As World Reacts To WanaDecrypt0r, Microsoft Issues Patch For Old Windows Systems

An anonymous reader quotes the AP:
Teams of technicians worked "round the clock" Saturday to restore hospital computer systems in Britain and check bank or transport services in other nations after a global cyberattack hit dozens of countries and crippled the U.K.'s health system. The worldwide attack was so unprecedented that Microsoft quickly changed its policy and announced that it will make security fixes available for free for older Windows systems, which are still used by millions of individuals and smaller businesses. [Windows XP, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2003]

An anonymous reader writes:
The patches are available for download from here. Microsoft also advises companies and users to disable the Windows Server Message Block version 1 protocol, as it's an old and outdated protocol, already superseded by newer versions, such as SMBv2 and SMBv3...
Microsoft had released a fix for that exploit a month before, in March, in security bulletin MS17-010 [which] included fixes for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2016.


Below the fold are more stories about the WanaDecrypt0r ransomware.