“One in three NHS computers still running Windows 7 and Thousands of NHS computers are still running Windows XP” – What can we do ?

1. 1
How to (try to) Keep your Windows
XP/7 Machines more Secure
Antonio Bartolozzi
antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it Grosseto 5/12/2019
“Thousands of NHS computers are still running Windows XP ”
“One in three NHS computers still running Windows 7”
Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 in January
2020 and for Windows XP in April of 2014.

2. 2antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Windows XP
Windows XP is still used by millions of people (also healthcare
organizations) in different parts of the world. As per market share goes,
Windows XP has (more or less ) 4% market share.
Microsoft has ended support for Windows XP back in April of 2014.
“The NHS still has over 2,000 machines running Windows XP”
16 July 2019 - infosecurity-magazine.com
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/nhs-still-running-2000-xp-computers/

3. 3antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Windows 7
Although the end of life for Windows 7/XP has been a well-
known fact, according to web analytics the actual usage of
Windows 7 has not rapidly decreased. The market share for
Windows 7 increased over January 2019 from 36.9 percent to
37.19 percent.
As of December 2019, Windows:
• 10 has a 40.9% market share.
• 7 has a 37.2% market share.
• XP has a market share of 2.76%.
On January 14 2020, users of Windows 7 (currently on
“extended support”) received the same treatment as
users of Windows XP and other earlier versions of
Windows, the end of Microsoft update support. That
means users will no longer receive security updates for
the Windows security applications. Among other things,
this means that the anti-virus protection in Windows 7
will no longer be upgraded.

4. 4antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
What can I do ?
1. Install an updated Antivirus and a strong
Firewall
2. Regularly scan Windows XP/7 systems
(remember that there are a lot of Windows
XP Embedded systems)
3. Take Advantage of Available XP Security
Patch

5. 5antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Use Always antivirus and Firewall
Use updated Antivirus
Old (but strong) firewall version is better than nothing

6. 6antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Firewall
A strong Firewall can block
dangerous connections from
the internet : it helps but
does not completly solve the
problem.

7. 7antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
How to find vulnerabilities in Windows XP/7
• Use PC as a scan systems with a nmap application
• Find patches for vulnerabilities
• Install patches
Follow MY  instructions, see next slides.

8. 8antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Check Your System with a Scanning Engine
https://nmap.org/download.html
Download latest stable release self-installer: nmap-7.80-
setup.exe
Install Nmap Applicartion
Install NMAP in a
laptop PC: you
will use it to scan
Windows XP/7
System via
network

9. 9antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
How to Find Your PC's IP Address in Windows XP/7
Use ipconfig via CMD (Start -> Run -> CMD)
IP Address

10. 10antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
How to scan a Windows XP/7 System
192.168.133.140
nmap --script vuln Use detected
IP Address
Insert the following
command
Click scan button
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11. 11antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Click Scan and …
HORROR
Your system is vulnareble !
Use Vulnerability code

12. 12antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Embedded systems
You can use this producedure to also find
vulnerabilities on embedded devices e.g. medical
devices with a XP Windows operating system.
Do not attempt to solve the problem on medical devices.
Test the medical devices in a test environment : Don't
run security tests in a production environment.
Critical vulnerabilities have been
identified in GE Healthcare patient
monitoring products by a security
researcher at CyberMDX
CVE-2020-6963 (CVSS 10.0) concerns the use of hard-coded Server Message Block (SMB)
credentials (CWE-798). An attacker could establish an SMB connection and read or write files
on the system. The credentials could be obtained through the password recovery utility of
the Windows XP Embedded operating system.

13. 13antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Find the patch
"ms17-010" "Windows XP" Microsoft

14. 14antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Download Security Update for Windows XP SP3 (KB4012598)
Vulnerability ID
ms17-010

15. 15antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Run as Administrator
RUN AS
ADMINSTRATOR

16. 16antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
Install OS Patch
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17. 17antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
After reboot, re-scan
SCAN AGAIN
NO MORE
VULNERABILITIES

18. 18antonio.bartolozzi@bartolozzi.it
CONCLUSIONS
• You can regularly use tools to identify and fix
vulnerabilities so the system is more secure
• Do not use Windows XP/7 PC with vulnerabilities
• However, Please, stop using Windows XP systems as
soon as possible!
• Microsoft offers extended security update (ESU)
support for Windows 7 (Professional or Enterprise
versions only). Buy extended support or stop using
Windows 7 systems as soon as possible!