Microsoft Mitigates Financial Frauds, Shuts down Windows XP

Windows 8 has been described as the most secure operating system in the market, as it features a wide array of improvements over its predecessor and capable of mitigating banking and finance security challenges.

Meanwhile, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would shut down support for its 11-year old Windows XP operating system widely used in personal computers and laptops.

My implication, Windows XP will no longer receive security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft after April 8, 2014, Awawu Olumide-Sojinrin (Mrs), acting country manager, Microsoft Nigeria said, during a press conference to officially announce plans to shut down the Windows XP.

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, shortly after the announcement, Olumide-Sojinrin, said that Microsoft had taken several security measures to protect Windows 8 users, especially the financial institutions.

Olumide-Sojinrin who doubles as the marketing and orchestration lead, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa said: “Microsoft primary focus is to ensure users are protected and Windows 8 is thus capable of providing better security against malware. It contains a Defender; a full-featured anti-virus solution included in every edition of the operating system.

 “That is why we are encouraging companies to upgrade to Windows 8. The reasons are obvious: security till today and in future remains a high priority investment area and with it we have enabled a broad range of new capabilities that address the top security needs and threats that they are facing today”.

Speaking on the reason behind the Windows XP shut down, Mr. Oluyomi Alarape, datacenter solutions Specialist, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, added that Microsoft Support Lifecycle (MSL) policy for business and developer products specifies that Microsoft will offer a minimum of 10 years of support for Business and Developer products. Mainstream Support for Business and Developer products will be provided for 5 years or for 2 years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer.

 “Microsoft will also provide Extended Support for the 5 years following Mainstream support or for 2 years after the second successor product (N+2) is released, whichever is longer. Finally, most Business and Developer products will receive at least 10 years of online self-help support,” he added.

According to Alarape, Microsoft is ending support for XP because “technology has dramatically changed.”

On his part, Mr. Ade Famoti, acting director, Enterprise and Partner group, Microsoft Nigeria, the expiration of support for Windows XP is expedient due to the fact that there has been evolution in technology, maintaining that business and personal technology has dramatically changed over the last decade.

He added that XP was no longer equipped to curtail the ever increasing challenges of the present times.

He said: “While XP was one of the most popular operating systems in Microsoft’s history, it was not designed to handle the challenges of today, such as the increased exposure to cyber-attacks and demands for more data privacy, unlike our newer operating systems such as Windows 7 and 8”.

The sales manager further explained that, apparently, the security risk is the most concerning for customers as there are more sophisticated forms of attack which can impact safety of personal information and the hidden costs associated with support and business continuity.

“An 11-year-old operating system can no longer address today’s business and technology needs nor security threats,” he said.

On user experience, Mr. Abiodun Ogunjobi hinted that the sharp increase of “hacktivism” and pirated software in 2012 formed part of reasons consumers should upgrade from XP to the latest operating systems such as Windows 7 or 8.