Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), minister of Communications and Digital Economy has alerted the general public on the risks of using Windows 7 powered devices for internet-based services that require the use of sensitive information such as internet banking.

This follows the official End of Support (EoS) of the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System (OS) which came into effect on 14th January 2020.

Microsoft said it will no longer provide technical support and security or software updates for the platform.

However, systems running on Windows 7 OS will continue to work but they will be progressively more vulnerable to viruses and malware.

In light of this, the minister said the best way to remain secure is to use the latest Operating Systems available.

A statement by Mukhtar M. Sadiq, his technical assistant, Government Digital Services & Innovation), said, the minister therefore calls on all Windows 7 users to immediately implement some precautionary measures to help to protect themselves from breach of privacy and loss of critical data.

The measures include: Keeping security software up to date; Keeping all other applications up to date; and Being more skeptical on downloads and emails accessed.

Sadiq said 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 events and measures to ensure that people can feel safe online.