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Doña Ana County says good-bye Windows XP [Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. :: ](Las Cruces Sun-News (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 18--LAS CRUCES -- Doña Ana County government will upgrade computers for about 800 employees after a Microsoft deadline -- nicknamed the Windows XP "doomsday" -- has come and gone. But, until the upgrades are installed, its computers running Windows XP -- along with millions in the same situation worldwide -- are at increased risk for software attacks. Even so, IT staff said the risk to county government is minimized because the right safeguards are in place against having important data damaged or stolen. April 8 marked the end of technical support, such as software patches, for the aging -- but well-liked -- Windows XP operating system. Post-doomsday, computers running XP still work mostly like they did before the deadline, but Microsoft indicates they're more exposed to intrusions because new fixes and security updates will no longer be addressed by Microsoft. Upgrade OK'd Doña Ana County commissioners last week OK'd spending about $668,000 for a new three-year Microsoft software package, which includes operating-system upgrades and licensing for the computers with XP. Also part of the package are upgrades and licenses to Microsoft Office Suite -- a major business office program -- and software that's key to running the county's servers, which are essentially computers that do work for other computers. County IT applications manager Geof Abruzzi addressed commissioners on April 8, saying the county was "a little behind the curve on this one." "When Microsoft stops support, it means they no longer offer bug fixes, security patches, anything like that," he told commissioners. "So, moving off of Windows XP onto a newer operating system -- in this case we'll be moving to Windows 7 -- is a very high priority for us right now." A Microsoft webpage warns XP users about the risks of continuing to use the platform after April 8. "Without critical Windows XP security updates, your PC may become vulnerable to harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software which can steal or damage your business data and information," the page indicates. Safeguards Abruzzi acknowledged there is some risk to the county, but he said a number of protections guard against possible attacks. "We are doing everything in our power to mitigate it," he said. The county maintains a firewall -- a sort of virtual barrier between the county's desktop computers and the Internet -- and daily backups of all its data. Also, the system keeps "audit trails," which allow IT staff to trace improper activity. "We do maintain virus and adware on all the machines to make sure they're protected," he said. "And we have a fairly thorough disaster-recovery system." The county does maintain a number of large databases, including voter records, county detention center inmate records, crimes and incidents for the sheriff's department and tax-related information via the assessor's and treasurer's departments, among others. But Abruzzi said those are housed on county servers that use a newer Windows version than XP. Though the county's Windows XP-based computers interface with the servers, he said the risk of a possible roundabout attack on the servers via the XP computers is "actually very low." County Treasurer David Gutierrez said he relies on the county's IT department for upkeep of the computers in his office. There were some upgrades done a few weeks ago. He said he was told some more are on the way. "I know they're talking about some more upgrades later on in the year, but I don't know what," he said. County Assessor Andy Segovia said XP is used by computers in his office as part of the startup. "Our appraisal software is something completely different," he said. Segovia said he has frequent meetings with the county's IT department and county management. "We do stay in tune with it," he said. Not alone Doña Ana County isn't alone in the dilemma. Businesses, governments and individuals worldwide are still using the 12-year-old Windows XP, though user numbers are declining. Qualys Inc., an Internet security company, found that XP use by large entities, or "enterprise" users, of one of its software programs was declining, according to its webpage. In the United States, that use had dropped from 18 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to 8 percent in the first quarter of this year. After last week's approval by Doña Ana County commissioners, county staff are in the process of finalizing a purchase order for the new software licenses, Abruzzi said. After that, the IT department will create a plan that will likely entail a department-by-department switchover to Windows 7. It's not possible to do a mass installation across all the county computers. "We need to make sure it is an orderly rollout to make sure we don't interrupt any business," he said. The licensing agreement is based on the number of computer users, rather than the number of devices, Abruzzi said. The county has about 850 employees. Not all of them need computers, but some have a desktop and a laptop. The switchover could take up to four months, at the most. "It's a somewhat timeconsuming process; we hope to have it done as soon as we can," Abruzzi said. Why hasn't the county made the switch before now? Abruzzi said the county maintains a number of specialized software programs that weren't fully compatible with newer versions of Windows. The major problems had to be worked out before the switch. There are still some kinks, but end of support for Windows XP is a more-pressing concern, he said. In last week's county commission meeting, County Commissioner Wayne Hancock asked Abruzzi about the possibility of moving to an alternative operating system, such as Linux, to possibly save the county money in the future and that "didn't keep us locked into the Microsoft monopoly." "I know that a number of other government agencies in other places around the country have been moving away from the obligation of Microsoft to some other systems," he said. Abruzzi said it was "something we could consider," but that kind of move would be difficult because a number of programs, such as the sheriff's department case management system and the utilities department billing system, rely on Windows. "I think in the near term, it would be a hugely disruptive process," he said. "It's not something I would want to do very lightly." Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443. ___ (c)2014 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |