The CEO of managed IT provider WestSpring IT, Emma Carter, has warned businesses across the region to act now or risk destruction – with the end of Microsoft’s Windows 10 looming.
On Tuesday October 14, Microsoft will cease providing free security updates, technical assistance or feature updates for any organisations using Windows 10 software.
Recently WestSpring IT has onboarded several new clients, some employing more than 100 staff, who didn’t even realise that next month they could be exposing their whole IT system to hackers and cyber criminals.
“This is a serious risk for any company which has not heard or has not acted to update their software and hardware,” Emma said.
“It’s easy to assume when you work in IT this is ‘news’ which is widely known. However it is not. One of our new clients didn’t know this was happening and had not budgeted for the substantial cost of upgrading their kit and technology within just a few short weeks. We have told them it has to be done, it’s not negotiable. This means they have to increase their costs to achieve it – a cost not budgeted for. However they also realise that if they don’t, they risk everything.
“Pretending this isn’t going to be a problem is dangerous. There is the first risk of key technical systems just not working or being compatible. Then there is the much bigger risk. Any organisation or business which ignores this change, will be opening a barn door to hackers – and you can be sure that the criminals will be ready to pounce on anyone not paying attention.”
Windows 10 was released in 2015 taking over from Windows 8.1 – and the current version is Windows 11. It’s estimated that there are around 1.6 billion active Windows active devices and Windows 10 users could number around 645 million. Updates are a key feature of Windows operating system software and routinely Microsoft issues monthly security updates, optional monthly updates and annual feature updates.
Cyber attacks are on the rise with some big companies recently suffering major disruption and costs due to the activities of hackers.
Jaguar Land Rover had to halt production and send staff home on August 31, production is still paused at its factories in Merseyside and Solihull and it’s expected this will not be resolved until October. Another company which suffered a huge cyber attack was M&S when a supplier’s IT system was infected and it’s estimated the cost of it will be around £300million.
Emma Carter said:
“While we don’t know the details of how these attacks happened and how these companies were hacked, successful SMEs could not afford to absorb an attack like that. Literally their businesses could collapse.
“We know that our clients are now as protected as they can be as our system automatically alerts clients when their hardware/software must be replaced so our new clients will not risk this again.”
WestSpring IT provides strategic managed IT solutions, with service excellence a priority, establishing long lasting partnerships with businesses in the UK. The team recently won the Customer Loyalty trophy in the 2024 Lloyds Bank Business Excellence Awards. Their clients include Halo Leisure, Circadian Trust, Method Consulting and Precision Resource Group. For more information visit https://westspring-it.co.uk/
Article from Scott Media
