Report shows 32% of businesses still use Windows XP

A recent report shows that an alarming 32% of businesses still operate at least on device running the long out-dated Windows XP.

According to Spiceworks’ Network and Endpoint Security report out this week, one third of businesses still operate at least one device running Windows XP, which reached the end of its extended support cycle way back in 2014.

(Interestingly, the final variant of XP, Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, only came out of support in April 2019. This variant of XP was used as a point-of-service operating system by – for example – shops. However many XP Home and Professional users were using a hack to receive security updates intended for this lesser known XP variant. But alas, this has now come to an end.)

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Of course, Windows XP doesn’t get updates anymore. Including security updates. This means as crooks learn about vulnerabilities in XP, there is nothing to stop them using those exploits against XP users. As such, using Windows XP in 2019 is really one of the biggest security faux pas’ you can commit.

Many experts believe using Windows XP is the online equivalent to not getting yourself vaccinated. That’s because you’re a potential threat to people around you, just like Windows XP devices present a threat to computers connected to it via the same network. Not only are XP devices easier to compromise, known vulnerabilities can also make it easier for XP devices to spread malware across a network, potentially putting non-XP devices at risk as well.

This is one of the reasons why the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attacks were so successful.

Spiceworks noted that while the 32% was a drop from 42% in 2017, it is still an incredibly high number, and likely good news for malware distributors and other forms of cyber crooks.

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To demonstrate how old Windows XP is, it was released in October 2001, meaning in the UK, it would be almost old enough to legally drink alcohol. It’s successor, Windows Vista, has also fallen out of extended support in 2017, and it’s successor’s successor, Windows 7, falls out of extended support in mere months (January 2020.)

So updating Windows XP has become critical. But for many users, simply upgrading Windows XP machines to Windows 10 may not be that simple. Because so much time has surpassed, most computers that came shipped with XP are simply not powerful enough to run the comparatively more resource-intensive Windows 10. Another reason why many businesses are still clinging to those Windows XP machines. That and compatibility with older hardware peripherals.

But the severe security vulnerabilities XP presents are not going to go anywhere, and if you’ve connected those XP machines to the Internet or a network, running into trouble is more likely a matter of when, and not if.

We have more information on the importance of upgrading from Windows XP in our post here.