Windows Is No Longer Safe To Use AT ALL (XP source code LEAK)

[PreacherOfTheTechApocalyps]

I'm not going to claim I know everything because I don't, I'm going to lay out what I know as of right now and what is or isn't reasonable to expect from the events that unfolded. I put this in "serious" but feel free to move it where need be and tell Ross about this for sure, this is something that affects all of us regardless of what we use or where we go and has the chance to cause something akin to the fears of Y2K but for real this time. Or at least it'll fuck over a lot of people, corporations and governments most of all but also old PCs but don't act like your safe because you hit the update button once or twice.

 

Windows XP's source code has been leaked by some tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist and is now widely available online in various shady websites just like cracked video games and illegal movies. What this means is anyone who wants to make a virus or malware has a great test environment as well as a reference to how Windows works on the back end, which due to how operating systems ESPECIALLY ones like Windows that rely on backwards compatibility all use code from the older versions that go all the way back to Windows 3.1 and earlier.

 

So if there's an exploit in Windows XP that Microsoft didn't catch that carried over it can and will be used in modern Windows and will infect even the most up to date systems. So if you have a computer in your home you should make the switch to Linux or at the vary least MacOS because it wasn't safe to use Windows before and sure as hell isn't right now.

 

Some people think that this might be a good thing because white hackers having the code will lead to people finding and rooting out these issues making Windows safer, I don't think this will be the case because Windows relies on Security though Obscurity and has relied on it for decades, to suddenly turn 180 is going to take more time and work then they have here and the code is far too large and complex for it to have time to fix these problems before they can be exploited to high hell.

 

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So in short Windows is fucked and anyone who relies on should rip the band-aid off right now and learn Linux or BSD. I wouldn't suggest Mac because if it happened once it could happen again.

 

I'm looking into the guy who did it because it seems like he had a lot of views on Bill Gates, saying he wanted to vaccinate the world to control the population and bring new world order and other stuff. If anyone has more info please bring it forward.

 

From what I know people have already complied XP so this is real, it did get leaked.

 

I found this video but I don't know if it's against rules to post links so I'll just post the end part 'watch?v=8IyW-bwGQTQ'

 

Am I the only one a little worried here?

[BTGBullseye]

The way it "leaked" sounds to me like it was intentional. Microsoft devs have been trying to work away from the long delay update model they've been forced into with the current monolithic kernel. This is one move they can use to push public opinion and the PR landscape to support them moving over onto a Linux or Linux-style Kernel system, and then having the ability to run everything from their own repos, and even have the ability to update anything in the system without requiring a reboot. (including the kernel most times)

Edited September 27, 2020 by BTGBullseye (see edit history)

[kerdios]

5 hours ago, BTGBullseye said:

The way it "leaked" sounds to me like it was intentional. Microsoft devs have been trying to work away from the long delay update model they've been forced into with the current monolithic kernel. This is one move they can use to push public opinion and the PR landscape to support them moving over onto a Linux or Linux-style Kernel system, and then having the ability to run everything from their own repos, and even have the ability to update anything in the system without requiring a reboot. (including the kernel most times)

 

are you saying they are trying to make people quit win 10 and move to winlux?

[PreacherOfTheTechApocalyps]

So I do really hope that I'm being paranoid here and that nothing is going to come of this, but I don't think it's going to happen, there is stuff there that people already know about but there's also new system files that got out that could have any number of exploits in it. Remember that Windows has no QA

[PreacherOfTheTechApocalyps]

Well not being on Windows in the first place would help you personally, that's what's in your control. I'd recommend ripping the band-aid and getting into Linux.

 

Ubuntu and PopOS seem like the ones everyone says is easy, I also hear that Mint is really easy for windows users.

[PreacherOfTheTechApocalyps]

If you NEED Windows and you have no other choice I'd say turn the security settings on Firefox to max and use no-script and https everywhere. Adblock and adnauseam would also help. Don't run anything you wouldn't trust with your life support and keep it off at all times when you don't use it. Keep it updated too.

[PreacherOfTheTechApocalyps]

What work is years? You can back data up and then try, also there are virtual machines that you can use.

[PreacherOfTheTechApocalyps]

Yeah I have, I'm just trying to bring info here, again I hope I am just the crazy Linux girl that people laugh at.

 

What I'm trying to say is there may be ways to bring that stuff with you depending on what it is, but if you NEED to stick to Windows turn the security settings as high as possible and keep it updated, and at least play around with Linux and see if it might be possible to move over before any great virus flood.

 

The latest version on Windows 10 should be the least likely to have any exploits carry over.

[TB]

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm a systems administrator, so I'm not just speculating but I'm often wrong so please correct me if I get something incorrect here.

 

- The source for XP has been available to partners and higher learning institutions for a long time. This is a leak of that code into the wide public. If there's any major vulnerability in XP, it's been known for quite some time.

 

- XP is very old but can still be secured. There's allot to say for a strong end-point, modern browser, and appropriate firewall. Even a catastrophic zero-day attack can be mitigated 99% of the time by employing the right GPO policies and software solutions. The major issue with XP is the loss of support from many major software vendors. There are still quite a few however that haven't stopped support.

 

- The constant beta that is Windows 10 is just as much of a security issue. Each update seems to introduce new vectors of attack we should have solved a decade ago. This article for example, isn't a one-off:

https://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-flaw-microsoft-windows-update-software-2020-1

No operating system is impervious.

 

Windows XP is older but I'm one of the rare techs that doesn't necessarily believe that updates, or the OS vendor for that matter, are the end-word for security. If they were, we wouldn't need anti-ransomware endpoints installed along-side Windows Defender (which is woefully inadequate). I'm not saying that XP doesn't have some glaring issues, but I am saying that this leak doesn't necessarily harerld the end of the world for XP users who are already - hopefully - adequate at dealing with the issues that XP presents.

[BTGBullseye]

On 9/27/2020 at 3:51 AM, kerdios said:

are you saying they are trying to make people quit win 10 and move to winlux?

Sort of. They're starting slow, and making people more amenable to the idea of a Linux-based OS. They already use one for their phones, so now they're showing that maybe they should be looking at something new for the PC as well.

13 hours ago, RaTcHeT302 said:

i don't think being paranoid can hurt but, is there really anything you can do about it to protect yourself?

Install an aftermarket security suite. Avast has very comprehensive security capabilities, and literally spent several years effectively patching XP's security using their free antivirus software. (both before and after Microsoft dropped all extended support)

12 hours ago, RaTcHeT302 said:

ripping the band aid means throwing years worth of work away in my case, and to me that's pure insanity

For me, it's throwing away several thousand dollars worth of games and other software that doesn't run in any Linux distro, including in WINE and other emulation layers.

10 hours ago, The Britain said:

- The source for XP has been available to partners and higher learning institutions for a long time. This is a leak of that code into the wide public. If there's any major vulnerability in XP, it's been known for quite some time.

This is very accurate.

10 hours ago, The Britain said:

- XP is very old but can still be secured. There's allot to say for a strong end-point, modern browser, and appropriate firewall. Even a catastrophic zero-day attack can be mitigated 99% of the time by employing the right GPO policies and software solutions.

Yup. Can do it all for free as well.

10 hours ago, The Britain said:

- The constant beta that is Windows 10 is just as much of a security issue. Each update seems to introduce new vectors of attack we should have solved a decade ago. This article for example, isn't a one-off:

https://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-flaw-microsoft-windows-update-software-2020-1

No operating system is impervious.

+1

[logical_lord]

No system is ever completely safe. It's like a knife. You either point it at your or somewhere else. It's your decision and caution.