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Microsoft Corp. took the unusual step of warning that a computer bug on which it has now been corrected could be used by a cyber-alarm like the WannaCry worm, which has spread around the world two years ago. years.
The bug is one of many leading IT security issues this week, although the impact is not yet clear.
Microsoft said it has seen no one taking advantage of the flaw, which affects older versions of its Windows operating system, but that it feels that it is "very likely" that the Fault will end up being exploited by malware, now that it has been made public.
Any "future malware that exploits this vulnerability could spread from vulnerable computer to vulnerable computer in the same way that WannaCry malware spreads around the world," Microsoft said in a blog.
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This vulnerability affects Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. It also affects Windows 2003 and Windows XP – older versions of Windows that Microsoft does not generally fix. But, sign of the severity of the bug, Microsoft has also released the XP and Windows 2003 patches.
"It's definitely something to take seriously," said Chris Coulter, vice president of technology at BlackBerry's Cylance Security Group.
Windows 10 and Windows 8 users are not affected by the flaw, Microsoft said.
WannaCry quickly spread and infected more than 200,000 systems around the world with a ransomware, a software program that made computer systems unusable and required a digital ransom. He has affected the systems of the National Health Service of England, FedEx Corp. and Nissan Motor Co.
The worm of 2017 could have been more devastating, but it was stopped when a security researcher activated a "neutralization" function that prevented it from spreading.
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The Microsoft bug came one day after Facebook Inc. corrected its WhatsApp encrypted email application after it was revealed to have been used in a new form of attack: hackers had found a way to prevent it. Install spyware on mobile phones using a WhatsApp call feature.
This flaw was particularly interesting because WhatsApp is often used by security-conscious people who want to take advantage of its end-to-end encryption capability, which prevents others from spying on messages as they are sent. said Mr. Coulter. "Myself and millions of other people have inadvertently put it by blindly trusting the application," he said.
Click here to read more about The Wall Street Journal, where this story was first published.
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