Keeping Up with the Times: Why Obsolete Software Could Make Your Company Vulnerable

The demand for cloud computing has been going up over the years, and it looks like it won’t be going down anytime soon. A report released by Forrester Research estimates that the public cloud market will reach nearly $200 billion by 2020, a huge lap from the now modest amount of close to $60 billion back in 2013. With so much possible revenue on the line, it’s no wonder why so many businesses are switching to secured cloud-based systems. However, with that increase in popularity comes a spike in unscrupulous online activities, usually targeted at large and profitable institutions spread across a number of different countries.

Have You Been Keeping Your Security Technologies Upgraded? According to an article by Michael Pinna and Stuart Nussbaum on AccountingWEB, a surprisingly large number of enterprises in the United States are using outdated technology in order to protect their sensitive data. If you use old or nearly obsolete equipment or apps, chances are that hackers have already figured out more than a million ways to crack these systems, so it will be as if you did not put any security barriers into place at all. When in doubt, you may want to get in touch with an IT security professional consultant to help you understand how the newer systems work more effectively than what you used to know.

Old Tech Isn’t So Bad… Is It?

Let’s look at a specific and relatively recent example. Companies with computers that still run Windows XP may be vulnerable to several viruses and malware because Microsoft has stopped providing updates and support to this operating system since April 2014. While it was a sad day for many who loved that particular OS, it’s no surprise as it was originally released over a decade and a half ago. In the world of tech, that’s a very long period of time, considering that modern gadgets already become outdated within a year of release.

Why You Should Upgrade

Before you think that this is just a company’s way to trying to force you to upgrade, the reason they want you to use a new OS is because they can provide a myriad of more effective security features using the latest software. This is something an old OS cannot do because, being a product of its time, its technical limitations prevent it from adapting to newer threats.

The Bottom Line: It Always Pays to Be Up to Date

Given the above information about the significance of using the latest systems, you should be better equipped to confront the very real possibility of your servers getting accessed by unauthorized figures. As with most things, learning how to prevent mishaps from happening is so much better than dealing with the consequences and trying to find a cure afterwards. Keep yourself updated on the latest trends in securing important data on the cloud and you should be able to keep your defenses strong against any cyber criminals trying to take a crack at your company’s confidential data.

Hannah Jones

Author & Editor

From Skopje, Macedonia, Also works as Software Quality Assurance.