Hackers seen unleashing torrent of viruses on holdover Windows XP users next year

Now might be a good time to become accustomed with Windows 8 if you’re still a holdover Windows XP user. Computerworld reports that hackers have started storing up any fresh Windows XP exploits they find and are preparing to unleash them on unsuspecting XP users as soon as Microsoft stops supporting the operating system next year. Microsoft security expert Jason Fossen tells Computerworld that hackers who discover new exploits over the next few months may be able to charge twice what they’re charging now if they sell them after Windows XP support ends.

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This essentially leaves Windows XP users with two options: They can pay Microsoft a high premium to continue supporting XP at their business or they can upgrade to newer platforms such as Windows 7 or Windows 8. More than a third of all desktop computers still use Windows XP so this could potentially be a big problem if users don’t understand that they’ll have to make some kind of change by next spring.

This article was originally published on BGR.com