Companies Are Still Relying On Windows Server 2003 With Windows Server 2016 Knocking On The Door

Microsoft is going to roll out Windows Server 2016 in September with promises of better data center management features as well as enhanced security features. As interesting as Windows Server 2016 may be, it appears that companies aren’t rushing to make the transition.

More than half of companies worldwide still rely on Windows Server 2003, an obsolete technology that Microsoft ceased to support last year. This left it and the companies that use it extremely vulnerable to threats:

Companies are well aware of the danger they’re exposing themselves to but prefer to use unsupported server technologies due to budget and time constraints. Maybe a quick reminder about the recent hacker attacks can make those companies reconsider their position: the Acer security breach compromised US credit card numbers and dates of expiry, more than 65 million Tumblr passwords were leaked to hackers, and over 427 million Myspace accounts were stolen by hackers, too.

And as much as we would like to see them decommissioned, EOL server OSes are more common than you might think. As of June 2016, the overall market share of Windows Server 2003 is relatively low, but the majority of companies (53%) have at least one instance of the unsupported OS running in the server room […].

Cybersecurity should be a priority for every company, irrespective of the field it’s in. Hackers are always on the hunt, and they’ll have exploited all your system’s weaknesses even before you suspect your system’s security has been compromised.

Also, many of the companies relying on Windows Server 2013 are also running Windows XP and outdated IE versions, turning themselves into even bigger sitting ducks for hackers.

Staying in line with budget requirements is vital for companies, but how many of them can come out alive after a security breach similar to that reported by Acer?