Not long ago news spread about the massive cyber attack that struck the NHS in the UK affecting hundreds of computers and impacting thousands more patients. The infection was spread via a small loophole in older Windows operating systems that hackers exploited, specifically it affected Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 operating systems.

So will these kind of attacks happens again, will they become more common and can we stay safe from them? The answer to all these questions is yes. Unfortunately a large amount of PCs still use old versions of Windows, these include ATMs, banking companies, doctors and hospitals and many more services. A lot of these businesses had software developed around older Windows, especially XP which has not been supported for three years now!

What’s the lesson then? Simply put it is imperative to keep your operating system up-to–date, as well as your anti-virus for that matter. Ransomware, viruses and malware continue to evolve and hackers will always be ready to take advantage of any loop-hole in an older operating system. Whether you have noticed or not Windows and other operating systems such as Android are constantly updating with patches released monthly to protect from these kind of attacks, these updates are for reason: do not ignore them. Keep up to date!