14 DAY TRIAL // The retirement of Windows XP in April will clearly have a major impact over the entire world, but the British authorities are warning that thousands of computers used by organizations in the public sector could become vulnerable to attacks in just a few months.
Jonathan Ashworth, shadow Cabinet Office minister, said that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the NHS in England and Scotland are yet to complete the transition to another operating system, which would basically make these systems and Britons’ details vulnerable to attacks supposed to exploit security glitches found in Windows XP.
“Ministers have dropped the ball and this could lead to a hackers' free-for-all with people's personal data. Millions of families will be fearful that their private health and tax information could be stolen as a result of the government's failing computer protection programs,” Ashworth was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
“Ministers must urgently disclose how many people could be at risk and what action is being taken to protect people's personal details. The country will expect nothing less than clear answers and concerted action.”
Windows XP is still being used by more than 29 percent of the desktop computers worldwide, so seeing all of them moving to another platform by April is fairly impossible.