14 DAY TRIAL // The US Department of Defense signed a deal with Microsoft to upgrade 4 million computers to Windows 10 by 2017, and now the US Air Force also announces plans to complete the transition to the new operating system one year later if everything goes well.
FedTech writes that the US Air Force has a deadline of January 31, 2018 to complete the migration to Windows 10 and adds that some PCs will receive hardware upgrades because they can no longer run new operating systems and meet their system requirements.
The migration will kick off officially later this year, and the agency also expects some of its staff to need training in order to make the most of Windows 10, with representatives praising the security features of the new operating system.
US DoD could miss upgrade deadline
All PCs will benefit from Windows 10 security improvements and will come with the so-called “Secure Host Baseline,” a requirement that’s part of the original DoD deal with Microsoft.
“New security features in Windows 10 will allow the Air Force and DOD to install software patches faster and counter a major cyber-intrusion technique called ‘pass the hash.’ Using this technique, attackers may access remote servers by using a stored hash, or a one-way transformation, of a user’s password rather than the standard plain text password,” a statement released by the US Air Force reads.
“The new operating system also will increase accountability and transparency across DOD networks, allowing cyber defenders to better detect malicious activity.”
There will certainly be challenges during the process of upgrading US Air Force and DoD systems to Windows 10, and officials admit that tactical and embedded devices will raise the biggest problems, but hopefully, the majority of devices will already be on the new OS when the original DoD deadline of January 2017 is reached.
Earlier this year, Defense Department CIO Terry Halvorsen warned that this deadline might be missed because of the problems experienced during the upgrade process, such as app compatibility issues and old hardware, estimating that another 15 months might be needed to complete the transition.