Original Windows XP source code may have been leaked

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The files have appeared on the online storage service Mega, among others. There you will find a zip file called nt5src. Windows NT 5.0 was the coding name for Windows 2000, the predecessor of Windows XP. It has not yet been officially confirmed that the codes are actually Windows XP, but according to The Verge the code is authentic. Cyber ​​security experts confirm this suspicion by saying that such files have been shared on hacker forums in the dark web for a decade. In addition to pieces of code, the file would also contain references to conspiracy theories about Bill Gates contain.

Hackers can exploit such codes to find vulnerabilities in software that have not yet been patched. That is certainly a problem for Windows XP, as Microsoft already stopped support for the operating system in 2014. Microsoft itself has not yet responded to the news.

Codes often leak

If it really is an authentic code, then it is far from the first time that Microsoft unwittingly reveals Windows source codes. In 2017, the source code of the Windows 10 operating system was leaked. Such leaks can also affect Xbox users. Some of the source code for the new Xbox Series X was leaked in May, and just weeks later the source code for the original Xbox.

However, it seems unlikely that this leak will have major consequences. However popular Windows XP once was, the operating system is hardly used today. According to Microsoft, less than one percent of all computers worldwide still run on the operating system. It is also not wise to rely on an operating system that is no longer supported, because it makes your devices very vulnerable to attack. In 2017, Microsoft rolled out the last major patch for XP to combat a large-scale malware attack called WannaCry.

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