14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP is an operating system that no longer receives support and security patches, but Microsoft is well aware that many users are still running it, so it continues to issue warnings and recommendations for those who need to upgrade.
A number of banks, however, are making serious efforts to move all their PCs from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8, even though it’s a very expensive process that also involves hardware upgrades.
Clydesdale Bank has admitted at the Dell Enterprise Forum that Windows XP computers still exist within its organization, but all are in the process of getting upgraded to Windows 7 in the coming months. The bank hasn’t yet purchased extended support from Microsoft.
“At the moment we are doing our Windows XP to [Windows] 7 migration with Dell providing the professional services for that,” storage manager for Clydesdale Bank Alisdair Philp was quoted as saying by V3.
“These are applications that we couldn’t run in any other environment so we have had to fire up some new virtual desktops on XP to support these applications as we work out our exit plan from there,” he added during his speech.
Philp admitts that Windows XP computers could indeed be vulnerable to attacks, especially because no extended support has been purchased, but he explains that all PCs running the unsupported operating system are protected with a firewall. He obvious adds that they’re still exposed to attacks, but points out that all will be upgraded very soon and they’re only running XP because the bank still needs a number of applications.
If you’re asking Microsoft, no third-party solution can protect your computer, so in case you’re still running Windows XP, upgrading is the only option.
“PCs running Windows XP after April 8, 2014, should not be considered to be protected, and it is important that you migrate to a current supported operating system – such as Windows 8.1 – so you can receive regular security updates to protect their computer from malicious attacks,” the software giant said.
Windows XP, however, continues to be installed on 28 percent of the desktop computers worldwide, despite all warnings coming from Microsoft itself and the other security vendors out there. Third-party security apps will continue to work just fine on Windows XP for at least two more years, but that doesn’t mean that you’re protected since zero-day vulnerabilities in the operating system are still unpatched.