On May 12th 2017, the WannaCrypt ransomware cryptoworm began spreading its way across the globe, infecting unprotected machines and encrypting files. Windows 10 users were not impacted, nor were those running the latest versions of Windows 7 or above that had MS17-010 patch applied from the March 2017 security update. However, those organizations running on OS versions that were out of mainstream support, or that had not applied the March update were vulnerable. In fact, those out of support OS instances simply had no defence (until Microsoft took the unusual step of releasing a patch for non-supported versions that were still under custom support agreements (CSAs)).
But while the focus has been on the legacy, many missed the recent news that Windows 10 version 1507 (the initial release) is now out of mainstream support (May 9th 2017). In the same way that XP machines were vulnerable, so now are any Win 10 1507 machines, since they received their last ever security update and will be vulnerable to any newly discovered security flaws.
Whether your organization was impacted by WannaCrypt or not, infections on this scale tend to focus the IT manager mind on the state of their environment. In particular, how quickly the possibility of another attack can be mitigated, and secondly, how to ensure that devices remain in security support. With most large enterprises currently on Windows 7, budgets for Windows 10 migration have been under review and acceleration plans discussed.
Since the initial Windows 10 1507 release reached end-of-life on May 9th, we think it is a great time to stop and check in: Where are enterprises with their migration plans? What drives this migration, what are they struggling with and how are they going about it?
Many different studies and reports have been released in the past 6 months by Gartner, Forrester, our friends at 1E, and through our own research. Since it can be hard to keep track of all this news, here are the ten key things you should know about the Windows 10 adoption in enterprise: