May 9, 2013

Purpose

Computer systems running vendor-unsupported or end-of-life operating systems are potential security threats to the UAB campus network. Vendors do not provide security patches for unsupported systems, and these unpatched systems can be exploited by attackers. Such exploitations can result in disrupted experiments, corrupted research data and/or completely compromised systems.  UABIT reserves the right to disconnect these computers from the campus network to mitigate this data breach risk (see UAB’s Acceptable Use of Computer and Network Resources policy).  UAB system administrators are responsible for maintaining the security of all information systems, per the campus Data Protection and Security Policy, which includes updating applications and operating systems.

Windows XP will not be supported after April 2014. Windows versions prior to Windows XP and any version of Mac OS X prior to version 10.6 should be considered unsupported.

Scope

The information in this guidance statement applies to all constituents internal to UAB.

Guidance

Questions can be directed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or, by calling (205) 975-0842.

References

http://sppublic.ad.uab.edu/policies/pages/LibraryDetail.aspx?pID=38

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect

http://www.debian.org/releases/

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/aix/lifecycle/index.html

http://www.sun.com/service/eosl/eosl_solaris.html

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229784/Mac_users_left_wondering_if_OS_X_Snow_Leopard_s_retired

Windows Systems

•Upgrade to Windows 7

A large-scale project is underway to upgrade all university-owned computers on the UAB campus to Windows 7 by April 8, 2014. At that time, Microsoft will cease its support for Windows XP, which has been the operating system primarily used by UAB computers in recent years. As a result of Microsoft no longer supporting this operating system, XP computers will no longer receive security updates. This creates a greater chance of XP computers being infected by viruses or compromised by malware.

This leaves one budget cycle to accomplish funding of this project. Upgrading to Windows 7 for any system needing network connectivity should be completed by April 2014.

• Install IE 9 and the most recently released version of JAVA

We are updating our minimum recommendations for versions of Internet Explorer and Java as UAB systems have improved functionality to support newer browsers and the currently secure version of Java. Internet Explorer 9 and Java (latest release) are recommended for installation on Windows 7 systems.

• Windows 8 not currently recommended for use

As XP fades away, Microsoft has rolled out its newest operating system, Windows 8. The transition from XP has prompted some users to ask why IT doesn’t upgrade to Windows 8 instead of Windows 7. The answer is that Windows 8 is currently not recommended for widespread use in the UAB environment due to the following reasons:

• Currently, not all of UAB’s business systems support Internet Explorer 10, the minimum version of IE used by Windows 8.
• Windows 8 introduces management changes that IT is not yet ready to address.
• Windows 8 is best used on hardware that is specifically made for Windows 8, such as touchscreen displays or touchpads. Other than the touchscreen/touchpad functionality, Windows 8 possesses similar functionality to Windows 7 from an end user’s point of view.
• PGP (UAB’s approved laptop encryption tool) is not supported on Windows 8 laptops. A recommended alternative is Microsoft’s Bitlocker product. (See Bitlocker with windows 8 for more information)

Windows:

Disable Java in your browser

Disable Java completely on Windows

Mac:

Disable Java in your browser

Disable Java completely on Mac

This section will show you how to defrag your hard drive in order to correct problems with files and folders.

*While Windows Vista is shown in the following video, the steps can be used for both Windows XP or Windows Vista platforms.