SPECIAL REPORT Microsoft Windows 7
40% Kollective’s research found that 40% of
businesses in the US and 66% of UK businesses
still have devices running Windows 7
Farewell to Windows 7
The time has finally come, by the time you are reading this Microsoft will have ceased its support of Windows 7
which could have a profound impact on your customer base. The top estimates put the number of businesses
yet to migrate at 66% which could have huge ramifications. In this feature we look at the risks to businesses
yet to migrate
Microsoft released
Windows 7 on July 22nd
2009, and now after
more than ten years its
all over folks! End of support
creates three major issues: no
more technical support, no
more software updates, and –
most importantly – no more
security updates.
From a performance
perspective, users may not
notice any immediate changes
in their Windows 7 OS as it
will still run just the same as it
always has.
However, without regular
software patches they may come
up against faults or bugs that
would otherwise have been
xed. Equally, they may nd
modern applications (Oce
365 ProPlus being an example)
suddenly become unsupported
on Windows 7.
David Emm, Principal
Security Researcher at
Kaspersky commented “Since
no security updates will be
generally available after today,
anyone who continues to use
Windows 7 will be putting
themselves at risk. Every
vulnerability found will become
a zero-day vulnerability - i.e.,
one for which no patch is
available. We recommend that
people move to a supported
operating system as soon
as possible - which would
be Windows 10, in the case
of Microsoft. Research we
undertook in August 2019
indicated that more than a
third of consumers still run
Windows 7: these people need
to be aware of the risks of
using outdated software - and
update their operating system
immediately.”
Another WannaCry?
e WannaCry ransomware
attack in 2017 hit around a
third of NHS Trusts and almost
one in ten general practitioners,
resulting in 19,000 cancelled
appointments and nancial
losses of £92 million, according
to the Department of Health
and Social Care. So could we
see another mass attack in
2020?
Ian Wood, Senior Director,
EMEA Cloud & Governance
Business Practice, Veritas said
“WannaCry was a clear example
of the dangers that businesses
can face when they are using
software that has reached end of
life. In January 2020, a quarter
of all PCs are going to fall into
this category so it’s vital that
the organisations that rely on
Windows 7 are aware of the
risks and what they need to
mitigate them. is type of
ransomware attack tends to
have a disproportionate eect
on organisations that can aord
ransoms least – for example,
we saw high-prole attacks on
public sector bodies in 2017. So,
it’s critical for those running
Windows 7 to act now and
put plans in place to ensure
that they are able to protect
themselves. Organisations need
to understand their data and
make sure that information is
being stored in the right place
where it can be protected and
made available when needed.”
Databarracks’ Managing
Director Peter Groucutt
commented “is is a concern
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RESELLER INTERVIEW
JACOB CHEW, MICROSOFT PRODUCT AND LICENSING SPECIALIST, SOFTCAT
CBM: HOW CAN DEVICE-AS-A-SERVICE HELP WITH THE MOVE TO WINDOWS 10?
Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) has played a big role in the move to
Windows 10, offering. Organisations the ability to mitigate the capital
expenditure of hardware upgrade and streamlining device leasing
agreements into one. It also provides a strategic set of service options
to reduce the ongoing management overhead, whilst also allowing you
to review the efficiency of your devices.
CBM: WHAT SHOULD BUSINESSES DO NEXT IF THEY STILL USE WINDOWS 7?
The sensible thing to do would be to upgrade to Windows 10 as soon as
possible. You can upgrade your current licence but you need to ensure
your devices are compatible with the new operating system, if not, you
may need to upgrade your devices too.
You’ll get all the security protections plus new features like Cortana
virtual assistant on desktop, 4K picture quality, sleek-looking apps and
an emoji keyboard if you so desire.
As a last resort, if you aren’t ready to switch, you can purchase an
extended security updates pack which will give you a further year of
Windows 7 security updates.
>
14 | Comms Business Magazine | February 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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