There are lots of ATMs in the US and Europe that are running on Windows 7 or the unsupported Windows XP. Now the The ATM Industry Association has issued a recommendation that any Windows 7-based machines that are awaiting an update should wait for Windows 10 to become available, and bypass using Windows 8 or 8.1.

The press release states:

"ATM deployers should start their 2020 migration without delay," explained CEO Mike Lee, "as ATM hardware purchased now will still be in use when support for Windows 7 OS ends in that year. This means terminals would need to be upgradeable and compatible with the next big operating system. It's important to know which ATM configurations are going to be Windows 10 compatible."

And what about all those Windows XP-based ATM machines that are still out there, and which could be vulnerable to hackers now that Microsoft has ended support for the OS? Lee says:

"Bear in mind, it's not advisable for deployers to wait on the XP system for Windows 10, as there are security risks to being on an unsupported OS platform."

In March 2014, a month before Microsoft ended support of Windows XP, it was estimated that as many as 95% of ATMs in the US were still running on that OS.

Thanks to Rajan for the tip!

Source: ATM Industry Association