14 DAY TRIAL // It recently emerged that 95 percent of the world’s ATMs are still running Windows XP right now and although banks are working really hard to migrate to a newer operating system in time for end-of-support, experts believe that many would stick to this platform after April 8.
Microsoft will officially stop providing security updates and patches for Windows XP on April 8, 2014, so Redmond urges everyone to make the move to newer software by this date.
While some banks have already started the transition to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, it turns out that the migration won’t be completed in time, which isn’t quite good news not only for Microsoft, but also for customers across the world who could become vulnerable to attacks.
Wells Fargo Bank, which according to Bizjournals is the third largest banking operation business in North Texas, said that it’s working with Microsoft to complete the switch to another operating system by the time the end of Windows XP comes.
“We’re working with Microsoft and our ATM manufacturers to upgrade our ATM’s as part of our normal software refresh activities,” company representatives have been quoted as saying.
Aravinda Korala, chief executive officer of ATM software provider KAL, explained for BusinessWeek that banks need more time to move their cash machines to another platform because the transition takes more than in the case of the traditional PC.
“The ATM world is not really ready, and that’s not unusual,” he explained. “ATMs move more slowly than PCs.”
As far as desktop computers are concerned, Windows XP is now powering 28 percent of them, but Microsoft hopes that the majority would switch by April 8. Of course, that’s very unlikely, especially because the move to another platform would also involve hardware upgrades.
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