If you are an Orange County business owner with older computer and networking systems, did you know that Microsoft product support ended in the beginning of April for several key 2003 products. If you have not updated your systems, the time to do it is now. Since your company is more than two generations behind given how past computer networking and software product lines evolve, it is a complex process to get up-to-date. But Zephyr Networks can help while improving your security, offering innovative new options and helping to train your staff.

Lifecycles of Microsoft Product Support

Here is an outline of what is happening with the older Microsoft products as their lifecycles come to an end:

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Outlook 2003, Windows XP, Exchange 2010 SP2 and Windows Server 2003 will no longer be  eligible for tech or updates support from Microsoft. All the lifecycles of these Microsoft products end in early April of 2015, except for Windows Server 2003 that ends in the middle of July 2015 .

1. Outlook 2003 will transition out of extended support on 8th of April 2014
2. Exchange Server 2003 will transition out of extended support on 8th of April 2014
3. Windows XP will transition out of extended support on 8th of April 2014
4. Exchange 2010 SP2 will transition out of support on 8th April 2014
5. Windows Server 2003will transition out of extended support on 14th of July 2015

Microsoft Product Support Ends

Microsoft will stop sending security updates to System Center Endpoint Protection and Forefront Endpoint Protection for Windows Server 2003 on July 14, 2015. Windows Server 2003 will become an “unsupported” product on that date, according to Microsoft’s product lifecycle schedule. Once a product has passed their “extended support” period, the customer no longer receive product updates, including security patches, from Microsoft.

Microsoft doesn’t recommend using Windows Server 2003 past its product lifecycle end date. Even if Windows Server 2003 had good anti-malware support, such support may not be enough to keep it secure as hackers and cybercriminals continue to evolve their attacks. “We have found in our research that the effectiveness of anti-malware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited,” Microsoft warned.

The lack of security patches means a potential risk for organizations. Once the previous malware updates expire, your company will be vulnerable. By not keeping up-to-date with the latest networking and computer security threats, your company could be hit hard by cybercriminals looking to hijack your data or even just bored hackers out to cause a little trouble. To avoid such problems, please contact Zephyr Networks at (800) 884-7559 today.