RBI instructs banks to upgrade their ATMs from Windows XP to Windows 10
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The Reserve Bank of India has instructed all the banks to upgrade their ATMs from the outdated Windows XP to Windows 10. This comes after the central body sent a confidential circular to all the banks instructing them to upgrade to Windows 10. RBI highlighted the concerns about the vulnerabilities which might lead to hacks or theft. Microsoft dropped support for Windows XP back in 2014 and has already encouraged everyone to upgrade to newer Operating System.
A reference is also invited to our confidential Advisory No. 3/2017 dated March 06, 2017 and No. 13/2017 dated November 1, 2017 wherein the banks were advised to put in place, with immediate effect, suitable controls enumerated in the illustrative list of controls.
– The Reserve Bank of India
Apart from instructions to upgrade, RBI has also asked banks to implement other security measures like overhauling BIOS password for all the ATMs, disabling USB ports, and applying the latest patches. RBI also talked about the dangers of running an outdated Operating System in the circular.
As you may appreciate, the vulnerability arising from the banks’ ATMs operating on unsupported version of operating system and non implementation of other security measures, could potentially affect the interests of the banks’ customers adversely, apart from such occurrences, if any, impinging on the image of the bank.
– The Reserve Bank of India
The deadline given to the banks is June 2019. However, RBI has broken down the deadline into three parts. By September 2018 at least 25% of ATMs will be upgraded, 50% of the ATMs must be upgraded by December 2018. The entire line of ATMs operating in India must be updated to the newest version by June 2019. Moreover, RBI is also working to upgrade the Bank systems to Windows 10 post WannaCry attack.
While this is a great step from RBI, the execution will be the key. Right now almost every ATM and Banking System in India runs on Windows XP which can easily be hacked at any point of time.
