As the study continues to assert that newer is better, it highlights that Internet Explorer 8 running on Windows XP has less protection than Internet Explorer 10 running on Windows 7 (SP1/8.x Internet Explorer won’t run on Windows XP). The delta protection features afforded in Internet Explorer 10 include things like SEHOP in protected mode. This is shown in the figure. If you expand it, it’s a “get your geek on” table. Truly.
The top three threats impacting Windows XP users worldwide are:
- Sality: Malware family that can steal your personal information and lower your PC security settings.
- Ramnit: Malware that infects Windows executable files, Microsoft Office files, and HTML files.
- Vobfus: Family of worms that can download other malware onto your PC; can be downloaded by other malware or spread via removable drives, such as USB flash drives.
To level set, the well-known risks after support include:
- Out of support OS
- No antivirus solution officially supported by Microsoft
- No security updates
On that last point, it’s so note that in the past year, there were 30 security bulletins affecting Windows XP. By the way, if you’d like to review the entire study, please click over to these resouces:
Press Room
Informative Blogs
Malware Protection Center Blog
Website
SIRv15 Report
In my next installment (Part III), I investigate market measurements calculated and used in this study.
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