The nation's Security Agency (NSA) wants users to update their Windows 7 or Windows XP computers because of a critical security vulnerability able to inflicting devastating damage.

The vulnerability, called BlueKeep, was discovered a couple weeks ago in older versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Vista, XP and Server 2008.

The flaw is really serious that Microsoft was quickly released patches for Windows XP, an operating system the software giant stopped supporting five years ago, as well as Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (Vista got nothing, however.)

In the event that wasn't alarming enough, Microsoft released not one but two statements comparing BlueKeep to the WannaCry attacks, and warning that this new flaw is "wormable," and could spread from one machine to the next.

Yesterday (June 4), the NSA released an advisory strongly urging Windows users and administrators to update their older systems using the Microsoft patch.

"Recent warnings by Microsoft stressed the significance of installing patches to address a protocol vulnerability in older versions of Windows," the NSA wrote. "We have seen devastating computer worms inflict damage on unpatched systems with wide-ranging impact, and therefore are seeking to motivate increased protections from this flaw."

In the end posess zero firm number how many systems have been affected, the NSA says "potentially millions" of Windows PCs are vulnerable. When Microsoft published its second statement on May 30, it was in response to an independent security researcher's finding that nearly a million computers attached to the internet were still defenseless against an attack.

The NSA is anxious that malicious attackers can use the vulnerability to create malware that could spread ransomware or other exploits.

"This is the type of vulnerability that malicious cyber actors frequently exploit by using software code that specifically targets the vulnerability," the NSA advisory reads. "For example, the vulnerability could be exploited to conduct denial-of-service attacks. It is likely only a few time before remote exploitation tools are accessible with this vulnerability."

While systems running Windows 8 and later are safe from BlueKeep, many companies and organizations continue to use old software that supports legacy programs. The systems they use may potentially house sensitive information that may be used against them with a bad actor.

We strongly encourage everyone utilizing an older version of Windows to update their PCs with one of these patches as quickly as possible.