The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, US has issued a warning alerting financial institutions that Windows XP’s end of support can lead to a lot of issues affecting not only them but also their customers.
The agency has urged financial institutions to identify, assess and manage all sort of associated risks to make sure that their safety, soundness and ability to deliver products and services are not affected.
The warning issued on February 21 read “Potential problems include degradation in the delivery of various products and services, application incompatibilities, and increased potential for data theft and unauthorized additions, deletions, and changes of data.”
“Additionally, financial institutions and TSPs that are subject to the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) and continue to use XP after April 8, 2014, may no longer be compliant.”
Financial institutions have been recommended by the FFIEC to perform risk assessments, select appropriate mitigation and conduct appropriate planning to ensure that their computer systems remains on the safe side even after removal of Windows XP support.
Computer systems running on Windows XP will no longer receive updates and security patches once Microsoft removes Windows XP support. This ultimately would leave an open door for hackers trying to exploit specific computers.
“Monitor the risk mitigation implementation to ensure that the level of risk is acceptable. The effectiveness of controls should be tested periodically and results reported to senior management or a committee of the board of directors, as appropriate, to ensure risk continues to be managed,” the warning read.
Read More: Things to do to stay secure post Windows XP end of life
Microsoft earlier announced that “After 12 years, support for Windows XP will end on April 8, 2014. There will be no more security updates or technical support for the Windows XP operating system. It is very important that customers and partners migrate to a modern operating system such as Windows 8.1”.
Windows XP currently powers around 29 percent of desktop computers worldwide. The figure clearly indicates that the immensely popular operating system won’t be retired completely before April 8.
