The day has finally come: Microsoft announced they will no longer support legacy versions of Internet Explorer (IE 8, 9 and 10). Listen closely; that sound is the collective sigh of relief from web developers around the world. Those developers knew the writing was on the wall, but as long as Microsoft was supporting the outdated versions—they had to support them too. While moving on from dated technology is a natural and expected evolution for those that are in the industry, there are many companies and individuals that may be caught off guard by this kind of announcement.
What does this mean for Internet Explorer users?
Each time a PC user boots up their computer, chances are they receive yet another reminder to update their software. For some, this is just an inconvenience that is usually left ignored. One click and it’s out of sight, out of mind. At some point, the software program inevitably forces you to update to the latest and greatest version. Why? Most forced updates correct a major security flaw that has previously been exposed, which if left uncorrected, could leave a user open to cyber attacks. Those forced updates are the result of the company supporting the software. Where there’s company support, there’s protection.
But what happens when a piece of software is no longer supported? It leaves the user vulnerable. Unfortunately, this is a larger security threat than most realize. The most pressing issue for older versions of Internet Explorer is that there’s no “kill switch” for outdated and unsupported versions. Consumers and businesses who never bothered to install the latest IE version can continue browsing with their old, unsupported code. Each month the likelihood that they’ll be attacked increases as new vulnerabilities are discovered and go unpatched.
How many will be affected?
If you’re Microsoft, you yell “upgrade!” as loud as you can and hope that everyone listens. But, no matter how loud they yell there will be those who hold on to their old browsers. Let’s consider this; as of November 2015, Windows 7 held a 49.27% hold on the global market share for desktop operating systems. What shipped standard with each copy? Internet Explorer 8.
The numbers from Net Applications show that the percentage of PCs using unsupported browsers is over 20 percent of the total installed base. That works out to hundreds of millions of vulnerable targets for cyber criminals.
What should you do?
So what can you do if your clients or business are faced with an outdated browser? First, stay calm. Vulnerability isn’t the end of the world, at least in the short-term. The longer you wait to upgrade, the more likely issues will arise. Be loud, educate and jump on board the upgrade train. Move to a new browser like Chrome if Microsoft’s supported browsers aren’t for you. It’s a small hassle to switch or upgrade browsers, but it’s much less of a hassle than experiencing the pain of a security breach.