THE WINDOWS XP SOURCE CODE IS ONLINE

Good morning dear readers of Hacker's Station, today we will talk about the source code of Windows XP which has been online for a few days.

The source code for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and other Microsoft operating systems was released online this week.

The operating system sources were released online as 42.9GB torrent files on 4chan.

4chan is an online bulletin board often frequented by trolls and extremist groups such as anonymous.

THE CONTENT OF THE FILES

The content of this torrent file includes the source code of several older Microsoft operating systems, such as Windows 2000, Embedded (CE 3, CE 4, CE 5, CE 7), Windows NT (3.5 and 4), XP and Server 2003.

The files also contained the source code of the first Xbox operating system, MS-DOS (3.30 and 6), and the source code of various components of Windows 10.

Although Microsoft has not yet confirmed the leak, however, if the source code is the right one they should say it for the safety of their users.

Several Windows experts who analyzed the files said the files were legitimate, but also downplayed the importance of the leak (but Microsoft hasn't confirmed anything yet).

THE SOURCE OF WINDOWS XP

It must be said that many of the files leaked this week were leaked years ago and the leak appears to be a collection of previous elements.

For example, the source code for some Windows 10 components leaked online in 2017, while Xbox and Windows NT files leaked earlier this year. Other leaks are even older and date back to discussions on mailing lists and forums that date back to the early 1920s.

The only new elements that appear to have leaked this week are the source code of Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows 2000. The leaker claims that many of the operating system's source code packages are collected and traded privately by data brokers.

IT experts said that the source code of such operating systems is not completely private, only proprietary. They also believe the files have leaked from academia. Microsoft has historically provided access to the source code of its operating systems to governments around the world for security audits, and to academic teams for scientific research.

The leak is new to the general public, but it comes as no surprise to academics and software developers.

“All of these files have been around for years,” they wrote. "Especially the WRK [Windows Research Kernel], which anyone with an .edu [e-mail account] could already download."

IS QANON RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA LEAKAGE?

The reason is that the leak was made public on 4chan, it is that this place regularly meets the QAnon, a far-right group that shares stupid conspiracy theories online. The leaked torrent file was infused with an assortment of videos selling various Bill Gates conspiracy theories, in line with some of QAnon's outlandish programs.

QAnon or not, the leaked files appear to be legitimate. However, it is still unclear whether the files are sufficient to help users compile the entire XP or Server 2003 operating system and start it, or if several parts are missing.

It will most likely take days to verify, unless Microsoft decides to clarify this point in a statement for all.

Some news sites also spread the theory that with XP source code leaked online, XP users are in danger from malware authors.

But let's be honest, XP users have been "in danger" since Microsoft stopped supporting the operating system. With a market share of around 1% of all Windows users, XP is not as attractive to malware developers as it once was. No hacker will put so much effort into revising decades-old source code for an exploit with so little return.

That's all, see you in a future article.