On: Microsoft Issues WanaCrypt Patch for Windows 8, XP

[qb45]

So a month before patches for supported versions of Windows.

Does that mean I can get info on current Windows 0days simply by subscribing to XP support program?

[belltaco → qb45]

Many of the researchers already test to see if they work on XP.

You could do what you said but it's pretty expensive and only works for a bulk deal at around $200/PC/year with a large number of PCs at a minimum.

[qb45 → belltaco]

I surely won't be doing it myself, but I can imagine some spook making this small personal sacrifice of becoming an employee at some Windows XP shop just to smuggle patches to his mothership for vulnerability analysis.

I hope that the fact this patch was signed in February doesn't imply that it was published in February and available to every semi-competent cyberwarfare unit in the world.