Computer Hope

Tomorrow, April 8/14 MicroSoft will stop their support of Windows XP. While I also have Windows 8 on my computer, I'm determined to stick with XP. I'm starting this thread to inform what I have done so far as regards to protection. I replaced MicroSoft Security Essentials with Avira since updates for MSE will also stop for XP only. If you're using MSE for Vista or Windows 7 you will still receive the updates. I've installed a full scanning version of Emisoft Anti-malware, a gift from a fellow malware expert. I intend to run MBAM and AdwClearer at least once a week. I will keep this thread updated as to what transpires. I seriously doubt that anything malicious will happen because even with the MS updates computers were still being infected by malware and it's been like that for almost a year. Stay tuned.

An interesting thing last night (Wednesday) when I shut down my computer. I had four updates that were installed. I'm trying to find out what was installed with not much luck.

Same here...
I also checked the MSE logs...updates still coming in @ 4 AM each day.

Quote from: patio on April 10, 2014, 11:59:28 AM
Same here...
I also checked the MSE logs...updates still coming in @ 4 AM each day.

MSE will continue to update (This is what people keep talking about when they say that "XP will still get security updates") but that is only virus definitions.  You won't however get any patches for the underlying OS.

QuoteYou won't however get any patches for the underlying OS.

I was kinda aware of that already...

I had a message last week from MS that MSE would not receive anymore updates. That's why I switched to Avira. MSE will only update for Vista and Windows 7.

Quote from: SuperDave on April 07, 2014, 06:06:21 PM
I seriously doubt that anything malicious will happen because even with the MS updates computers were still being infected by malware and it's been like that for almost a year.

The common idea is that malware authors are keeping their exploits secret or whatever until XP's End of Support. While this may be true, there is a far more dangerous problem in terms of End of Support. And certainly the idea that there is going to be a instant wave of exploits and XP computers will be compromised the instant support is dropped is silly. The real danger is not as easy to express in a sensational headline, so it's usually glossed over.

Windows XP is based on the NT codebase; effectively, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT4, etc. are all very similar, since they are effectively the same codebase (a succeeding version is not completely rewritten from the previous version).

Once XP support ends, XP will, of course, no longer be getting security patches.

However, later versions will. Malicious actors will reverse-engineer the patches provided by Microsoft for those later versions and determine what they fix and primarily what the security problem being patched is; then they will verify that the security problem being fixed was also in XP. If so- and chances are that a good percentage of security patches for later versions will be backportable to XP- that's a free exploit that will never be patched. This is worse than the current situation where those exploits are found either through intensive labour or by reverse engineering the patches and attacking only unpatched machines. Basically each update, patch, or hotfix to later systems will be a free exploit.

eg. let's say somedll.dll has an exploit that get's patched in Vista/7/8. Malware authors will find that patch, see what it changes in somedll, and find out exactly how to attack the patch fixes is made; then they will try it on XP.

if it works- free exploit. If it doesn't, move on to the next patch.

Quote from: SuperDave on April 10, 2014, 01:16:59 PM
I had a message last week from MS that MSE would not receive anymore updates. That's why I switched to Avira. MSE will only update for Vista and Windows 7.

the MSE download is no longer available for XP, but it will receive updates.

Quote
Microsoft has also stopped providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows XP. (If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you will continue to receive antimalware signature updates for a limited time, but this does not mean that your PC is secure because Microsoft is no longer providing security updates to help protect your PC.)

from here. Since it doesn't define "limited time" it a not-unreasonable idea to switch to something else.

Quotethe MSE download is no longer available for XP, but it will receive updates.

When they mentioned "limited time" I decided to switch.

The limited time is 1 year i believe i read.

I just discovered that the time period for Avira's protection on XP is also one year.

Just an update. It's been two weeks and the malware repair business has dried up. On one site that I work at there hasn't been any new threads for over two weeks.

Quote from: SuperDave on April 22, 2014, 04:37:40 PM
Just an update. It's been two weeks and the malware repair business has dried up. On one site that I work at there hasn't been any new threads for over two weeks.

I'm thinking this is more good than bad?

One more thing.
I have an old XP SP3 machine that has not been updated in two months.
So how can I find any updates it should have gotten?

Quote from: Geek-9pm on April 22, 2014, 05:23:41 PM
One more thing.
I have an old XP SP3 machine that has not been updated in two months.
So how can I find any updates it should have gotten?

The updates for XP are still available through Windows update as normal, you just won't get any new ones - All the existing ones are still there.

Thanks.
I checked the MS Social forum just now and it said what your said.
Is it piratical to get all the updrafts after SP3 and keep them on a CD?