End of Windows XP leaves many companies vulnerable

10 years ago | Posted in: Technology | 709 Views

The popular operating system Windows XP is about to become a lot less secure, yet a surprisingly high number of enterprises still expect to run parts of their business on the software, analysts say.

As long planned, Microsoft ended support on Tuesday for XP users—meaning no new security updates will be offered. And without these security patches, anyone using the operating system leaves the network open to an attack the next time a vulnerability is discovered.

Companies that don’t upgrade are asking for problems sooner or later, analysts say.

“This has the potential to be a big problem, especially for businesses,” said Michael Fumai, chief operating officer of Blue Ridge Networks, a cybersecurity firm. “The bad guys have been waiting for this sunset date, they are more prepared than many businesses, and in a lot of cases they are better funded to use this to their advantage.”

Over the years, Microsoft has issued over 700 upgrades to Windows XP and about 60 percent of those updates were rated as “critical.” Given its track record, there’s a good chance more vulnerabilities will be discovered and that could cause a big headache for companies and consumers still using the outdated OS, said Sanjay Castelino, vice president of marketing at Spiceworks, a professional network for IT… see more

source: cnbc

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