ATMs set to be left vulnerable as Microsoft ends support for Windows XP

Microsoft to cease support for Windows XP on April 8th
Experts believe only 95% of ATMs run the software
Could leave machines vulnerable to hackers

PUBLISHED: 19:42 EST, 17 January 2014 | UPDATED: 19:44 EST, 17 January 2014

Cashpoints around the world could be left vulnerable to hacker attacks.

It is believed millions are still running Microsoft's Windows XP, first introduced 13 years ago.

However, on April 8th, Microsoft will stop issuing securoty updates, in a bid to get people to upgrade.

Bill Gates at the Microsoft XP launch in New York October 25, 2001: The firm will finally stop supporting the software on April 8th.

THE CASHPOINT OF THE FUTURE

Cumbersome and slow cash machines with clunky buttons and tiny hard-to-see screens could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a range of next-generation ATMs.

Ohio-based security firm Diebold has created a touchscreen cash machine that works like a tablet computer, uses facial recognition and QR codes to identify and authenticate users, and has built-in safety cameras.

German-based engineers at Wincor Nixdorf have developed a machine that remembers the user's withdrawal history to offer more personalised options.

The aging OS, which was replaced by Windows Vista in 2007, Windows 7 in 2009, Windows 8 in 2012 and Windows 8.1 in 2013.

Experts say many of the ATMs may have to be dumped, and that 95% of ATMs in use runs windows XP.

'My bank operates an ATM that looks like it must be 20 years old, and there's no way that it can support Windows 7,' Suzanne Cluckey, the editor of ATM Marketplace, a news site that serves the industry, told Bloomberg.

'A lot of ATMs will have to either have their components upgraded or be discarded altogether and sold into the aftermarket—or just junked.'

although more modern ATMs are unaffected, there are fears older version could be left vulnerable

Experts say that as little as 15% of ATMs run on Windows 7, and warn the industry faces major problems.

Aravinda Korala, chief executive officer of ATM software provider KAL, says he expects only 15 percent of bank ATMs in the U.S. to be on Windows 7 by the April deadline.

'The ATM world is not really ready, and that's not unusual,' he says.

'ATMs move more slowly than PCs.'