Windows Issued critical warnings over critical vulnerabilities; update now

Running any version of Windows 10 without having the update could bring something dangerous and you should update your computer as soon as possible. Microsoft has issued a critical warning across all versions of its platforms, including every version of Windows 10, and told users they must act now. It could have allowed hackers to spread malware to both your - and others - PCs without your knowledge or any interaction.

Posting in its Security Response Center, Microsoft told users that it has discovered two “critical” Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerabilities which are “wormable”. This means they could be weaponized to launch malware that jumps automatically from PC to PC, spreading across the world without any action from the user. And there are potentially hundreds of millions of vulnerable computers.

In a statement, Simon Pope, Microsoft’s Director of Incident Response, confirmed the vulnerabilities affect "all supported versions of Windows 10, including server versions." Back in March, Microsoft pegged Windows 10 numbers at 800M. In addition to this, Pope confirmed other "affected versions of Windows are Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2" - these are important platforms but with far less market share.

Pope stressed speed is of the essence, stating: “It is important that affected systems are patched as quickly as possible,” while ZDNet warned users that it is now “A race to patch before attacks get underway”.

The level of concern is understandable, particularly for Windows 10. In March, Microsoft stated there are 800M computers running Windows 10 alone and in its advisory security advisories, it warns: "An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code on the target system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.” as per Forbes.