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As XP’s Term Ends, Don’t Get Stuck with Lame Duck Security

Microsoft’s end of support for Windows XP provides a prime opportunity to
revisit the direction of security and compliance

By Joe Sturonas, CTO, PKWARE

In politics, a lame duck candidate is one who’s reached the end of their term, typically
with diminishing clout and support. When software vendors end support for products,
business users are left with a lame duck of their own – expiring products that may often
threaten the security of sensitive data they left behind.

Could this changing of the guard with your software and systems provide an opportunity
to turn security and compliance into a source of incumbent strength?

Such is the case with Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system. Microsoft will step
away from support for XP in April 2014 after a dozen years and nearly a decade as the
most prevalent operating system in the world, especially with SMBs and in the
government sector. According to estimates earlier this year from Gartner and British IT
representative group BCS, XP Windows’ popularity carries a potential security and
compliance time bomb: there are hundreds of millions of PC installations and users still
on XP.

As summarized by Tim Rains, director of product management for Microsoft’s
Trustworthy Computing Group, in one of Microsoft’s many posts on the end of support
for XP: “[I]nevitably there is a tipping point where dated software and hardware can no
longer defend against modern day threats and increasingly sophisticated
cybercriminals.”

Facing four months of active support and untold security threats, the expiration of XP
makes room for not only a new choice with desktop operating systems, but also for the
security and compliance regulations that keep them protected. As XP finishes out its
“lame duck term,” we want to offer suggestions for keeping on top of your operating
systems’ security and make sure you’ve truly got your compliance demands covered.

Three-Step Campaign for Compliant Security after Support Ends

Just like you’ll be updating your operating system from XP, it’s time to update your
business philosophy around securing sensitive documents. Data is transmitted from one
place to another more now than ever before. When XP came out, data largely just
resided locally on the desktop/laptop. Today, data moves frequently and rapidly
between desktop/laptop, mobile and the cloud. If your focus does is not on protecting

9 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – December 2013 Edition
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