As I've been whining a year ago about Windows XP to be put to rest, this day has come ... 2 weeks ago. From now on, pretty much any PC with the mentioned OS that is connected to the Internet, is vulnerable to easily accessible attacks.
But what does this mean? According to the market share website, nearly 30% of the world still uses the defunct OS. This is a lot of computers and heaven for certain people. To make things even worse, 95% of the world's ATM systems are still running Windows XP and I'm pretty sure this is just the tip of the iceberg. While "important" institutions we "trust", think that paying Microsoft for their premium service with our money and upgrading later than sooner is the "cheapest" strategy (like the UK), we end-users need to find "creative" ways to protect ourselves.
The AVAST team in a blog post is suggesting the following approaches:
- Buy a new computer as soon as you can;
- Upgrade the software that you have;
- Ditch Microsoft’s Internet Explorer;
- Use antivirus software and keep it updated;
- Remove insecure software that you don’t use, like the Java browser plug-in;
- Get offline or stay away as often as you can.
My mood isn't the best today, so I apologize for all the sarcasm. I hope it won't bother you too much.
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