Despite Microsoft declaring that the end of life for Windows XP would occur on Tuesday 8th April 2014, Microsoft has taken the unprecedented action of releasing a security update foe the archaic operating system.
The declaration of the end of life for Windows XP should have meant that no security updates were released for the Windows XP operating system and therefore leaving anyone who is using Windows XP after 8th April 2014 more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. However, it looks like Microsoft has taken an exception in this case.
The security update that has been released is meant to fix a security flaw in the Internet Explorer browser.
Microsoft stated that they rolled out this security update because of how soon after the security flaw was discovered from the end of life support date.
Adrienne Hall, General Manager, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft stated, “ Even though Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft and is past the time we normally provide security updates, we’ve decided to provide an update for all versions of Windows XP.”
Hall added, “We made this exception based on the proximity to the end of support for Windows XP.”
The security flaw was present in Internet Explorer versions 6 to 11 in which hackers could exploit the flaw by hosting a specially crafted website. Users would have to visit the website and interact with it. If a user did this, it would allow hackers to gain access to user’s computer with the same permissions as what they were logged in as.
Microsoft has confirmed that the security update has been fully tested and is ready to go.
Microsoft stated, “This update is fully tested and ready for release for all affected versions of the browser. The majority of customers have automatic updates enabled and will not need to take any action because protections will be downloaded and installed automatically.”
Regardless of what operating system you use, it is vital that data is protected by utilising a robust backup solution. By having the latest security updates downloaded and applied to your machine does reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of a cyber-attack but doesn’t rule it out completely.
Therefore, by having a robust backup solution in place, you can be sure that you can recover your data in the desired state, no matter what happens.
