Today is certainly a big day for Windows, as Microsoft Windows 7 is now an unsupported operating system which means that tens of millions of PCs will now be left vulnerable to exploits and security vulnerabilities.
This warrants a shout out to every cyber insurance policyholder that will continue to use Windows 7. If you’re a Windows 7 user, it is time to review your cyber insurance policy and check to see if there is an exclusion for unsupported or unpatched software, or the withdrawal of a computer system.
Out-of-support operating systems can be a cyber insurance policyholder’s worst nightmare in the event an incident occurs which could leave a company with a gap in coverage due to a policy exclusion.
While Microsoft took a rare step of issuing security patches for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 earlier this year to combat a virulent WannaCry like exploit, there is no guarantee they will continue to issue security patches for unknown or future trending exploits without a cost. Especially now that Microsoft is offering extended user support at cost for companies that continue to use Windows 7.
For those companies that continue to use Windows 7 and do not opt for Microsoft’s paid Windows 7 support, there will be no excuses allowed as Microsoft has been notifying users since 2019 that support would be ending on January 14, 2020.
Therefore, now is the time to review your cyber insurance policy exclusions and conditions to assess how this may or not affect your company. In the event your policy is not clear, it would be a good idea to review the initial cyber insurance policy application to see whether or not your policy application asked how often your company updates its software when updates become available.
Nonetheless, when updates are no longer available and an operating system is no longer supported, this will leave your company openly exposed and vulnerable to security exploits. This is not the position your company will want to take as it pertains to its cyber insurance policy.
If your company is not sure whether or not it has an exclusion in its cyber insurance policy, or need a cyber insurance quote, please contact us today for assistance.