microsoft itself. This is not a fake news posting.
Comments