Most food products or medications come with a “best by” date, which gives you an indication of when they expire. This practice isn’t just for consumables, however. Both hardware and software also come with their own “best by” dates, and it’s imperative to stay on top of them when using technology.
As tech evolves and changes, services and products become obsolete quicker than you’d think. Most of us have used outdated technology at some point, however this can be a huge risk to your organization’s security and privacy. Once a piece of tech is no longer supported, it wont receive new features or patches from the original manufacturer. This creates an easier environment for cyber-criminals to exploit. It may also leave your devices out of compliance with certain regulations, and can put your data at risk.
Businesses need to plan for outdated tech ahead of time. As an example, Office 2013 will not be supported by Microsoft after this month. This means no more security updates or patches to fix vulnerabilities. If you keep using Office 2013 past January, you open yourself up to potential malware, ransomware, phishing and other social engineering tactics.
The easiest and safest option to keep your data secure is to switch from Office 2013 to Microsoft 365. Updates and patches wont cause productivity interruptions, and they’ll keep you protected from evolving threats. It’s easy to just keep using the same old software, however data breaches and cyber attacks don’t just affect top companies. They affect businesses of all sizes across all industries.
Staying on top of cybersecurity best practices is essential to keeping your organization safe. If you’re interested in learning more about ways you can stay secure in your IT environment, give us a call at 585-582-1600.
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