Outdated Internet Explorer versions still run on many business PCs

Businesses around the world don’t really enjoy updating their software, security researchers from Duo Security have found, exposing themselves, and their organization to risks of cyber-attacks, phishing, scams and malware.

Researchers looked at a sample of two million Windows devices used by businesses around the world and found that almost a quarter, and that’s 500,000 devices, are using an outdated and unsupported version of Internet Explorer.

That puts both the users and the company at risk from more than 700 known, and who knows how many unknown, vulnerabilities.

Besides using outdated Internet Explorer, almost two-thirds (60 percent) of business users are also risking a lot by using an out-of-date version of Flash. Almost three quarters (72 percent) are using an outdated version of Java, also putting their systems at risk.

Dividing workers by operating system, Duo Security says Mac users are more up-to-date than Windows users. Among internet browsers, Google Chrome is the most up-to-date browser of the bunch.

There are positives to the report, as well. The researchers have found out that another quarter (500,000 users) perform more than two million authentications every day, using two-step authentication.

That is quite significant, knowing that many security researchers find two-step authentication extremely important to keep systems and data secure.

Duo Security is a security firm offering two-factor authentication solutions to businesses.

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