Nearly half of UK councils are running unsupported server software.
Information obtained by Comparex through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request found that 46 percent of councils are running Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft SQL Server. These are not supported by Microsoft and are so primitive they think that digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
Chris Bartlett, public sector director at Comparex, said: “By continuing to run out-of-date server software, many councils are exposing themselves to a host of security and compliance risks. The FOI data suggests that matters are slowly improving, as separate FOI requests to London Borough Councils back in 2016 showed that 70 percent were running unsupported server software. However, with GDPR now in effect, councils need to be even more cognisant of vulnerabilities – especially considering the volume of citizen data they hold. With that in mind, it is important that risks are managed, and councils establish an upgrade strategy.”
Comparex found that 94 percent of councils were running Windows Server 2008, which is out of mainstream support but still in extended support. The same percentage of councils are running Windows SQL Server 2008, which has the same support durations.
The FOI information found that just 13 percent and nine percent of council are paying for extended support of Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 respectively. Comparex said this means these councils are no longer receiving security updates.
