90 JANUARY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 383
I
fyouwanttokeepusing
Windows7,weshouldstart
withawarning:without
securitypatches,runningthe
operatingsystemrepresentsa
securityrisk.AlthoughWindows7may
nolongerbeofinteresttoMicrosoft,
hackerswillcontinuetoprobethe
operatingsystemandmaywellfind
newweaknessesinitthattheywill
exploit.Giventhatthereare still
millionsofcomputersrunning
Windows7,theefforttofindnew
vulnerabilitiesiswellworththeeffort.
AlexeyPankratov,enterprise
solutionsmanageratKaspersky,
warns,“AnoldunpatchedOSisa
cybersecurityrisk–thecostofan
incidentmaybesubstantiallyhigher
thanthecostofupgrading.Thisiswhy
werecommendthatcustomersmigrate
tosupportedversionsandensurethat
additionalsecuritytoolsareinplace
duringthetransitionperiod.”
That’safairlystarkwarning,butwhat
reallyhappensnowthatsupporthas
ended?Here,we’lltellyouwhatwill
happenandhowyoucanlegislate,as
faraspossible,againsttheissuesthat
youmayface.
NO MORE SECURITY PATCHES
TheissueWindows7usersfaceafter
14thJanuary2020isn’tsomuchthat
theywon’tseenewfeaturesbut,aswe
pointedoutabove,thatMicrosoftwill
nolongerprovidesecurityupdatesfor
itsoperatingsystem,potentiallyleaving
flawsopentohackers.Thissoundsbad,
anditis,butit’simportanttoviewallof
thisincontext.
Whileflawsinyouroperatingsystem
areonewayinwhichhackerswilltryto
attackyou,it’snottheonlyone.Flawsin
othersoftwarethatyou’rerunningcan
provetobejustasdangerous,ifnot
moreso.JustbecauseMicrosoftisno
longersupportingWindows7with
updates,itdoesn’tmeanthatother
software vendorswilldothesamething.
Aslongasyoucanrunsoftware on
Windows7thatcanbeupdated,you
canminimisetherisk.
Next,cybercriminalswilluseavariety
ofsocialengineeringtricks,fromphone
callstododgypopupsonwebsites,that
cantrickyouintoinstallingbadsoftware.
Whileantivirussoftwarewillcatchsome
ofthis,itwon’tstopitall.
Finally,withsomanypeopleusing
thecloud,cybercriminalsoftentry
toattacktheseservices,completely
bypassingtheneedforyourcomputer.
Asyoucansee,Windows7only
makesuppartofthesecuritypuzzle,and
thelackofupdatesfortheoperating
systemisn’t theonlythreattoyouand
yourcomputer.Thisisgoodnews,asit
meansthatyouatleasthavetheoption
toprotectagainstasmanyoftheother
threatsaspossible.
WINDOWS 7EXISTING
UPDATES
Althoughthisistheendofofficial
Windows7updates,youcanstillinstall
allthesecurityupdatesandpatches
thathavebeenreleasedpreviously.
Thisevengoesforafter14thJanuary
2020,asyou’llstillbeabletorunand
useWindowsUpdate.
Thisisimportant,asifyouperforma
cleaninstallofWindows7atanypoint,
you’llknowthatyoucanstillupdateit
tothemostsecurelevelthatitcanbe.
Thatatleastensuresthatthecurrent
knownthreatsare fixedinthesoftware.
MAKE YOUR OWN
WINDOWS 7DISC
There’s achanceMicrosoftmaydecideto
turnofftheupdateserverinthefuture,
whichmayscupperyourplans.However,
thereisawayaroundtheissue:create
yourownWindows7installationdisc
completewithallofthelatestupdates.
To dothis,you’llneedaWindows7
installationdiscwithSP1.Usethephysical
discifyouhaveit,otherwiseyou’llneed
todownloadtheWindows7ISOdisc
image,whichisn’t aseasyasitshouldbe.
Microsofthasadownloadsite(tinyurl.
com/w7isodownload).Allyouhaveto
doisenteryourWindows7licencecode
intotheboxandyou’regoodtogo.
However,ifyougotyourcomputerfrom
athird party,youmaygetanerror
messagetellingyouthattheISOdisc
fileisnotavailableforyou.
HOW TO MAKE
WINDOWS 7SAFE
BELOW:Youcan
still update old
versionsofWindows
7tothe most recent
security patch
