As Microsoft (MS) is set to end official service support for the PC operating system (OS) "Windows 10" on the 14th of this month, it has been found that a significant number of PCs at the Ministry of Science and ICT, the lead ministry for information and communications technology (ICT), and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the ministry overseeing government PCs, are still using Windows 10. Despite hacking incidents this year at SK Telecom, KT, and Lotte Card, critics say major government ministries remain complacent about security.
According to the office of Shin Seong-beom, a member of the People Power Party on the Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee of the National Assembly, as of the 3rd of this month, 437 of the 1,233 PCs used by the Ministry of Science and ICT were confirmed to be running Windows 10. That amounts to 35.4% of all PCs. In other words, four out of 10 have not been upgraded.
The Ministry of Science and ICT is reportedly pursuing a transition to Windows 11 through a contract with a Windows migration solutions provider that began in July this year, but it is realistically difficult to complete the transition by the date MS ends official service support for Windows 10. The ministry said time was needed to develop for the 5G (fifth-generation mobile communications) work network laptop environment, but it plans to complete everything by the end of this month. A ministry official said, "We are monitoring because performing updates could cause problems due to the Chuseok holiday and the fire at the National Information Resources Service."
As of the 10th of this month, 248 (6.5%) of the 3,803 PCs used by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety were still running Windows 10. Among the 10,749 PCs at the ministry's headquarters and its affiliated agencies combined, 4,623, or 43% of the total, are using Windows 10. Of the 6,946 PCs used by agencies affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, excluding headquarters PCs, 4,375, or 62.98%, are still using Windows 10.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to switch the 248 headquarters PCs running Windows 10 to Windows 11 within the year. However, the upgrade pace for affiliated agencies' PCs is slower. Of the 4,375 PCs at affiliated agencies running Windows 10, 20% (874) are planned to be upgraded within this month, 31% (1,340) within the year, and 49% (2,151) by next year. The ministry said the upgrade has been delayed due to a lack of budget to replace low-spec PCs and the need to ensure system compatibility.
The problem is security. Microsoft warned, "After the end of service support for Windows 10, regular security updates and technical support for Windows 10 will not be provided," adding, "If security updates are halted, systems are more likely to be exposed to cyber threats such as malicious software or viruses." However, a paid extended program that provides security updates for up to one year will be available.
Shin Seong-beom, a People Power Party lawmaker on the Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee of the National Assembly, said, "At a time when the importance of information security has grown following recent hacks at telecom and credit card companies and the fire at the National Information Resources Service, it is a serious problem that the Ministry of Science and ICT, which plans national informatization work and is responsible for information security, has allowed a security gap to persist."