Is your business sitting on the ticking time bomb of the next great IT security breach?
The Windows 7 End of Life is now a reality: there will be no Microsoft support or patches to protect users from breaches or malicious attacks that will inevitably come.
Is this a hyped doom-laden warning that can be ignored? Well, just look at what happened when Windows XP expired five years ago.
The infamous WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 used that vulnerability to target millions of computers and huge numbers of companies all over the globe with major organisations such as the NHS in the UK, FedEx and Nissan affected.
The Windows Operating System is the foundation on which your company’s IT system is built, so any vulnerabilities will be targeted. It is not “if” the bad guy’s attack, but “when”.
Hardware gets slower for employees
If you do nothing, your Windows 7 PC will keep running. It won’t stop. But this hardware is already 5-10 years old, so the hundreds of updates and new powerful software such as Office and Teams will mean it is getting slower and slower for your employees.
But critically, you are both liable to a security hack and, in the face of data leakage, your company will be fined by the Data Protection Commissioner for not having your systems up to date. You face a fine for non-compliance with regulations such as GDPR if it is clear that you failed to upgrade to Windows 10 and are stuck with unsupported legacy Windows 7.
How to make your apps work
You may be concerned that some of your applications will not be compatible with the new OS, but simply get in touch with your vendor and inquire about the upgrade path as they will have an updated version available. We are hearing that some vendors are already identifying Windows 7 users and sending warnings that the system needs an upgrade.
Most of Ortus’s customers have taken action, particularly those we onboarded in the past three years who have all-new kit. But some firms are burying their heads in the sand and not doing the right thing.
And it is not a shift that is going to cause huge disruption to the business. Unlike other Managed Service Providers, we are pre-building the machines before we come onsite. We take your old computer, send you off for a cup of tea and the whole process is complete in around 45 minutes.
Then you are ready to rock with a faster, slicker device that is compliant and totally secure.
If you have any concerns, get in touch with us and we can defuse that ticking time bomb for you!
