The META Scholar Volume 6 | Page 38

GAMES 360-NEWS After April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or technical support for Window XP. Medical Devices running Windows XP after April 8, 2014, should not be considered protected from security vulnerabilities and it is important that you move to a current supported operating system – such as Windows 8.1 – so you can receive regular security updates and patches to protect all medical devices to include stand-alone, embedded XP, and networked devices from malicious attacks. Potential risks that may expose medical devices are: Security: Without critical Windows XP security updates, your medical device may become vulnerable to harmful viruses, spy-ware, and other malicious software that can steal or damage patient data and information. Antivirus software will also not be able to fully protect you once Windows XP itself is unsupported. Compliance: Healthcare facilities are governed by regulatory control such as HIPAA and without medical device security this could no longer able to satisfy HIPAA requirements. Lack of software support: Many software vendors will no longer support their products running on Windows XP as they are unable to receive Windows XP updates. For example, the new Office takes advantage of the modern Windows and will not run on Windows XP. Hardware support: Most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on existing and new hardware. This will also mean that drivers required to run Windows XP on new hardware may not be available. Link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/endofsupport.aspx