Microsoft is finally getting rid of aged SMB1 protocol from future releases of Windows 10. The original SMB1 protocol is older than most people reading this story. It was introduced some 30 years ago for a world that no longer exists.

Ned Pyle, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft is literally begging users to “Stop using SMB1. For your children. For your children’s children. Please. We’re begging you. And if that’s not enough: SMB1 is being removed (fully or partially, depending on SKU) by default in the RS3 release of Windows and Windows Server. This is coming, folks.”

SMB 1 led to the spread of WannaCry ransomware and created the biggest cyber attack in the history of computing. The attack started on Friday May 12, 2017 and infected more than 230,000 computers across the globe. It brought down major services, including Britain's National Health Service (NHS), Spain's Telefónica, FedEx, and Deutsche Bahn. It also shows Europe’s reliance on Microsoft technologies.

“WannaCrypt ransomware served as an all too real example of the danger of cyber attacks to individuals and businesses globally,” said Adrienne Hall (General Manager of Cyber Defense Operations Center at Microsoft.

The WannaCrypt threat is far from over, the company conducted a review of updates in the month of June and found some vulnerabilities that posed an elevated risk of state sponsored cyber attacks. In order to mitigate these risks, Microsoft is providing additional security updates along with their regular Tuesday patches.

Removing SMB1 support from Windows is a very wise move of  Microsoft.