End of Windows XP Support Ups Risk of ATM Cyber Attacks

With Microsoft stopping its support of the Windows XP operating system on April 8, ATMs could prove vulnerable to criminal activity.

April 02, 2014

SEATTLE – After more than a dozen years, Microsoft is pulling the plug on supporting its Windows XP operating system starting April 8. That move will make nearly all ATMs vulnerable to cyber attacks, Petrol Plaza News reports.

That’s because cash machine are built to stay operable anywhere between seven and 15 years—and nearly 95% of all ATMs around the world use Windows XP as their operating systems. Several banks in the United Kingdom are paying Microsoft to continue supporting their ATM operating systems.

“There are certainly large enterprise customers who haven't finished their migrations yet and are purchasing custom support,” said a Microsoft spokesman. “The cost will depend on both the specific needs of the customer and what support they already have in place, so it's different for every customer.”

Some financial firms are looking into Linux, a free, open source operating system. Currently, 30% of all electronic POS systems at U.S. gasoline stations and convenience stores use Linux.

“It makes sense to move to a bespoke, but open, platform like Linux, even from a data security sense. Microsoft's Achilles heel is data security,” said Gray Taylor, executive director of the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards. “If I were Microsoft, I would have kept XP embedded alive for a few more years, and charged an escalating support fee for it. That said, Microsoft has to serve shareholders and continually investing in a dead OS does not make sense.”

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