The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami has alerted Nigerians on the risks of using Windows 7 powered devices for internet-based services that require the use of sensitive information such as internet banking.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Pantami gave the warning in the statement released by his Technical Assistant, Government Digital Services and Innovation, Mukhtar Sadiq.
With the official end of support for Windows 7 operating system (OS), which came into effect on 14th January 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support and security or software updates for the platform.
Systems running on Windows 7 OS will continue to work, however they will become progressively more vulnerable to viruses and malware. The best way to remain secure is to use the latest OS available.
“We are therefore calling on all Windows 7 users to immediately implement some precautionary measures to help protect themselves from breach of privacy and loss of critical data.
“The measures are: keeping security software up to date; keeping all other applications up to date; and being more skeptical on downloads and emails accessed,” the statement read.
According to the statement also, the minister in his efforts to propagate the importance of cyber security and to ensure that cyber threats are quickly identified and contained, will from time to time alert the general public on important event and measures to ensure that people can feel safe online.