Tuesday, July 13…a date which will live in infamy.
Not really, but it is the last date that Microsoft will deliver patches for what may have been its most popular operating system/service pack combo. Yes, it is true. Windows XP SP2 has officially reached end of life. Rest in peace.
This seems to have caught people by surprise. A quick check of the stats from our customer base (both NetChk Protect and IT.Shavlik.com) indicates that about 16% of the target machines managed by Shavlik are running XP SP2 as their operating system.
In a story that appeared on Daniweb by Davey Winder, Qualys estimates that it will take a year before everyone can migrate off XP SP2.
Why should you care? This article from Computerworld sums it up best: You shouldn’t. The vulnerabilities in Windows XP SP2 that Microsoft will no longer fix aren’t your biggest problem. Your biggest problem is the vulnerabilities in non-Microsoft applications like Adobe Reader and Flash, Apple QuickTime, and Sun JRE that you’ve been ignoring for years.
News flash folks: hackers and those with malicious intent to infiltrate your environment and steal sensitive data aren’t focused on Microsoft operating systems any longer. They are targeting 3rd party applications…and in a big way.
From the Computerworld article titled “How to Keep Windows XP SP2 safer after Microsoft stops patching“:
Antivirus vendors McAfee and Symantec have both reported huge surges in attacks exploiting bugs in Adobe’s Reader, one of the most widely-installed plug-ins. McAfee, for example, said that exploits of Reader jumped 65% in the first quarter of 2010 compared to 2009′s total.
There you have it. Wring your hands in angst over the fact that XP SP2 is EOL. But then dust yourself off and start addressing the real threat to your data…unpatched Adobe, Apple, Sun, and Mozilla products.
Think you’re covered? Then I’ll extend a challenge. Register for IT.Shavlik.com. Check 10 machines in your environment (you can scan and patch up to 10 machines FREE). You’re not as patched as you think you are and IT.Shavlik.com will prove it.
Then, call me. Shavlik can help.
– Nancee Melby
– Director of Product Marketing, Shavlik
