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posted by Fnord666 on Monday January 20 2020, @09:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the OS-inertia dept.

Hundreds of Millions of PCs Remain Vulnerable as Windows 7 Reaches End of Life:

Windows 7 has reached end of life on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, but hundreds of millions of PCs worldwide still run the operating system, which likely makes them a more tempting target for malicious cyber actors.

Microsoft will no longer provide free security updates, patches or technical support for Windows 7, which makes devices running this version of the operating system more vulnerable to attacks and more likely to be targeted.

The latest data from Statcounter and NetMarketShare shows that roughly 30% of the over 1 billion PCs estimated to exist worldwide still use Windows 7. According to Statcounter, the percentage is just under 18% in the United States.

Kaspersky reported in late August that, based on its data, nearly half of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises had still used Windows 7. More recent data from Kollective suggests that the situation has not improved too much, with 53% of businesses in the US and UK still using Windows 7 devices.

While these statistics may not be highly accurate, at least a few hundred million PCs around the world likely still run Windows 7. It's worth noting that when Windows XP reached end of life in April 2014, the operating system also had a market share estimated at roughly 30%.

[...] Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra, a California-based provider of technology that leverages AI to detect and hunt for cyber attackers, does not believe the actual impact will be catastrophic.

"For home users that want to cling on for whatever reasons, many of the potential problems could be mitigated using other tools and methods, like VPN, encryption, security software, and a good secure home router," Morales said.

"For many enterprises, they will simply sign up for Windows 7 Extended Security Updates for the next three years of coverage. This covers anything deemed critical or important," Morales added. "Which means not much will change in the attack landscape for enterprises with the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates. Most major apps like Google Chrome browser will also continue to be supported with updates for all users."

Many will lose support for programs that ran on WIndows 7, too.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 20 2020, @11:20PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 20 2020, @11:20PM (#946060)

    Expect to see this continue for quite some time, because people are not going to maim their systems because Microsoft says so.

    The people have spoken. They distrust and hate Windows 10 and for very good reasons that are ignored. Most of those who "convert" to Windows 10 do so because they don't know what else to do, or have very few options, or don't even know the problems.

    The Cult of the Mindless Update cannot answer the charges that OS's like Windows 10 push us ever onwards towards the common user no longer owning their computer, nor can it get past the fact that "patched" software is increasingly acting like the malware it claims to protect against. All they can do is continue their endless chanting as they have for years.

    If you really want a secured system you are going to have to do a lot more than just hope Microsoft treats the computer you gifted it nicely, particularly if you did something stupid like connect it to the Internet with no firewall.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 21 2020, @01:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 21 2020, @01:11AM (#946102)

    Pretty much every one I know that did not upgrade was for one of two reasons.

    The 'I use linux I am not upgrading'. Uh OK.

    Then the 'Hey this will not upgrade' guys. This is usually some bit of hardware with drivers that went EOL 15 years ago. It is not that they do not want to the thing just will not let them.

    If you really want a secured system you are going to have to do a lot more than just hope Microsoft treats the computer you gifted it nicely, particularly if you did something stupid like connect it to the Internet with no firewall
    https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_31 [kernelnewbies.org] Would you connect a linux system of that era to the raw internet? You do realize most people run their computer through something we call a 'router'. They usually have a firewall/NAT. But you *know* that right?