Comment on Windows 3.1 saves the day during CrowdStrike outage — Southwest Airlines scrapes by with archaic OS
RustyHeater@lemmy.world 1 month agoMicrosoft’s Wolverine for the TCP stack was not available until Windows 3.11. An argument could be made that these systems are defacto air-gapped as they cannot communicate with modern networking.
mosiacmango@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Youre assuming the articles “windows 3.1” is both specific and correct from a non technical article. Since lacking a network stack tends to limit usability, unless the systems are intentionally air gapped they likely are windows 3.1.1 or further. Based on Southwest extensively documented and decades long IT neglect taht landed its current CEO in forbt of Congress for a previous unrelated outage, i doubt the systems are intentionally airgapped, as that implies a working and well funded IT staff.
areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Just because it doesn’t have TCP/IP doesn’t mean there isn’t networking. Networks existed before the Internet and its Internet Protocol after all. It wouldn’t be so much air gapped as so archaic that only the most targeted attacks would work, and only if there is an infected PC acting as an intermediate between the Internet and ye olde network. Chances are it was never connected to the modern Internet as the technologies just aren’t compatible.
Jagger2097@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Old doesn’t mean secure. Those old systems have had decades since the last security patch. Even then computer security was barely a consideration for the developers.
areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 1 month ago
I am not saying it is, normally old systems are the least secure. The bit you’re not getting is that this system is almost certainly air gapped, just not by choice. It can’t work with modern networks. It can’t work with modern viruses. Any exploit a modern hacker would think to use probably doesn’t exist yet. It’s a bit like trying to break someone’s car by putting sugar in the fuel, except they ride a horse. Do you get it yet?