This October, the real scare could be millions of dead PCs

Nathan Proctor

Submitted photo/Arizona PIRG Education Fund

Unless Microsoft changes course, users will face the choice between exposing themselves to cyberattacks or discarding their old computers and buying new ones. If the hundreds of millions of users being impacted were to follow Microsoft’s suggestion and replace their computers, it could have disastrous environmental consequences.”

Though I’m not easy to spook, there is one thing that terrifies me this fall, and isn’t the latest horror movie: Windows 10 is slated to lose support Oct.14.

Unless Microsoft changes its mind, up to 400 million computers will no longer get security patches or other updates — meaning they will either be tossed, adding to our growing e-waste problem or will keep going but become vulnerable to cyber attack.

Being without security updates is frightening. Any software is going to have some gaps in its security. When a bug or exploit in the software is discovered, software companies issue updates to prevent those vulnerabilities from being used by cyber criminals. But for devices running Windows 10, unless the user pays for extended support (which most people aren’t likely to do), those vulnerabilities will remain and get worse. 

Paul Roberts, president of the Secure Resilient Future Foundation, says, “Ransomware gangs and other malicious actors will be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of millions of unpatched — and unpatchable endpoints — after Oct. 14, including an estimated 180 million Windows 10 systems deployed on business networks.”

You would hope that people would just update to Windows 11, but many can’t. The scale of this problem is so extensive because of the strict hardware requirements for Windows 11, which hundreds of millions of computers don’t meet — despite the fact that they work just fine.

On the Microsoft webpage that outlines the requirements for Windows 11, the company puts it pretty directly: “consider purchasing a new PC.”

I shudder at the thought of hundreds of millions of computers being buried alive, or falling risk to cyber threats. Talk about a horror show.

The plot could turn if Microsoft changes course and keeps providing support — something it recently agreed to do in Europe, thanks to pressure from the Euroconsumers group.

Extending support would allow hundreds of millions of users worldwide to keep using their devices safely — and without forcing working devices into the waste stream. Many people who run older computers are exactly the people who can’t afford to replace them right now.

Unless Microsoft changes course, users will face the choice between exposing themselves to cyberattacks or discarding their old computers and buying new ones. If the hundreds of millions of users being impacted were to follow Microsoft’s suggestion and replace their computers, it could have disastrous environmental consequences.

This movie could still end up with a happy ending if Microsoft can be convinced to play the hero. There is one simple way to do that: Microsoft must extend free support for Windows 10. Readers can add their voice by signing our petition to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and sharing the link with your family and friends.

Editor’s note: Nathan Proctor is senior director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund Campaign for the Right to Repair. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.