My wife and I are following this subject with deep interest. In my case it's because the medical transcription (MT) and medical text editing (MTE) industry largely runs on XP, IE 8, and Word versions ranging as far back as 2003. Some medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs) have said nothing about upgrading, even though they are liable under the HIPAA Act for breaches of patient privacy to the tune of $25,000 per incident. In most cases individual MTs are responsible for their own systems, yet they cannot upgrade without instructions to do so from their MTSO. It has to do with standardization and network interoperability. We're not really sure what the thinking is here.

In the case of my wife, who is in the banking industry, we know that 85% of the hundreds of thousands of ATMs in the United States run on XP and cannot be upgraded because of dated hardware. This isn't really a secret but, again, we find it difficult to believe that nothing is being done.

Not only has software moved on since XP was introduced, but the bad guys have gotten much badder, too. On the other hand, the bankers are dragging their feet on improving credit and debit card security by going to a chip-and-PIN system as Europe has done. Basically we're all sitting ducks until these situations are acted upon appropriately.

If you really want a wake-up call, read up on the "Uroboros" virus that Russia just launched against Ukraine. It's mainly targeted at governments and industries, but it shows you what is possible for someone who is determined to take advantage of the other party's vulnerabilities.

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."