By Segun Oniyide
Web pages and pop-up alerts will warn people who are still running Windows XP, Microsoft will end support for the venerable Windows XP operating system. That means no more security patches, software updates or bug fixes for the software.
Microsoft has been warning people and businesses for months about an event. And it is one that hi-tech thieves have been looking forward to as those digital protections start to diminish.
In a bid to get users shifting over to a more modern version of windows, Microsoft has created a website that tells people if they are, or are not, running the software and on 8 March will make a pop-up warning appear on the screens of those who are still using it.
Microsoft is also working with some other software firms to help people work out how to update and upgrade and has made tools that transfer data and settings over to a new version of Windows so the switch is as painless as possible, some studies suggest the majority of the world’s cash machines still run it.
Delays in the versions of Windows that came after XP extended the support life for the operating system. Add to this the hard work it takes for companies to get applications running on new versions of Windows and its no surprise that companies have stuck with it.
people and businesses should be getting on with shifting to something newer, Many of the world’s cash machines are believed to be still running Windows XP
One of the reasons that Microsoft is keen to stop people using XP is because it is feared that once the security updates stop, anyone still using XP will be a tempting target for hi-tech thieves.
This was especially true given the work that Microsoft had done to harden more recent versions of Windows against attack.
Windows 7 and 8 now employ several different techniques that hide the internal workings of the operating system from attackers. Cybercriminals keen to steal data or compromise machines often get a foothold by exploiting a problem in an application such as a web browser.
Exploits had far less chance to work on those more up-to-date versions of Windows because of the very different way they moved data in and out of different places in memory.
This meant that cybercriminals used bugs in programs from Adobe and Oracle’s Java to get at Windows users rather than look for a specific operating system vulnerability.
Doubtless the end of security support will mean bugs in those other programs will have more success at catching people out.
Windows XP is still very popular in China and many people use pirated copies of the software ,The good news is that many anti-virus companies are planning to keep on updating their products to spot malware aimed at XP. Most are keeping an eye on XP for at least a year and some will keep providing updates for much longer
Companies that had not upgraded by now were not going to able to manage the swap in the next 30 days.
