In this week’s episode of #CoffeeWithKampas, Founder & CEO John Kampas is discussing what to do now that Windows 7 is officially end of life. It is estimated that nearly 30% of computers are still running Windows 7. Are you one of them?
Hi this is John Kampas, Founder and CEO of EMPIST. On today’s coffee with Kampas, I want to talk to you about life after Windows 7. As of today, January 15th 2020, Windows 7 is officially end of life. After ten and a half years and 450 million copies sold, it sure was a good run.
I hope you have already migrated to a supported operating system; however, it is estimated that nearly 30% of computers are still running Windows 7. If you are included in this percentage, you need to do something about it ASAP. Your system will still run but it will become less and less secure every day. And if you follow Coffee with Kampas, you can’t say you weren’t warned.
Included in the first patch Tuesday of 2020, Microsoft released 49 security patches; 8 of which were classified as critical patches. Some of these affect all versions of Windows, including Windows 7. I am certain this will continue to happen, and the hackers will be ready to attack. Keep in mind that Windows 7 and older operating systems will not be patched by Microsoft anymore.
You also need to be aware of potential compliance issues. If you haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 yet, you could be in violation of regulatory and industry compliances, such as HIPAA, because you cannot guarantee updated patches on all systems. You could also be in violation of your cyber security policy and client agreements.
If you still need to run windows 7, you need purchase extended security updates, or ESU. This support runs for a maximum 3 years. With ESU, you will continue to receive security updates from Microsoft. Without it, you will no longer receive security updates.
For those of you who have upgraded, hopefully the process wasn’t too painful. Whether you performed an in-place upgrade or purchased a new system with windows 10 preinstalled, there are a lot of enhancements, including cloud integrations. Some customers have also used this as an opportunity to introduce more Apple systems into their business. With many applications being SaaS or cloud based, desktop computing is becoming more device agnostic because there is less dependency on the device type or operating system.
You might be thinking, ok, I have upgraded so I am safe. Not exactly. Even though you upgraded to a new operating system, you will need to make sure your systems are current and the patches are properly installed. This is especially true as it relates to security. As I mentioned earlier, 49 new security patches were released this month. Manufacturers and developers cannot predict the future in order to release patches and fixes. If you don’t keep your systems and devices up to date, they might only be patched up to the time of installation.
If you need any help managing your technology, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
Thank you.