If you thought Windows XP's doomsday (April 8, 2014) couldn't get any doomier, Business Week has written a staggering and horrifying stat as part of an article about Windows XP powering ATMs. In the article, Business Week reports that, according to Robert Johnston, marketing director at NCR, Windows XP powers more than 95 percent of the world's ATMs, with over 420,000 ATMS installed across the U.S.
Also in the article, Dean Stewart, an executive at Diebold, assures that the ATMs will continue to function after the April 8, 2014 deadline, however the machines will grow increasingly vulnerable to malware and other attacks.
What is the banking and ATM industry doing to prepare?
Sadly, the article states that JPMorgan has already purchase an expensive one-year support extension contract from Microsoft and will only begin upgrading their ATMs in July 2014. Seriously? It's great to hear that something is being done, but the company has had 12 years to wake up and be responsible. In a world where public entities like Target Stores give up millions of customer records for basically being irresponsible and clueless, a company like JPMorgan can get away with starting a migration they've known about for years at the last second? And, don't expect customers to not take the brunt of JPMorgan's inaction through additional fees passed on to help cover the cost of an extended support agreement contract.
Incidentally, JPMorgan is not the only financial institution mentioned in the article. Wells Fargo is also cited.
You can read the full article here: ATMs Face Deadline to Upgrade From Windows XP
