Time for a Health Check?

Looking after your equipment

When we conduct a Cyber Heath Check, one of the most common issues we find is the age of devices still being used. I can have some sympathy with hanging on to a machine for year after year - so long as it will hold an operating system…

When you have the responsibility of managing information for your business and your clients, your equipment need to be in tip-top condition.

Most mainstream manufacturers will support their devices for around 5 years after the End Of Sale (EOS) date. This is known as the End of Service Life (EOSL).

Devices that have reached EOSL (typically around 7 years from date of release) will no longer receive firmware or security updates - this puts them at risk.

If a vulnerability is discovered on a device after the EOSL, it is unlikely to get patched and will remain vulnerable.

Planning for device upgrades can be a crucial business strategy; it might be economically unviable to replace all of your devices in one go.

It may help to run an equipment inventory and determine the device ages. Then plan a staggered upgrade path taking, say, a quarter of the devices a year.

This will enable forward planning for your IT budget and ensure you never fall into the 5 year cyber obsolescence trap.

Remember to include your mobile devices in your upgrade plans too.