Microsoft, this week, released Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 10 (KB5037768 / KB5037765 / KB5037763 / KB5037788) and Windows 11 (KB5037771 / KB5037770) for May 2024. These updates improve the security of the Windows OS.
Back when Windows 11 was released, Microsoft explained how some of the features like TPM 2.0 and VBS were so key for security, and also demoed a hacker attack being blocked thanks to such features
However, the nostalgia can be strong sometimes and people get carried away and tend to look back at the old outdated Windows operating systems through rose-tinted glasses. A video that conducts an experiment on how Windows XP, which received its last update ten years ago, would fare in 2024, was uploaded.
In the said YouTube video, the publisher, Eric Parker, ran Windows XP in a vulnerable state by disabling Firewall and Defender; and within minutes, there already was suspicious activity. Malware was starting to get hold of this system and after two hours, the malware had substantially increased their foothold on the PC.
Digging through some of the malware, the YouTuber found files that tried to act legit with one of them being made by Microsoft ("Microsoft compilation" to be precise and not Microsoft Corporation), and another by Google. The one by Microsoft compilation was also named svchost.exe to fool a potential victim.
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Finally, after a while, Malwarebytes was installed and was made to scan this Windows XP PC which ended up detecting eight malicious files in total. As you can see in the image below, these were mainly classified as trojans, adware, and backdoor malware.
Tests like these demonstrate how much Windows security has improved over time. A Windows 11 or 10 PC without a firewall and an anti-virus would not immediately be hammered down by malware of all sorts.
And Microsoft is always making an active effort to make things even better. For example, recently, it announced that Windows 8-era Secure Boot keys were being updated, and more recently, 1024-bit TLS RSA keys were deprecated.
Source: Eric Parker (YouTube)