Cyber sleuths caution Windows XP users against hacking

Indian cyber security sleuths have issued an alert for those using the popular Window XP operating system (OS) on their computers and advised “immediate” upgrade of software to protect against hacking attempts.

Software giant Microsoft had announced it was going to stop support services to Windows XP from April 8 next year and according to cyberspace authority monitoring the Indian internet systems, the decision will have a direct effect for the all the users working on that OS.

“The end of support of Windows XP operating system means that Microsoft will not provide security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support and any online technical support for Windows XP. In the absence of patches and security updates for the Windows XP OS, the computer systems would be at greater risks and could be easily compromised by the hackers,” the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CeRT-IN) said in its latest advisory to computer users in India.

“There would also be compliance issues due to unsupported and unpatched components in the information technology infrastructure which may result in non-compliance and suspension of certifications by the certifying and auditing organisations. The software vendors and hardware manufacturers will also stop support for Windows XP on their new versions and models,” the advisory further added.

“It is recommended that all the users and organisations using Window XP OS in their environment should immediately plan for upgradation to the latest available OS according to their requirement and test software applications well before April, 2014,” it said.

According to officials, most Indian users operate on the Windows platform and after the recent declaration, users should keep themselves informed about the new and secure OS available in the market.

Microsoft had initially released Windows XP OS in August 2001. The current release version of Windows XP is called the Windows XP Service Pack 3..

Since then, three successor versions of client based OS namely Windows Vista in November 2006, Windows 7 in July 2009 and Windows 8 in August 2012 were released by Microsoft.

The latest client based OS available from the Microsoft stable is Windows 8.