XP Lives On as an ATM Operating System in India

The Indian government revealed that over 70 percent of the automated teller machines (ATMs) in the country currently run Windows XP. Since this particular flavor of Windows has not been updated since 2014, its widespread use as an ATM operating system is concerning. Cybercriminals can exploit the many well-known system security issues that affect this outdated system.

A Massive Migration

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government was working with “banks and other parties” to upgrade these machines, according to Softpedia. He reported that roughly 22,000 ATMs would need to be migrated to more current systems — likely Windows 10.

Jaitley did not provide a target date for such a migration, nor did he specify the hardware or software it would require. The finance minister did, however, admit that it would take a long time to complete.

Microsoft Supports Its Outdated ATM Operating System

To keep the ATMs up and running, Jaitley noted, some stakeholders engaged Microsoft to provide custom support for their specific machines. While this support enabled the machines to function, the migration from XP should still be carried out as soon as possible.

This situation highlights the problem with older technologies: When tools fall behind the times, they require capital to upgrade. In this case, while most big banks with plenty of resources continually upgrade their machines, the ATMs typically found in convenience stores and other retail locations have fallen behind.

Stakeholders Don’t Feel the Pain

Although any reasonable threat model for an ATM will include breaching, stakeholders may not be able to see actual breaches occurring or understand the issues stemming from outdated machines. In other words, they may not be feeling the pain.

The economic incentive to replace these machines may actually be negative, since there is currently no standard hardware or software platform. Why migrate at all if you are not sure where you are migrating to? However, failure to do so puts ATM users — their customers — at risk.

The current situation suggests that India has a long way to go when it comes to securing ATMs today and in the future.

Larry Loeb

Principal, PBC Enterprises

What does resilience in the cyber world look like in 2025 and beyond?

6 min read - Back in 2021, we ran a series called “A Journey in Organizational Resilience.” These issues of this series remain applicable today and, in many cases, are more important than ever, given the rapid changes of the last few years. But the term "resilience" can be difficult to define, and when we define it, we may limit its scope, missing the big picture.In the age of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI), the prevalence of breach data from infostealers and the near-constant…

Airplane cybersecurity: Past, present, future

4 min read - With most aviation processes now digitized, airlines and the aviation industry as a whole must prioritize cybersecurity. If a cyber criminal launches an attack that affects a system involved in aviation — either an airline’s system or a third-party vendor — the entire process, from safety to passenger comfort, may be impacted.To improve security in the aviation industry, the FAA recently proposed new rules to tighten cybersecurity on airplanes. These rules would “protect the equipment, systems and networks of transport…

Protecting your digital assets from non-human identity attacks

4 min read - Untethered data accessibility and workflow automation are now foundational elements of most digital infrastructures. With the right applications and protocols in place, businesses no longer need to feel restricted by their lack of manpower or technical capabilities — machines are now filling those gaps.The use of non-human identities (NHIs) to power business-critical applications — especially those used in cloud computing environments or when facilitating service-to-service connections — has opened the doors for seamless operational efficiency. Unfortunately, these doors aren’t the…

Security Intelligence

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

Topics

A Massive Migration

Microsoft Supports Its Outdated ATM Operating System

Stakeholders Don’t Feel the Pain

More from

What does resilience in the cyber world look like in 2025 and beyond?

Airplane cybersecurity: Past, present, future

Protecting your digital assets from non-human identity attacks

Topic updates