Microsoft Issues Another Windows XP Patch, Despite Lack of Support

In a bid to stop what it terms "state-sponsored cyberattacks," Microsoft has released yet another critical patch for its Windows XP operating system. This one is aimed at stemming the tide of what many are calling "WannaCry Copycats." Technically speaking, WannaCry itself is a copycat of a much older idea (ransomware in general), but it was the first to spread so effectively via an unpatched Windows-specific platform bug, and as such has in many ways acted as a global "wake up call" for the industry to get their security act together. The true fix is of course to upgrade, but for those who won't or can't, Microsoft is making select critical fixes available to mitigate the damage.Microsoft still maintains that Windows XP is an unsupported platform, and emphasizes that fixes for it will be rare. However, the fact that we are getting unsupported fixes at all certainly speaks volumes to the state of the security industry in general, and how much old software there really is running to this day.