Manchester Police Still Rely on Windows XP

The emblematic version of Windows XP has long gone into the afterlife, but not for the second largest police station in the UK, the Manchester police, the BBC reported.

In Manchester, more than 20% of computers rely on an operating system whose support by Microsoft was terminated three years ago. The information was received following a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Experts see a serious risk. "Even if vulnerabilities are identified in XP, Microsoft will not deliver system updates in the same way it does for more modern versions of Windows," said an expert from University College in an interview with the BBC. He believes that if there are systems on the Internet, this is a cause for serious concern, pointing to the widespread distribution of WannaCry in the UK healthcare network this year.

A representative of the management explains to the media that the reasons for the presence of these machines are purely technical - mainly due to the incompatibility of applications for the newer versions of Windows. However, this will change this year, the police official explains, and the apps in question are expected to be replaced or removed.

Other police departments have refused to disclose what percentage of their systems rely on XP because of concerns about the safety of their networks. One of these headquarters was London. The BBC recalls that in June it appeared that the largest police station in the Kingdom maintains nearly 10,000 Windows XP-based systems.