If You’re Keeping Windows XP, Stay Safe

 

While Microsoft has discontinued support for Windows XP Service Pack two, a number of organizations and enterprises continue to use the operating system even though security fixes and patches have come to a complete halt. A survey conducted by Fiberlink Communications of over five hundred thousand personal computers from their customers discovered approximately seventeen percent were still using Windows XP Service Pack two. Some of Fiberlink's customers include Volkswagen, Bayer, and Pepsi.

One of Fiberlink's product managers, Chuck Brown, who believes their customers should move away from Windows XP, stated, “We have been informing customers for quite some time, allowing them to make intelligent decisions.” The survey uncovered Windows 7 was being used on only .33% of their customers computers while fifteen percent were using Windows Vista and over eighty one percent were using Windows XP. The longer organizations and enterprises continue to use Windows XP the more dangerous it will become and more likely some sort of malicious malware or hacker will perform a great deal of damage. Since Microsoft will not extend any more security patches or fixes, any vulnerabilities that are discovered or exploited will be left up to the organization itself to repair.

Windows XP Service Pack three has been in existence for over a year now. Coming in at a size of three hundred sixteen megabytes, it includes every security fix and patch from the first two service packs as well as ones added later. Many organizations found it difficult to install and passed on using it. Chuck Brown also believes while companies will continue to accept the risk of using Windows XP they will eventually migrate upwards to Windows 7. As the price of hardware continues to drop more organizations will also have another reason to migrate forwards.

In the meantime, even though fixes and patches have come to a halt for Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer and other features within Windows XP, there are some steps you can take to give yourself some measure of security. One, users can find a different browser other than Internet Explorer. If you are using Windows XP updates have stopped for versions six, seven, and version eight. Many users have found browsers including Opera, Apple's Safari, Firefox, Google's Chrome and others are still providing patches for their browsers under Windows XP. Browsers should always be kept up to date with the latest security fixes and patches due to the fact that hackers love to discover and exploit as many vulnerabilities in browsers as much as they can. Internet Explorer has always been one of their favorites, as it is shipped with Windows and the majority of individuals use it because it is already available. Also be sure to download and install any third-party applications and browser plug-ins.

A number of antivirus vendors have noticed a lot of attacks have been geared toward Adobe's Reader, which is a very popular plug-in. Security vendor McAfee said pacts geared toward Reader have increased sixty five percent in the first four months of 2010 compared to a year ago. Updates of this type should always be tracked as many software applications not created by Microsoft does not contain an automatic update feature. Adobe's Flash Player plug-in is another hacker favorite to exploit. Even though Adobe recently put an auto updating feature in Reader and Adobe it requires users to turn on manually.

Whether you stay up to date on patches and fixes or not, it remains clear that best practices in the area of safe computing is a must. The installation of antivirus products and security suites should be performed if it hasn't been done already. Stay on top of your antivirus solution by always making sure you have the latest virus signatures downloaded to your system. Microsoft's Security Essentials is a free product and can be downloaded from their website. As a related issue, the firewall that has been included in Windows since Windows XP should always be turned on. Microsoft turns it on by default.

A very easy piece of advice to use is to stay away from websites you do not trust. Suspicious e-mails and attachments you receive should be deleted and software that is downloaded from mysterious or questionable locations should not be run. Stay on top of various security websites including Microsoft security alerts and bulletins as you should keep yourself well-informed of what's going on in the wild. Many bulletins contain information and steps you can use to protect yourself. And it is always a good practice to keep yourself educated. These bulletins also contained a good deal of information advisories as to the type of attacks that have been discovered, how they exploit your system, and how to create a workaround to mitigate intrusion and damage.

Microsoft Windows 7 training should be a part of your personal and professional education. Many individuals utilize software packages without gaining the most they can from their investment. There are many advanced features and menu options that exist and are designed to make their workday easier, increase their level of productivity, and generally provide functionality to perform more tasks than users normally do. The training in the area of Windows 7 is one of the best sources of training you can utilize.

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