Posted on 06/24/2015 2:07:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Navy will pay more than $9 million to keep using Windows XP under a contract signed this month, Computerworld reported Tuesday.
The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) will pay Microsoft $9,149,000 through the contract, which was approved earlier this month. It could eventually grow to be as large as $30,842,980 by 2017.
The funds will pay for Microsoft to provide custom security support to up to 100,000 Windows XP machines used by the Navy. Microsoft has abandoned supporting the system for users who don’t pay for the custom services. The contract will also provide support for other older Microsoft products, including Office 2003. "Nearly all the networks and workstations afloat and ashore will benefit from the Microsoft Premier Support services and Microsoft Custom Support services for Windows XP, Office 2003, Exchange 2003 and Server 2003,” said a spokesman for SPAWAR.
He said the Navy is developing plans to modernize its infrastructure, but that until "those applications and programs are modernized or phased out, this continuity of services is required to maintain operational effectiveness."
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
That included all the infrastructure a bunch of specs for emergency operations and a 2 year tech refresh, which never happened.
Clearly you were never in the military. The Military is good for killing people and breaking things. It’s not good for much else. And never has been.
Yes, it’s not like Microsoft didn’t already extend end of life for XP over 10 years. Shame on the Navy for being basically at square 1 post extended end of life.
Yeah, I migrated my business to Windows 7- 4,000 employees and it took us over a year. 300 applications many of which I had to repackage myself to work on 7.
Think of all the fun you would have had if most of the employees were in the US, the repackaging group was in the UK, and the actual work was being done by contractors in Mumbai....
0 Viruses on any of them.
I audibly chuckle when people use this as an excuse to keep XP.
Let me explain something to everyone: XP IS NOT SAFE! You're not vulnerable to more viruses, per se. You are vulnerable to EVERYTHING. XP does not support TLS. All versions of SSL are now considered unsafe and should not be used. By virtue of the fact that you're using XP, ANYTHING you think you are doing "securely" online, is not. The SSL cipher suite is dead and completely vulnerable.
XP now has numerous zero-day exploits available for anyone to use on the Internet. This means that if someone wants to get into your XP machine, THEY CAN. They don't need a virus or even for you to do anything. If you're browsing your bank site or trying to shop online, every last bit and byte can be read by a third party. This is not hyperbole, this is truth. I've seen it done at several black hat confabs and in person in my own company.
The only way XP could be considered even remotely safe is if it is completely and totally disconnected from the Internet and used as a terminal of some type or for playing old games. If you are using XP on the Internet, you might as well walk through a mall completely naked with your credit card numbers and SSN written across your entire body. There's nothing you can do to fortify a Windows XP machine. It's 100% unsafe to use on the Internet. Caveat emptor.
Reached what point? People don’t want DoD to spend money to upgrade systems and then they bitch about things like this. This is not a big deal. Many organizations are doing this.
As has often been said, all that basically needs to be done is install the free, no stings attached Classic Shell. It improves Windows 10 preview as well.
I am sure the Chinese and Russians are happy with the decision of the Navy.
That’s awful... lol
I’ve heard anecdotal stories on FR and in my day-to-day where XP runs some machine or system that cannot run on modern operating systems. Granary systems, T&D machines, factories, forges, etc., they all use XP in some way, but the key there is that the machines are not connected to a network. They’re standalone systems running some software that does what it does. If it works, leave it alone, fine, but as soon as you introduce a network connection, a compromised USB drive, a compromised CD/DVD, or anything that might interrupt or “update” normal operation of that system, you have fundamentally changed the operability of that system and potentially compromised its safe use.
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