Is your phone at risk?
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You have been warned — you must check your devices to make sure you’re not “leaving the door open for hackers.” Beware, you’ve been told, “modern cyberattacks rarely go straight for the crown jewels. Instead, they probe for weak points.” Your weak points.
The warning comes from Microsoft and it’s aimed at Windows 10 PCs that have now fallen off support with the OS reaching end-of-life on Oct. 14. But at most that affects 400 million users, likely a much lower number than that given an additional year’s support is freely available. Meanwhile, a billion smartphones are running that risk.
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Microsoft is highlighting “the hidden dangers,” where “unsupported systems aren’t just outdated, they’re unprotected. ” Windows is squarely in every hacker’s crosshairs, but we live with a mobile-first threat landscape.
Your phone is the digital key to your life — and it’s constantly at risk.
“At any given point in the year, over 50% of mobile devices are running outdated OS versions, and a significant number are compromised or infected,” Zimperium says. Half that number can update, they just haven’t. But between 25% and 33% of smartphones now in use are running outdated versions of Android or iOS and can’t update.
Android threat landscape
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I welcome all the headlines warning Windows 10 users to enroll in the free extended support offer or to upgrade to Windows 11 if they can. But many users running older PCs will also be running older phones. And there is no ESU equivalent.
iOS threat landscape
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“A significant percentage of devices are not upgradeable due to the device’s age,” Zimperium warns, which in an era of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to work is a risk that extends well beyond the individual users putting off an upgrade.
Apple, Samsung, Google and others offer ever longer periods of support, albeit you need to beware quarterly or even biannual updates replacing critical monthly ones. Cyber experts warn it’s simply not worth the risk to run an aged phone. Even if you need to downgrade capabilities to find a workable price point, make sure you’re current.
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“Hackers don’t need to break your strongest lock,” Microsoft says, “they just need to wait until you leave a window open.” For a billion smartphone users, those windows are already open. And each time Google or Apple issues a zero-day fix which will never make it onto your phone, that window opens ever wider.
Don’t take the risk. If you need to upgrade, then do just that. “The problem with ‘just one more year’ thinking,” Microsoft says, is that it will get you in the end.