Reminder: If You’re Still Running Windows XP, Microsoft Is No Longer Providing Support

If you’re reading this on a computer running Windows XP, you’re either the overconfident sort that thinks you’ll never get hacked or you’ve forgotten that today is the day Microsoft is dropping its support for the product. In either case, it’s time to upgrade or face security risks you don’t need to be taking.

This really shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Microsoft has been warning PC users and ATM makers alike that doomsday was fast approaching. Although not all of the ATMs in the world have upgraded, many banks are paying extra for extended support.

Those with outdated software by this time are leaving plenty of room for cyber attacks, and it’s not just your Great Aunt Dottie on her ancient PC — there are also other industrial software systems running on XP, points out CNNMoney, including major hospitals and point-of-sale systems at retail stores.

“It’s literally everywhere still,” a chief scientist at cybersecurity firm Cyclance tells CNNMoney. “Every point that’s running XP is ripe for worms. They haven’t been much of a common occurrence in modern times, but any new vulnerability could result in mass infection with very little remediation.”

All you need to do is upgrade. Or live with the fact that Windows XP computers are six times more likely to get infected, as per Microsoft’s reckoning. Ah, living on the edge.

Microsoft drops Windows XP support [CNNMoney]

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