Companies Utilizing Legacy Systems

If the company has the money for the equipment, your next question would be; does this computer equipment need to always be up to date, or is it okay to be out of date?

As basic users, security is one feature that most of us overlook when it comes to operating systems until it is too late. In this paper we will discuss the security flaws within the Windows Operating system, and then discuss countermeasures to fix the system flaw.

Computer systems evolve over time in response to new requirements, businesses rarely have a blank slate to work with – so compromises and security gaps will develop, it is almost guaranteed.

It is critical that the operating system be kept as up to date as possible, with all critical security related patched installed.

Software and hardware systems are the main source of how companies are ran today. To remain influential in today’s markets, businesses must remain flexible, and technology integrated. The implications of not acquiring up-to-date technology may be the demise of a company as a whole. While remaining technology up-to-date can cut cost, and implement the highest productivity of a company helping insure satisfied customers. Business requirements thus, drive businesses to change the way production, and customer satisfaction is met.

As such, he introduces a technique of identifying a spectrum of potential vulnerabilities and suggests procedures to deal with them. Systems Specification and High Order Language Implementation are categorized as items of high risk to attacks. Security Policy and Machine Language Implementation are classified as items of moderate risk of being vulnerable to attacks. Circuits Electronics and Device Physics are of low and very low risks respectively. He also discusses potential threats such as deceiving operating systems to grant access to file or data to unauthorized users through direct (overt) and indirect (convert) channels. Walker also says that lack of precise definition of trusted operating systems and the higher cost of building them are the significant drawbacks faced by the vendors. Vendors are concerned that if they build trusted operating systems, they might not be accepted by their customers. The only solution suggested by the author was to have someone or a company builds it, shares the technology used, and convinces the general public on the significance of it. Once it becomes accepted, then there will be a widespread use of trusted computer operating systems.

Microsoft Windows has evolved into an operating system that is very reliable and dependable when it comes to getting task done on a daily basis when a computer system is needed. “In 1975, Gates and Allen form a partnership called Microsoft. Like most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision—a computer on every desktop and in every home” (Microsoft.com). In this paper I will discuss the history of Microsoft’s Operating systems and security features available during each stage of advancement over the years.

Subsequently, several disruptive innovations, at their inception, are not better than existing products – they are worse. Anyone who required a mainframe at the dawn of the Personal Computer age discovered that it was an underwhelming, disappointing alternative; yet, the improvements and iterations demonstrated by the product eventually expanded to capture those in the mainframe market. The initial prospect of fostering low-quality alternatives, thus, does not always live up to the best that

“Here is a spoon. Please dig a 30-foot trench in the next couple of hours, please.” To most people, this is a ridiculous request as there are a vast amount of better suited equipment available to complete the job within the specified time. Yet, when companies do not align their Information Systems (IS) and Architecture with organizational business and strategic needs, their processes, equipment, and efforts prove ineffective and costly. For this reason, companies need to invest time and money into planning, investigating, and selecting the right software solutions, architecture and vendors to help them achieve high productivity and return on investment.

Most ‘Goliath’ firms have disparate legacy systems, applications, processes and data sources. These legacy systems may have vulnerabilities such as unpatched software, default passwords, application vulnerabilities like SQL injection, buffer overflows, insecure frameworks and libraries, outdated security mechanisms etc. Unfortunately such vulnerabilities are not just limited to desktops and laptops, hidden legacy systems are also hidden inside network devices (routers, modems etc.), printers and scanners. The highest risk situation arises when the oldest technology is suddenly exposed to the latest, most cutting-edge channels. Legacy systems are also

This report is containing four tasks and the aim of this report is to discuss vulnerabilities which are existed in Microsoft Windows Vista over the whole year 2008. In this report I will provide a reasonable level discussion of the history and vulnerabilities of Microsoft Windows Vista. The main sections are:

This report analyses and discusses the benefits and disadvantages of upgrading an existing operating system Windows XP to a more current Windows operating system Windows 7. Westpac Group’s bank branches have been using old hardware and software resulting in their division lagging behind in efficiency and productivity compared to their corporate office counterparts. Due to the inefficiency of their systems in the current modern age of communication and technology, the Westpac Group’s bank branches will be reviewing options to upgrade their software to keep up. This reports purpose is to provide a detailed stance of why upgrading the current operating system will allow for an increase in productivity within the Westpac Group bank branches and its advantages. The report found that important advantages such as improved security, hardware compatibility and also design helped increase productivity.

The transition from old technologies to a new one (the computer renders many a technology obsolete) must not involve too much "creative destruction". The costs of getting rid of old hardware, software, of altering management techniques or adopting new ones, of shedding redundant manpower, of searching for new employees to replace the unqualified or unqualifiable, of installing new hardware, software and of training new people in all levels of the corporation are enormous. They must never exceed the added benefits of the newly introduced technology in the long run. Hence the crux of the debate. Is IT more expensive to introduce, run and maintain than the technologies that it so confidently aims to replace? Will new technologies be spun off the core IT in a pace sufficient to compensate for the disappearance of old ones? As the technology mature, will it overcome its childhood maladies (lack of operational reliability, bad design, non-specificity, immaturity of the first

However in 2008, there were over 1.1 billion PCs in use worldwide and of which 70% (800 million PCs approximately) were running Windows XP which makes it the most widely installed operating system of all time. That's a lot of inertia to overcome, especially for IT departments that have consolidated their deployments and applications around Windows

According to this analyst, it may be reasonable for firms to consider having Windows computers. The reason is, majority of computer users, including students, were trained to use the Windows OS. Thus, they can reduce the costs for training when hiring new employees.