Items tagged with Windows XP
The latest documents from Vault 7, a collection of confidential materials related to hacking tools used by the United States Central Intelligence Agency and obtained by WikiLeaks, was made public today by the whistle blowing organization. This newest leak details the CIA's Angelfire project, which is a persistent framework that can load and execute custom malware on computers running Windows XP and Windows 7.Angelfire consists of five components, including Solartime, Wolfcreek, Keystone (previously MagicWand), BadMFS,a nd the Windows Transitory File system. Each of these parts has a distinct job....
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The United Kingdom is basking in the glory of its latest warship: the HMS Queen Elizabeth. The 65,000-ton aircraft carrier cost nearly $4 billion to construct and began its first sea trials on Monday. But the carrier’s big budget price tag isn’t the only thing that is raising eyebrows; it is the British Royal Navy’s decision to allow critical systems on the ship to be powered by Microsoft’s ancient Windows XP operating system. Windows XP was first released to the public in 2001, and commercial support for the operating system ended in 2014. However, many businesses and militaries around...
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Microsoft is not wavering on its decision to stop supporting Windows XP as a whole, though apparently it will on occasion release security updates for the legacy operating system, presumably for the greater good. We saw this just last month when Microsoft patched Windows XP to protect users against the WannaCry ransomware outbreak. Now it has released another security update for Windows XP, this time due to the "heightened risk of exploitation" by copycats. In a sense, WannaCry can be considered a wake-up call for the security industry at large. As it pertains to Microsoft, the Redmond giant fears...
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For a quick minute, it looked as though a strain of ransomware that was seemingly stolen from the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was going to be a major problem for PCs around the world, and in particular Windows XP systems. Microsoft even made the unusual move of releasing an emergency patch for Windows XP even though it stopped supporting the legacy OS a long time ago. But now a week after the initial WannaCry outbreak it's been discovered that Windows 7 PCs were the hardest hit. A researcher for Kaspersky Lab posted a message on Twitter saying "the Windows XP count is insignificant,"...
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Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP several years ago, though because some users and businesses (including government agencies) are still clinging to the legacy operating system, it has been known to release patches for more serious security threats. It does not happen often, but it does happen. Case in point, Microsoft has issued a security patch to protect Windows XP systems from the WannaCrypt ransomware that is spreading across the globe. Also known as WannaCry, WCry, and a handful of other names, WannaCrypt is believed to be one of the cybersecurity tools a hacking group pilfered from...
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Windows 95 is alive and well in the United States Pentagon. Daryl Haegley, program manager for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment reported at an event hosted by OSIsoft that 75% of the Department of Defense computers Windows XP or older (including Windows 98 and even Windows 95). This information was gathered from fifteen different defense sites within the United States.Image from: Wikimedia Commons, David B. GleasonMicrosoft ended support for Windows XP in 2014, but the Pentagon currently pays Microsoft to continue providing support...
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Blizzard will soon be turning a cold shoulder to users who are still running Windows Vista or Windows XP. Starting sometime later this year, Blizzard said it begin the process of ending support for both legacy operating systems in several of its popular games, including World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo II, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm. They're just too old for Blizzard to continue supporting."Microsoft ceased mainstream support for these versions of Windows in 2009 and 2012, respective, but since a decent portion of our audience was still using them at the time, we continued supporting...
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Gmail is ending support for Chrome browser versions 53 and earlier by the end of the year, Google announced in a blog post. Normally Google would not bother announcing such a thing, but in this case it made an exception because of the impact this could have users who are still clinging to Windows XP and Windows Vista. The last supported version of Chrome on either OS was Chrome 49. "As previously announced in April 2015 and November 2015, these systems are no longer maintained by Microsoft, and we strongly encourage you to migrate to more secure and supported systems," Google said. This announcement...
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Firefox users who are still clinging to Windows XP or Windows Vista will soon have reason to consider upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows 10. Mozilla announced in a blog post that it is phasing out support for Microsoft's legacy operating systems in 2017. The phase out period will begin in March of next year when Mozilla moves users on XP and Vista to the Extended Support Release (ESR), a version of Firefox that is not updated as frequently. After that Mozilla will continue providing security updates until September before pulling the plug completely. Users do not need to take any additional action...
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Sound the alarm, Google's ending support for its Chrome browser in Windows XP and Windows Vista! You there, on your outdated Mac, quit snickering -- Google's also cutting off support for Mac OS X versions 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion), and 10.8 (Mountain Lion). If you're rocking one of these older OSes, continue using Chrome at your own risk.Chrome will still work and dutifully load up webpages as it shuttles you around the web. However, starting in April of next year, Google will stop issuing security updates and fixes. That in essence puts a big target on your back with a flashing neon sign...
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Windows XP enjoyed a nice, long run, but after over a decade of faithful service, Microsoft finally pulled the plug on the legacy operating system and discontinued support in April of last year. All but the most diehard fans have since moved on, though it's still installed on more desktops than Windows 8.1, and on almost as many as Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 combined. You can count the U.S. Navy's system among them. According to a contract page at the U.S. Department of Defense, the Navy opted to pay Microsoft over $9.1 million dollars to continue offering custom support services...
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As hard as it might be to believe, Microsoft ceased support for Windows XP last April; the 8th, to be exact. Since then, there has actually been little to report on XP-wise, although earlier this month, we did learn that the classic OS has more users than Windows 8 -- much to Microsoft's chagrin, I'm sure. Realizing that not everyone has moved away from Microsoft's legacy OS yet, or has simply been unable to, Google has vowed to continue supporting the OS with its Chrome browser straight through to the end of 2015. But with this favor comes some sound advice: On April 8, 2014, Microsoft stopped...
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Microsoft ended support for Windows XP a year ago, but that hasn't stopped nearly two out of every 10 Windows users from clinging to the legacy operating system, according to data collected by Net Applications. What's even more interesting about Windows XP's 16.94 percent of the desktop PC market is that it once again has eclipsed the number of Windows 8 and 8.1 users combined.Here's the deal -- based on Net Application's numbers, Windows 8.1 ended March with a 10.55 percent share of the desktop PC market while Windows 8 crossed over in April with a 3.52 percent share. Between the to, that works...
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It appears that there is still some life left in Window’s 8. Microsoft’s current operating system has been a disappointment for the company since its release. While the OS has seen its percentage of user shares increase it has been unable to outpace Windows Vista during the same time period six years ago. According to web analytics firm Net Applications, the combined user share for Windows 8 and 8.1 is at 13.4 percent of the worlds combined number of desktops and notebooks for the month of August. That is up nine-tenths of a percentage point from July and is the first time since May...
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