Tuesday, June 3, 2014

End Of Support For Windows XP Could Make Your ATM Transactions Insecure

Your visit to an ATM might soon become a security risk if your bank does not act fast. The different banks across the world just have less than a month to upgrade their Automatic Teller Machines, commonly referred to as ATM machines with software programs that currently operate on Windows XP operating system. Microsoft had ended the tech support for the Windows XP operating system on 8th April 2014. This means that Microsoft will not be providing any security updates to fix patches in computers that make it vulnerable to cyber attacks. This was confirmed after contacting the Windows support number.

Microsoft says that since they have announced in September 2007 that support for the Windows XP operating system would end, it has been working hard to make the users informed about the end of support and to help them in migrating to a modern operating system that is supported by them.

One of the Microsoft spokespersons said in an email message, “After April 8, 2014, Windows XP users will no longer receive new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted options or online technical content updates from Microsoft.” “Enterprise customers, who have not completed their migration by April 8, 2014, can avail of Custom Support. Custom Support is not designed to extend the life of Windows XP. It should be considered a last resort to help bridge the gap during a migration process to a modern OS,” he added.

Microsoft is not willing to confirm how many banks have updated their ATMs and they have pointed directly to the financial institutions to understand what their plans were regarding the expiration of the program. JP Morgan Chase has confirmed to FOXBusiness that they have purchased a custom technology that supports agreement from Microsoft Corporation. Jim Grimmer, who is the Head of North American ATMs, TD Bank, said in one of his email statements, “In anticipation of tech support for Windows XP expiring, we began working with our service provider, Diebold, to upgrade the core software of our 1,900 US ATMs to Windows 7 in February 2014.”

If an ATM does not upgrade their security software, the biggest danger to the users is the holes in security that can be used by hackers to get the personal data of the users. If you wish to know more on this news, you can contact the Windows support team. They will be able to provide you more information on this.

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