Windows Users Beware

[Juanita]

You may have heard of it already, but there's a new randsomware going around by the name of Wannacry. If you have Windows of any kind, be sure to install the latest update for it as well as for your antivirus. If you're on a network with someone who's been infected, you can be infected too so backing up files is a good idea if this applies.

[Kitty Lue]

Oh, yeah I'd heard about this earlier today but didn't have any time to really look into it. Thanks for the post, beforehand I'd forgotten about this. Time to go update my stuff.
And I'd been thinking about backing up my hard drive for a while now. I should look into getting my own external hard drive, the family one's almost full anyway and I have a 500 GB hard drive in my computer which is also getting close to full. And I keep getting paranoid that my hard drive will fail.

[Astro Forever]

I've read it affected older versions of Windows. If you have Windows 10, you should be safe as it is set up to download and install updates automatically.

Strangely, my computer crashed a few times this weekend, something that hadn't occurred in years. When I vaguely heard of a virus going around, I almost got scared a little, since I knew nothing about it at first.

[Juanita]

Thanks for the post, beforehand I'd forgotten about this.

No problem I'm actually a little behind on this info, but I figured if anyone else was also behind it'd be useful to know.

I've read it affected older versions of Windows. If you have Windows 10, you should be safe as it is set up to download and install updates automatically.

I have Windows 10, but my parents use 7 so I had to update the computer for them. I was reading some reddit threads, and apparently a lot of companies still run on OS' as old as XP

[Kitty Lue]

I was reading some reddit threads, and apparently a lot of companies still run on OS' as old as XP

I saw in an article that Microsoft even made updates for XP and a couple of other older, unsupported versions versions of Windows because of this. I actually still have a laptop that runs XP, but considering it pretty much only sees use when I want to make YTPs while on a trip, I think this'll have died down by the next time I use it.

[Juanita]

Lol yes they did actually. Pretty crazy.

[fafner]

Backups are good in case of virus infection. But beware that an external backups disk that is constantly connected is a bad idea, because if a virus wants to corrupt your files, it will certainly go after your backups files too

If you are curious about why so many companies are still using an antiquated Windows XP, there are very simple explanations:

• Some companies use very specific software, such as software controlling assembling robots. Such softwares are sometimes so specific that changing the operating system may cause inputs/outputs to be sent with slightly different timings, that may be enough for robotic arms to miss their targets. This is especially the case for car manufacturers, whose sites were sometimes hit hard.
• Some companies are tied to strict regulations. Such regulations will demand that any change to a computer be certified through a long and costly process to make sure that the changes won't cause troubles; this applies to patches, so weekly patches from Microsoft are simply unmanageable. This is especially the case for very sensitive organizations where human lifes may be at sake, such as air companies or hospitals. Air companies have very strict security, so I didn't hear of any that got hit beyond their display panels stupidly asking for money. But hospitals often aren't as strict on their security, so many hospitals were hit very hard.

[Kitty Lue]

Backups are good in case of virus infection. But beware that an external backups disk that is constantly connected is a bad idea, because if a virus wants to corrupt your files, it will certainly go after your backups files too

If you are curious about why so many companies are still using an antiquated Windows XP, there are very simple explanations:

• Some companies use very specific software, such as software controlling assembling robots. Such softwares are sometimes so specific that changing the operating system may cause inputs/outputs to be sent with slightly different timings, that may be enough for robotic arms to miss their targets. This is especially the case for car manufacturers, whose sites were sometimes hit hard.
• Some companies are tied to strict regulations. Such regulations will demand that any change to a computer be certified through a long and costly process to make sure that the changes won't cause troubles; this applies to patches, so weekly patches from Microsoft are simply unmanageable. This is especially the case for very sensitive organizations where human lifes may be at sake, such as air companies or hospitals. Air companies have very strict security, so I didn't hear of any that got hit beyond their display panels stupidly asking for money. But hospitals often aren't as strict on their security, so many hospitals were hit very hard.

Good info, Fafner. And here I had thought that the reasoning for some companies still using XP was the same as why I was using it until 2014; I just hadn't bothered to update since XP worked fine enough for me. (...that, and I was a kid with no money to buy a new computer )

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Some turnkey products that run Windows such as test equipment and even medical equipment can't be updated without completely redesigning them. In fact there are some devices still running DOS!

[fafner]

And here I had thought that the reasoning for some companies still using XP was the same as why I was using it until 2014; I just hadn't bothered to update since XP worked fine enough for me.

That too I hadn't mentioned it because it is self-evident