Will XP’s Retirement Mean Heaven For Hackers?
Microsoft has indicated that it plans to retire Windows XP after April 8Th, 2014, and will stop issuing any security updates after that date. The only planned exceptions for this would be for some larger companies and government agencies that are willing and able to pay exorbitant fees for custom support of operating systems that have officially been declared DOA.
What is anticipated is that between now and then is that Hackers will be gearing up for this event, holding on to viruses that are specifically designed to thwart any these previously known and unknown exploits, dubbed zero-day exploits. However, since Microsoft will no longer be providing patches for these exploits, knowledge of these security issues, available hacking tools or viruses that can exploit them, will command a much larger than normal price on the Internet black market. For criminals selling this information and tools, this could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars, instead of the a few thousand dollars that they might get for it for something like this now.
Also, because there will be no corrections for these issues, users will be required to rely solely on third party Anti-virus and Anti-malware programs for protection from threats. By the nature of design, Windows XP is far less secure and operating system that either Window 7 or Windows 8 is.
Windows XP has a much larger installed footprint than any other previously install PC based operating system, and these systems are still regularly in use by many businesses, so not only is the risk greater for exploits, but the rewards for the hackers are too. The main point here is that you don’t want to wait until the last minute to address these issues, as it becomes critical.
If you would like to have your systems reviewed for options on upgrading them, please contact the CCS Retail Systems Support Department.
– John