More good news for Apple: Ransomware epidemics mean thousands of enterprises must upgrade fast

“This week’s big security story is the so-called ‘Petya’ ransomware attack. It is not the first such attack, won’t be the last, and its success will prompt cybercriminals to attack again, and again, and again,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld. “In this new threat environment, there are zero excuses for any enterprise, public or private, to be running Windows XP, or any other insecure platform.”

“The biggest problem seems to be the continued used of older (frequently unsupported) Windows systems by cash-strapped firms struggling to make money in a tough and uncertain economic climate,” Evans writes. “Yet, how much cash do they lose in the event of a successful ransomware attack?”

“We already know the alternative. It’s the same alternative Apple CEO, Tim Cook appeared on stage at Cisco Live to promote, and it’s an upstart little Californian company called Apple,” Evans writes. “Apple and Cisco are working together to create a best in industry security proposition for enterprise users. And yes, you read that right: they are working together to ensure that if a business customer takes cybersecurity insurance and uses Apple/Cisco kit they will get a better deal than they would if their IT is built around other systems.”

“Enterprises everywhere need to take a close look at what’s happening,” Evans writes. “On the grounds of security alone, I recommend Apple and help from systems integrators like JAMF, Dimension Data, IBM, Deloitte… That list will inevitably grow). They may also choose to deploy Macs. Why wouldn’t they, given they share the same basic OS as the mobile devices most enterprises now are choosing to deploy, and cost much less to run?”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft’s upside-down and backwards fake Macs are the gift that keep on giving, and giving, and giving.

Smart people choose Apple.



    1. Can’t answer that since what he actually said was
      And even that is wrong…there are likely 100’s of 1000’s of small companies fitting that description who, unable to pay ever-increasing Windows support, have made themselves vulnerable. Add in the large companies run by bean counters who perennially short change their IT departments and you arrive at a perfect storm of real world opportunity for hackers and ransom ware scams.
      Denial isn’t usually your thing.

    2. The correct phrase Jony Evans should have used is “Lazy firms”. As I elaborate below, MS already gave away ALL the required updates to be immune to ALL the current ransomware for Windows XP SP3 through Windows 10.

      No one is ‘cash-strapped’ enough to NOT click a button and update their OS. That’s stupid.

  1. I used to work at an Amazon Fulfillment Center and all of the computers used in the warehouse (not in the offices) were all Windows XP. If this happened to them, they’d be screwed, as well as their customers

    1. True enough. Except Apple kills it all dead with now very reasonable speed via their XProtect anti-malware system, built into macOS.

      The real threat here is that there are ‘dark web’ developers selling kits for creating malware to attack Macs. It’s obviously NOT a money making venture seeing as their crap is almost instantly inert. But the developers have been insistently updating their malware tools as they’ve been blocked. They’re also using new methods of attack relative to older Mac malware.

      [Sorry for the blahblah in this thread, but my point is to help, not jabber]

  2. OK. It’s not just about a better & more secure operating system. Apple needs to give financial incentive for ALL Enterprise software and apps to be ported to the Mac currently only on Windows and used as an excuse (a good one) by controlling IT doofuses. What better way (among many) to use some of those hoarded billions by Apple? Once that’s done then we’ll talk about business no longer needing Windows in all it’s crapOS variants. Until then it’s a bit disingenuous except for businesses that can get by with what already exists.

    1. I’ve been thinking this for years. Previously I think the main reason Apple didn’t put the effort into supporting enterprise was that they thought the cost was too heavy. Now they have joined forces with IBM and Cisco I think they should accelerate the effort.

    2. I wonder HOW most businesses can switch to Macs. Isn’t most of their custom SW written for Windoz? Banks, hospitals, power stations, etc. can’t just snap their fingers and get Mac SW, so how do they do it?

  3. *sigh* In this new threat environment, there are zero excuses for any enterprise, public or private, to be running Windows XP

    Jony Evans knows better than to skimp on his research. 🙄

    Microsoft, out of unusual altruism, released ALL the updates required for Windows XP SP3 to be IMMUNE to all the recent ransomware attacks. So yes, you can still run Windows XP and not have to deal with this particular barrage of ransomware.

    IOW: Any person or company running anything from Windows XP through Windows 10 CAN BE immune to all the current ransomware.

    So what’s the problem? LAZINESS. If you don’t keep your OS up-to-date, any OS, you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.

    1. Microsoft patches Windows XP to fight ‘WannaCrypt’ attacks (updated)
      Support for the OS ended three years ago but yesterday’s infection spurred the ‘unusual’ step.

      HERE is the full Microsoft Update Catalog where all updates are available, including those that block all the current ransomware, Windows XP -> Windows 10. Please tell the world, all thelazy IT staff (if they even exist) at companies that got nailed by recent ransomware.

      I’m a Mac fanatic pointing this out. How the frack are Windows users, professional users(!), so stupid as to not figure this out themselves? 🙄 🤡💩

  4. IT departments in large corporations have a fairly well-defined procedure for installation of security patches and OS updates. In my workplace (several thousands of desktops), they first install and test the patches on several standard desktop configurations that cover vast majority of users. If the tests run well for about a week, and don’t break anything, they request deployment, which then goes up the approval chain. Once it is approved, deployment is scheduled for the first free weekend (when no significant work by users is expected to be done). Users are notified that their PC may not be available for work during that weekend.

    In reality, between the release of the patch and its deployment, a large IT operation may take several weeks.

    Meanwhile, our Mac users are largely responsible for their own updates and security (IT officially doesn’t have support staff for the few hundreds Mac scattered across the user base, but they do allow them on the network). In the handbook for Mac users, they are encouraged to turn on automatic download and installation of updates.

    Never have I heard of any of those Mac catching any malware. On the Windows side, it is a weekly occurrence.

  5. To continue to spy on US corporations or anyone using Windows in the US or world-wide, the NSA and perhaps their ally commercial spy agencies are able to overcome all bugs without the need to install this questionable Windows update that’s supposed to overcome all intrusions. That gang is able to fix all of its bugs. Corporations and normal people have to rely on the over-promised Windows update to protect them which may still leave them vulnerable because the NSA has a public track record of keeping knowledge of bugs to itself in order to continue to spy on anyone it wants.

    Bit this is the normal overreach of the National Security Police Spy State Apparatus in the US and in all limited or full-blown dictatorships whose inscrutable black budgets grow each year without the people’s ability to supervise how much and when it’s spent.

    Luckily, Apple seems to be on the forefront of keeping us safe from intrusion but I am sure that spy agencies must work assiduously to thwart Apple.

    1. > “…the normal overreach of the National Security Police Spy State Apparatus…”

      That’s National Security Police State Spy Apparatus.

      What is this world coming to, that we can’t even give our overlords their proper name? 🙂

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