Hackers are actively looking for systems to exploit with the dangerous Bluekeep vulnerability within Windows. That leak allows the infection with a worm virus. More than one million systems worldwide seem vulnerable.
Criminals actively scan for computer systems that they can exploit with the Bluekeep vulnerability within Windows. That indicates security company Check Point. The scanning attempts would originate in different countries. The security specialist fears that the scans are the first sign of a large-scale attack.
That’s a problem since Bluekeep is a very dangerous vulnerability. It is situated in the remote desktop functionality of Windows and allows hackers to release powerful worm viruses. They can then spread themselves in the network in which they are located. If one PC in a local network is connected to the Internet and retrieves the virus, it can immediately attack all the underlying PCs. Bluekeep is that way reminiscent of WannaCry.
Patch
Microsoft already rolled out patches but not everyone installed them. Given the seriousness of the vulnerability, it is a good idea to do so. In a very exceptional move, Microsoft even launched updates for Windows XP. The operating system has not been supported for a long time now, but the computer giant from Redmond thinks that the potential danger of Bluekeep is big enough to forget that for a moment. Unfortunately, the patches do not seem to reach the vulnerable systems easily.
If you keep all your systems up to date, you have nothing to fear. However, one non-updated computer is sufficient to expose an entire network. Bluekeep can be misused to carry out ransomware attacks, for example. During the WannaCry outbreak, we already saw how disastrous this can be for ill-prepared companies.
Related: Million pcs vulnerable to dangerous Windows leakage
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.