In what could signal a major risk for PSU bank ATMs, the government on Friday indicated that nearly 74% of the machines are running on outdated software. The statement on state-run banks came in response to a query in the Parliament on ATMs running on software that was outdated or unsupported. Notably, these machines may be vulnerable to fraud, due to lower security features. Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India had issued a circular directing all banks in India to upgrade their software by June 2019. According to the directive, all banks operating in the country – both public and private must shift from the Windows XP platform on their ATMs by June 2019. The missive from the RBI, as per its circular dated June 21, comes exactly four years after Microsoft announced in 2014 that all the versions of the venerable Windows XP build are deemed discontinued.

In what could signal a major risk for PSU bank ATMs, the government on Friday indicated that nearly 74% of the machines are running on outdated software. The statement on state-run banks came in response to a query in the Parliament on ATMs running on software that was outdated or unsupported. Notably, these machines may be vulnerable to fraud, due to lower security features. Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India had issued a circular directing all banks in India to upgrade their software by June 2019. According to the directive, all banks operating in the country – both public and private must shift from the Windows XP platform on their ATMs by June 2019. The missive from the RBI, as per its circular dated June 21, comes exactly four years after Microsoft announced in 2014 that all the versions of the venerable Windows XP build are deemed discontinued.