Microsoft issues first Windows XP patch in 3 years to stymie 'WannaCrypt'

Microsoft on Friday took the unprecedented step of issuing patches for long-demoted versions of Windows, including Windows XP, to immunize PCs from fast-spreading ransomware that has crippled machines worldwide.To stymie "WannaCrypt" attacks -- which encrypted files on thousands of PCs used by the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS), causing chaos in many hospitals -- Microsoft published patches for Windows XP, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2003. All had been retired from support: Windows XP in