It’s been a month since Microsoft ended Windows XP support and already one major exploit was discovered in Internet Explorer leaving XP computers vulnerable.

Unlike previous versions of Windows that reached their EOL (end of life) the Windows XP market segment remains relatively high.  Whether it’s due to the recession and more individuals and companies wanting to hold on to hardware longer, or that XP was a solid operating system and many people still prefer it over Windows 8 or 8.1, estimates suggest that 20-25% of PCs are still running Windows XP.

From Kaspersky Senior Research Analyst David Emm, “Our data indicates that less than one fifth of our customers run Windows XP, but more than a quarter of infections are Windows XP based.”

This is just the early data; knowing that security updates and patches are unavailable for Windows XP cyber criminals will up their attacks on Windows XP computers.  When considering the generally well protected target or the one that’s been left behind the obvious choice for an attack is always the latter.

This causes concern for both home users and Windows XP computers in a business environment especially for those in the medical field where Windows XP computers will likely no longer be HIPAA compliant.  Running Windows XP, without security updates or patches, on computers that store or access electronic protected health information (ePHI), will open healthcare providers to increased vulnerabilities under HIPAA.

If you’re still running Windows XP and are concerned about your vulnerabilities call your technology service provider and discuss your concerns and options.  For those who are running XP on a computer that rarely gets connected to the Internet the user may have no reason to upgrade either the operating system or the computer itself.  For those with computers that contain sensitive customer, patient, or employee data it may be time to put in place a replacement strategy.

 

 

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