NEW: Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report 2022 - Read the Findings of Our Annual Report Read Now

  • Partners
  • Support
  • Careers
  • English
    • Deutsch
    • français
    • español
    • 한국어
    • português
BeyondTrust
  • Products

    Privileged Password Management

    Discover, manage, audit, and monitor privileged accounts and credentials.

    • Password Safe
    • DevOps Secrets Safe
    • Privileged Access Discovery Application

    Endpoint Privilege Management

    Enforce least privilege across Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix endpoints.

    • Windows and Mac
    • Unix and Linux
    • Active Directory Bridge

    Secure Remote Access

    Centrally manage remote access for service desks, vendors, and operators.

    • Remote Support
    • Privileged Remote Access
    • Privileged Access Discovery Application

    Cloud Security Management

    Automate the management of identities and assets across your multicloud footprint.

    • Cloud Privilege Broker

    BeyondInsight

    Experience the industry’s most innovative, comprehensive platform for privileged access management.

  • Solutions

    Use Cases

    • Cloud Security
    • Compliance
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Digital Transformation
    • Endpoint Security
    • Operational Technology
    • Ransomware
    • Service Desk Efficiency
    • Zero Trust

    Industry Applications

    • Financial Services
    • Government Agencies
    • Healthcare
    • Law Enforcement
    • Manufacturing
    • Schools & Universities

    Solutions

    The BeyondTrust Privileged Access Management portfolio is an integrated solution that provides visibility and control over all privileged accounts and users.

  • Resources

    Learn

    • Blog
    • Customer Stories
    • Competitor Comparisons
    • Datasheets
    • Demos
    • Glossary
    • Podcast
    • Whitepapers

    Attend

    • Events
    • Go Beyond
    • Training
    • Webinars

    Support

    • Changelog
    • Professional Services
    • Technical Documentation

    Universal Privilege Management

    Our innovative Universal Privilege Management approach secures every user, asset, and session across your entire enterprise.

  • Company
    • About
    • Leadership
    • Core Values
    • Partners
    • Careers
  • Watch Demo
  • Contact Sales

Die Hard - Windows XP Against the World

April 8, 2013

  • Blog
  • Archive

Today marks the beginning of a significant year-long event in the worldwide computer industry - a year from today, Microsoft will end support for the Windows XP Operating System. Mainstream support had already ended in 2009 and this new milestone marks the end of security updates on the platform. Are you ready? According to a recent survey, many of you aren't.

By some counts, Windows XP still holds on to approximately 40% of operating system market share. With 2 out of every 5 computers worldwide still running Windows XP and the very real expiration date of security updates upon us, the enterprise/corporate component of that 40% is staring down the barrel of a very real challenge. Why is XP so hard to kill? What's Holding Back Corporate Upgrades?

In conversations with BeyondTrust customers and partners, I've heard a few interesting reasons why an organization still might be working through their upgrade strategy. They include;

The advent of tablets
One organization I spoke with is giving end users a choice: a) a desktop and a company-provided and supported tablet, or b) a laptop. Regardless of what an end user chooses, the company is trying to foster a mobile workforce. This has stalled, but not killed, upgrade cycles at many organizations who are offering this approach.

Less Intensive Computing Requirements
As a former Intel employee, I shudder to think that 3 year old laptops still have the processing power to perform as needed in today's corporate setting, but they do. With the widespread use of web apps, like salesforce.com, Workday, even Microsoft Office.com, the need for heavy computing power has moved to the cloud (er, internet). Combined with the continued free-fall of memory pricing, hardware refreshes (which is often attached to the OS upgrade cycle) are being delayed (but again, not killed altogether) in favor of a memory upgrade.

Security or Productivity? Why Not Both?
By far, the most frequent subject in my conversations around the complacency of PC upgrade cycles is security, and the resulting effect on end user productivity. With the continued proliferation of internal and external attacks targeting corporate desktops and their Administrator privileges, the concept of Least Privilege on the corporate desktop is something many organizations have embraced, yet there continues to be widespread use of Administrator privileges on the desktop, especially on Windows XP. This is a major reason why some organizations haven't upgraded - they're unsure of how best to operate in a world of least privilege, and how it will affect their end users.

Least privilege has benefits beyond the reduction of attack surface - properly implemented, it can also contribute to a reduction in help desk and support costs. Trading Admin accounts for User accounts isn't always the answer for far flung, mobile organizations. Every call to the help desk to install a printer (comically, this is the one example I hear most often) costs money. The ability to dole out privileges in a fine grained manner - for users, tasks and applications - has as much budget benefit as it does security benefit. Beyond the simple printer example, proper least privilege deployments can aid in more complex activities, such as elevating processes or services, as opposed to end-users, for business-critical applications. This contributes to better overall security, and ensures end users can remain productive.

Simply put - this removes a significant barrier to migrating off of Windows XP.

As we countdown to the Windows XP retirement party, we have to acknowledge Microsoft's most successful operating system to date, but we also have to acknowledge the call to action facing many corporate IT departments today - it's time to upgrade. The clock is ticking.

Photograph of Scott Lang

Scott Lang, Sr. Director, Product Marketing at BeyondTrust

Scott Lang has nearly 20 years of experience in technology product marketing, currently guiding the product marketing strategy for BeyondTrust’s privileged account management solutions and vulnerability management solutions. Prior to joining BeyondTrust, Scott was director of security solution marketing at Dell, formerly Quest Software, where he was responsible for global security campaigns, product marketing for identity and access management and Windows server management.

Stay Up To Date

Get the latest news, ideas, and tactics from BeyondTrust. You may unsubscribe at any time.

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Whitepapers

Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report 2022

Whitepapers

Cybersecurity Insurance Checklist

Whitepapers

Privileged Access Management: PAM Checklist

Keep up with BeyondTrust

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

Customer Support
Contact Sales

Products

  • Endpoint Privilege Management
  • Password Management
  • Privileged Remote Access
  • DevOps Secrets Safe
  • Remote Support
  • Cloud Privilege Broker

Resources

  • Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Competitor Comparisons
  • Datasheets
  • Glossary
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Webcasts
  • Whitepapers

About

  • Company
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Leadership Team
  • Partner Program
  • Press
BeyondTrust Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Manage Cookies
  • WEEE Compliance

Copyright © 1999 — 2022 BeyondTrust Corporation. All rights reserved. Other trademarks identified on this page are owned by their respective owners. BeyondTrust Corporation is not a chartered bank or trust company, or depository institution. It is not authorized to accept deposits or trust accounts and is not licensed or regulated by any state or federal banking authority.