WannaCry Ransomware prompts Microsoft to release Windows XP and Server 2003 update

The “WannaCry” or “WannaCrypt” ransomware that has spread around the world in the past few days has prompted Microsoft to release a security update for long-unsupported Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 8.

The following supported operating systems should not be vulnerable to this ransomware if Windows Updates were completed, since those updates included the Security Bulletin MS17-010 (4013389) in March 2017:

  • Windows Vista
  • Windows Server 2008
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2016

Microsoft released a list of recommendations at https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/.

US-CERT Security Operations Center, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has also issued an alert on WannaCry ransomware at https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA17-132A.