Microsoft's operating system code leaked to network over the weekend • Experts fear: "Huge number of devices vulnerable to attack by hackers" • In addition, the company's design ideas were also revealed
Photo: Liron Moldovan
The Windows XP system source code was leaked to the network over the weekend, along with Windows Server 2003, leading to an interesting exposure of Microsoft's plans before the launch of the operating system in the early 2000s - and also putting quite a few older devices at risk.
Security hazard
This is the first time ever that the operating system code has been leaked to the network, but it has reportedly been found in the dark network.
And even though the system has not been supported by Microsoft for 6 years, there are still devices that are still running it - such as ATMs, bus validators, cash registers, fuel pumps - and they are now vulnerable to hacker attacks.
"The leak of the source code of Windows XP opens up to many attackers, even the most unskilled, a wide world of attack options that have not been seen before," security company Check Point told Israel Today.
"In order to attack devices such as the respirator or ATM, remotely, the attacker must detect a security breach in the device and exploit it in order to access the machine without any contact or physical intervention."
"Until now, any hacker who attacked devices such as these and many others, had to spend many months identifying vulnerabilities - today the source code of many of them has been leaked and significantly shortens the time required. Source code is actually a Windows operating system in understandable, easy-to-read language. "Such a thing allows bugs to be detected quickly and exploited," the security company added.
This leak, although Microsoft ceased to support the XP operating system back in 2014, leaves a huge number of even more vulnerable devices vulnerable to remote attacks.
And why the greatest danger?
"Of course, the danger of attacking medical devices, whose simple software update sometimes requires new regulatory approvals, is prone to more attacks - and this is more frightening, especially in this era. New security vulnerabilities Information security companies are constantly updating their protections for the same companies.
The leak of the source code of this operating system "can have devastating consequences on newer versions as well, including version 10 - which is installed on more than 50% of the computers in the world," says Ido Naor, CEO of the cyber security company Joes in a conversation with Israel Today .
"It is still difficult to assess what the impact of the leak will be and we at Security Joes are examining the leaked code, in an attempt to pinpoint previously uncovered security vulnerabilities to help organizations protect computer networks. This is a race against time as hackers do the same job as us ".
MacOS-like design
It turns out that the company has been working on several different designs for the Windows XP user interface, one of which, known as Candy, includes several elements from the macOS graphic design, with glossy and rounded buttons - TheVerge reported.
And as we all know, Microsoft never officially released the version and we won the shocking green-blue design - which at the time would have seemed like the most futuristic thing.
The even more interesting part is that the development took place in the years when Microsoft was at the height of its competition with Apple, when they stole quite a few ideas from each other.
And although the idea was eventually abandoned, this exposure proves the software giant's concern.