Two weeks have passed since Microsoft warned users about a critical vulnerability in a common Windows protocol that could enable a hacker to remotely take over machines without even a click from their owners, potentially allowing an infectious worm to rip through millions of PCs. That bug might be fading from the headlines, but it still lingers in at least 900,000 computers. And that vulnerable herd is getting Microsoft's patch at a glacial pace—as a wave of contagion that will likely soon hit all of them looms.

BlueKeep, as the bug has come to be known, is a hackable vulnerability in Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol, or RDP, that affects Windows 7 and earlier as well as older versions of Windows Server. The insecure code was spotted and reported by the UK's National Cybersecurity Center, and Microsoft released a patch on May 14. BlueKeep is so serious—rating 9.8 out of 10 in severity, according to Microsoft—that the company even pushed out a rare patch for Windows XP, which it doesn't otherwise support. Microsoft's director of security incident response compared the potential fallout to WannaCry, the North Korean ransomware worm that caused up to $8 billion in damage when it rampaged across the internet in 2017.

And yet the digital world has been slow to defend itself. When security researcher Rob Graham scanned the entire public internet for BlueKeep-vulnerable machines on Monday, using a tool he built, he found that 923,671 machines hadn't been patched, and were thus still exposed to any potential worm. When he ran the same scan on Wednesday evening at WIRED's request, he found that the number of vulnerable machines had dropped only slightly, to 922,225.

In other words, just one thousand machines appear to have been patched in 48 hours. If that very roughly estimated rate were to continue—and it’s just as likely to slow further over time as the initial alarm around BlueKeep wanes—it would take ten years for all the remaining vulnerable machines to be patched.

Countdown to Exploitation

Graham and other security industry observers expect a public BlueKeep hacking tool and a resulting worm to appear much, much sooner, potentially within days or weeks. "A worm will happen before these systems get patched," says Graham, the CEO of consulting firm Errata Security. In fact, he expects that only the appearance of that worm will substantially change the patching rate for the computers he's scanning. "Once there's a worm, it will cleanse the internet of these vulnerable machines. It will just burn like fire."

A new Pew survey shows the trends for which online platforms and messaging app get the most and least usage, but it also indicates growth is stagnant. And teens don't like Facebook much at all.

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Looking at data from an annual telephone poll conducted by Pew Research Center and quantified in tables here by our partners at Statista, it's easy to see that YouTube and Facebook far outpace the rest of the competition when it comes to daily use on both PCs and phones. Seventy-three percent of US adults claim they're checking YouTube daily; 69 percent have a daily date with Facebook.

While there's no data to show YouTube's growth (nor that of WhatsApp or SnapChat) prior to 2018, daily usage isn't really growing by leaps and bounds, especially since 2016. Facebook had 54 percent of people checking daily in 2012, took 4 years to gain 15 percent more, and has been relatively flat ever since. Instagram—owned by Facebook since 2012—had the best growth, going from 9 percent in 2012 to 37 percent this year. YouTube hasn't gained in usage in a year.

At least the trend is typically upward—except for Pinterest, SnapChat and WhatsApp, which all have dipped since 2018. Least used of the lot is the newest service to get asked about in the poll this year: Reddit, at 11 percent. The poll was conducted from January 9 to February 7, 2019.

I had such great contributions as I was writing part 1 of this series, that I wanted to do an additional article with uncommon LinkedIn tips from various experts. Here are ten more things you can do to set yourself apart on LinkedIn:

(11) Don't Speak at Your Audience

"Don’t speak directly at your audience with posts and content. It’s more important to contribute to an already existing discussion and provide your thoughts. Sharing meaningful insight on existing commentary showcases that you are tuned into what’s going on in the world and passionate about the news and issues facing your target audience(s). One of the best things you can do on LinkedIn is provide value to your network, and by doing this, you will do just that."

-Kevin Dinino

Golf has Tiger Woods, basketball has Lebron James, and tennis has Roger Federer, but when it comes to the master of LinkedIn, there is not one single superstar that stands out. So instead of choosing just one expert to highlight, I've worked with my team to collect tips from ten LinkedIn experts from all across the interwebs. Here are some of the best LinkedIn tips we found, in no particular order:

(1) Beat the LinkedIn Algorithm

"By adding a photo and post text to your post, publishing, then clicking on the edit button to edit the post and add in the relevant external link to your post, this seems to be a way of getting good interaction on your posts as it confuses the Linkedin algorithm into thinking the link is an internal platform one."

- Sue Thompson

(2) Change Your "Connect" Button to "Follow"

Instagram pranks are becoming a popular trend on social media. One YouTuber to take on the trend earlier this year was 21-year-old George Mason.

The London-based vlogger used his photo editing skills to trick his Instagram followers into thinking he went on an eight-day vacation across five European countries. He eventually revealed the prank in a YouTube video titled: "I FAKED going on HOLIDAY for a whole WEEK *PHOTOSHOPPING MY INSTAGRAM* PRANK."

The video has racked up over seven million views at the time of writing (it was uploaded in January), and is an earlier example of the photo-editing trend that's started taking over social media.

Mason told INSIDER that the idea was born out of his love/hate relationship with social media

"Social media is great in the fact that you can connect with so many people that you wouldn't have the chance to without it," he told INSIDER. "But there's this bad side of it where it is so easy to be deceitful online."

He says he noticed articles about influencers faking their lavish lifestyles and models Photoshopping their photos, and he decided to see how far he could take it.

A few years ago I was coaching a very successful young attorney about how to better use her LinkedIn account. As she scanned her LinkedIn inbox, she noticed that a message from a New York Times reporter. This reporter was looking for a comment on a major story about international trade, her specialty. The problem? The message was months old, and she was just now seeing it. My advice to her was this: delete your account.

Should everyone have a strong presence on social media? The answer is no. Of course, there are powerful reasons to have and maintain an online profile, but I've noticed some areas where social media usage becomes a detriment instead of a value for professionals. No matter how you choose to use your account, it's a good idea to take a look in the mirror and decide if you have the bandwidth to keep up with your account. If not, your LinkedIn account could be doing more harm than good for your business. If you fall into any of the following three categories, it may be time to consider whether to delete your account:

 (1) You Won't Commit to Maintaining Your Account

In the first example I shared, the successful young attorney created an account, but had turned off email notifications and never checked the account. It was as if she built a brand new beautiful mailbox, with a tube connected that dropped all the letters she received right into the ocean. If you don't have the time to and check it on a regular basis, it's not worth having the account. It's difficult to maintain real relationships unless you make it a priority to interact regularly with them.

Katrina Najm, Senior Manager, External Communications at PwC recommends cultivating a relationship-based approach with LinkedIn connections. She says: "executives I've worked with have said they've seen success when they simply share an article with a client or prospective client saying "thought you'd enjoy this". It's worked wonders for relationship-building and has helped with their brand." Adding value while checking in every once in a while is a great way to maintain relationships.