Enterprises put themselves at risk by running outdated Microsoft products
According to a new report 65 percent of Windows systems are still running Windows 7, and a small percentage of devices are still running Windows XP.
The survey from trusted access specialist Duo Security analyzed more than two million endpoints and found 63 percent of them running Microsoft operating systems. Yet only 24 percent are running Windows 10. Windows 7 remains the most popular despite there being over 600 vulnerabilities affecting unpatched versions.
The unloved Windows 8.1 is on eight percent of surveyed systems. Although only one percent of systems are still running XP that still accounts for tens of thousands of PCs open to vulnerabilities, more than 200 of which are ranked as high to critical.
Browser versions are cause for concern too. The study shows that 20 percent of devices running Internet Explorer (IE) are running unsupported versions 8, 9 and 10. Of all devices running Microsoft browsers, only three percent are using the latest Edge. This is despite the fact that IE versions 8 through 10 have reached end-of-life status and no longer have the ability to receive security patches, leaving them susceptible to old exploits.
What's more 62 percent of devices running IE have an old version of Flash installed potentially making them susceptible to compromise by an exploit kit containing code for Flash vulnerabilities. In addition 98 percent of devices running IE have Java installed. Businesses often have legacy and custom applications that rely on Java and it remains a top target of attackers.
Mike Hanley, Duo's director of security, says, "The majority of users on Microsoft operating systems and browsers are failing to take advantage of the latest and greatest security updates and capabilities, leaving them open to potential attacks. This creates a risky proposition for out-of-date devices accessing sensitive cloud services and applications".
You can find out more in the full report which is available from the Duo Security website.
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