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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.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 21 2020, @01:06AM
Linux is the perfect example of something with the potential to be so awesome, but squandered by the fifth-columnist freakshow that managed to infest its cadre of developers.
Honestly this is the most insightful thing about linux. It is run by people who think free equals the most awesome thing on the planet. I use computers to run software not make political statements.
My desktops are windows. In almost every way I have to compromise what I use for a desktop to use mac or linux. All for the 'air' of being better. It is not better. It just does not run the software I use. Not without a shit-ton of fiddling around with it. I would rather my software 'just work' than have to jump through any hoops.
I also use linux software every day. Its CLI environment is better than windows. Powershell fixes a lot of that but is still wonky. But that is about it. As being a dev after 25 years I can say I give up on it for a dev environment. VI, EMACS, eclipse *sucks*. They work to a point. But the polish is just not there. For tweaking low level items it works. But for building large systems it is a royal pain in the ass. You *can* do it. But you have to spend just so much more time fighting your tools and playing stackoverflow 'how to do XYZ command in eclipse/vi/emacs'.
What is *the* most amusing thing about linux? It is being used by hundreds of companies to build a shit show of locked in vendor pay per month IoT software and garbage hardware. Good luck getting the exact combination the hardware manufactures BOM dictates so you can patch your hardware. If they bother to expose a JTAG or a way to flash the device at all. If you thought the windows bot nets were fun wait until we get the IoT ones.
Mac on the other hand just decides every 2-3 years you should toss out all of your software. They do not want old software running on their systems it may make the look bad.