Microsoft Windows ‘end of life’ dates put businesses who don’t update at serious risk of breaching GDPR
Don’t get caught out by Microsoft Windows end of life dates and risk breaching GDPR compliance. Your business can’t afford it.
Breaching GDPR carries severe penalties that could damage, and potentially close, many businesses. So, you’ll be glad to know that the risk is easily avoidable, by taking timely action to update your Windows versions as soon as possible.
It’s important for you to know that any device that is no longer receiving security updates from Microsoft is vulnerable. And this applies to Windows and Windows Server versions, on a rolling timetable of ‘end of life’ dates, as follows:
| Operating System | End of life date |
|---|---|
| Windows 7 | January 14th 2020 |
| Windows Server 2008 | January 14th 2020 |
| Office 2010 | October 13th 2020 |
| Windows Server 2012 | January 10th 2023 |
| Windows 8 / 8.1 | January 10th 2023 |
| Office 2013 | April 11th 2023 |
| Windows 10 | October 14th 2025 |
| Office 2016 | October 14th 2025 |
When a version of Windows, or Windows Server, comes to an end, Windows will still operate, but Microsoft will no longer issue the security and feature updates for it. Microsoft support for the Windows, or Windows Server, version ends on the publicised date and immediately any organisation still running the versions becomes vulnerable to new malware and viruses being created daily to attack businesses and their systems.
Security updates fix vulnerabilities, which means that organisations running Windows versions without these are wide open to attack and therefore data breaches, putting their data and that of their customers at risk.
But there’s no need to get caught out. Cultrix can easily help you to stay ahead, and if you’re already a customer, we will always be in touch, in time, to ensure your systems are updated so that you are fully GDPR compliant and running the correct versions that protect you and your customers.
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