Microsoft include Windows XP in latest Patch Tuesday due to government-sponsored exploit threat

Microsoft received a lot of criticism after releasing a patch for Windows XP for the EternalBlue exploit well after releasing it for Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10 and well after the WannaCry attack started.

It seems Microsoft has learned their lesson, and in the latest Patch Tuesday they included Windows XP, which exited support in 2014, releasing a patch for the OS for what we can only assume is a serious impending attack.

“In reviewing the updates for this month, some vulnerabilities were identified that pose elevated risk of cyberattacks by government organisations, sometimes referred to as nation-state actors or other copycat organisations,” says Adrienne Hall, general manager of crisis management at Microsoft. “To address this risk, today we are providing additional security updates along with our regular Update Tuesday service. These security updates are being made available to all customers, including those using older versions of Windows.”

Microsoft warned that today’s release for XP “should not be viewed as a departure from our standard servicing policies,” due to the seriousness of the threat from what is believed to be government organisations.

Given what WannaCry followed the EternalBlue fix by only a month we would encourage our readers to make sure their PCs are patched, no matter what version of Windows it runs.