We’ve been reporting on End of Support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 for a while now, since comes into effect very soon: the 14th of January, 2020.
Despite this rapidly-approaching reality, however, a significant number of South African businesses are still running Windows 7.
This week, SA-based tech site htxt.co.za reported that a study by cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky has shown that 47% of local businesses are still running Windows 7.
47%. Let that sink in for a moment. It’s a huge number.
This is massively concerning, because from January next year, anyone running Windows 7 becomes acutely vulnerable to cyberattacks.
No more patches
Because, as you know because you read our August 20 article on EOS, no more patches or security updates will be released for Windows 7 from that End of Support date.
Any cyberattacks that exploit Windows 7 vulnerabilities discovered after 14 January can simply walk through the front door, and there will be nothing you can do about it.
This is alarming, because cyberattacks steal important data, shut down essential services, and disrupt business operations – things no business wants to have to deal with.
“But we like it”
The reasons cited for business’s continued love for Windows 7 – a ten-year-old operating system by now – “comfortability” with Windows 7, concerns over legacy software compatibility with newer OSes, and of course, economics.
That last one, while understandable in this depressed economic climate, must be seen in context. While yes, upgrading to Windows 10 will cost money, as Kaspersky’s Enterprise Solutions Manager, Alexey Pankratov said to htxt, “… the cost of an incident may be substantially higher than the cost of upgrading”.
This makes putting off upgrading to Windows 10 a potentially huge mistake.
While it could be argued this sounds like paranoid hand-wringing, it’s not – having an unsupported operating system inside any organisation is a clear cybersecurity risk. More concerning is that even a single incident can realistically bankrupt small to medium-sized businesses operating on the edge of profitability.
Let us help
If you are a business owner and you’re concerned over the implications of keeping Windows 7 around, you’re welcome to contact us about it.
Simply fill in this form and we’ll get back to you – we’re confident we can help you find a way forward to a Windows 10-powered future.
[Source: htxt.co.za]