14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is pulling the plug on old Internet Explorer versions and Windows 8 today, and this is clearly a critical moment for millions of users worldwide, as they’re still running either the operating system or the browser that will no longer receive updates and security patches.
Part of South Korea is still using either one of the two or both of them, and according to a report by BusinessKorea, many are likely to continue running the software beyond the end-of-support date.
This means that their computers could easily become vulnerable to attacks should an unpatched flaw be found in the applications, and this is very likely to happen in the coming months, mostly because the same vulnerabilities exist in all Windows versions.
Up to 80 percent of the local computer users are running Windows on their PCs, the aforementioned report adds, and 40 percent of them rely on old Internet Explorer versions to browse the web, which makes things even worse because they could end up on malicious or compromised websites hosting malware.
Don’t hold onto Windows 8 as you did with Windows XP!
The Korea Internet & Security Agency has already issued a warning to explain that local computer users need to avoid another Windows XP moment, as many are still running the OS version launched in 2001 despite the April 2014 end of support.
“The technical support for the Windows XP stopped in early 2014 but approximately 15% of Web users in Korea are stilling using the Windows XP and the Windows Vista. They need to deal with potential security threats by means of OS upgrades,” the agency says.
If you’re still on Windows 8, you need to update to 8.1 from the Windows Store, while users running old Internet Explorer releases can install version 11, which is the only one that’ll still get updates and security patches.