Journalism of Courage
Microsoft on Tuesday said that there are just 100 working days to go before it stops supporting Windows XP,its 12-year-old operating system. Around 30 per cent of computers used by businesses still run Windows XP and after April 8,2014,no anti-virus software will be able to protect these,Microsoft said.
In India,PSU banks and financial institutions face the largest risk,as many of them run Windows XP on around 40 to 70 per cent of their computers,according to a Microsoft-funded study conducted by Ascentius Consulting. According to the report,34,115 PSU bank branches face a security threat due to their reliance on Windows XP.
However,some banks have been proactively upgrading their computers. For instance,Goyal said,Indian Bank has completed migration to Windows 7 and Canara Bank is about to finish it soon. The banks that do not upgrade will face heavy maintenance costs. An IDC report titled 8216;Risks of Staying with Windows XP: The Financial and Business Imperative8217; says that the cost of support for Windows XP machines post the end of support deadline could be as high as 300 Rs 19,000 per PC,as opposed to 95 Rs 6,000 for upgrading to a newer OS. Upgrade cost is even low for PSU banks till January as Microsoft is offering around 50 per cent discounts for upgrades to Windows 7,apart from assistance with migrating vital software and hardware to support modern operating systems.
Government authorities are aware of the risk of continuing with Windows XP,as evident in a memo issued by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team CERT-In on June 25. The advisory says,8221;It is recommended that users and organisations using Windows XP8230; should immediately plan for upgradation8230; and test applications well before April 2014.8221;
