The US Department of State is still using 13-year-old operating systems

[Alfonso Maruccia]

WTF?! A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) is highlighting how American diplomacy (still) doesn't know the meaning of "cyber-security practices." The State Department has a proper cybersecurity risk management program, but it's just on paper.

The GAO-23-107012 report from the US GAO investigated the sad state of cyber-affairs in the US State Department, the government body that carries out American diplomacy and helps shape US foreign policy. Securing the IT systems that support the State's mission should be a crucial goal, and it's a goal that the department has been exceptionally good at failing so far.

GAO's report says that the Department of State has already documented a cybersecurity risk management program that "meets federal requirements." The program identified risk management roles and responsibilities, with a proper risk management strategy. The plan, however, has not been "fully" implemented, and the State Department cannot even identify or monitor risks for its IT assets - or how many IT assets it really owns.

The full report says that the US State Department is "likely not fully aware" of the information security vulnerabilities and cyber-threats affecting its mission operations. The State has an adequate "Cyber Incident Response Team" for monitoring and identifying security issues 24/7, but it lacks "fully implemented processes" that support its incident response program.

The US State Department has "not adequately secured" its IT infrastructure, and this could be the understatement of the year as the government body is likely still using PCs based on Windows XP. Certain operating system installations had reached end-of-life "over 13 years ago," GAO confirms, which is almost exactly aligned with the end of XP's mainstream support on April 14, 2009. Microsoft provided extended support for its legendary PC OS up to April 8, 2014.

Other issues with the IT infrastructure include 23,689 "hardware systems" and 3,102 network and server operating system installations that have reached their end-of-life and are no longer supported. When IT security doesn't provide enough reasons for concern, GAO's report remarks, the US State Department is very successful in sabotaging itself thanks to its bureaucratic practices and federated structure.

The State has split IT management responsibilities between its CIO and sub-organizations, with an "insulated culture" that favors lack of communication and is ultimately responsible for many of the deficiencies identified in the report. Because of this communication issue, GAO says, the Department's enterprise configuration management (ECM) database cannot provide a full picture of all the hardware and software still in use. The ECM database seemingly has absolutely no data of IT assets used in 20 of the State's diplomatic outposts.

GAO has prepared 15 recommendations to address the many issues discovered in the US State Department IT infrastructure. Furthermore, the overseeing Office will later issue another report with "limited distribution" highlighting another 500 recommendations to remediate the sad State of affairs of America's diplomacy body.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100376-us-department-state-using-13-year-old-operating.html

 

[yRaz]

The problem with using old operating systems isn't that they're old, it's that people who make them stop supporting them after x years so they can sell you a new one. It's planned obsolescence and the software that people use to run with those systems is often not compatible with new ones

 

[kira setsu]

The goal is for the tech to age to a point that no one barely knows how to use it.

the military itself is running alot of stuff on tech dinosaurs and floppy disk.

 

[Nima304]

The problem with using old operating systems isn't that they're old, it's that people who make them stop supporting them after x years so they can sell you a new one. It's planned obsolescence and the software that people use to run with those systems is often not compatible with new ones

You're right, Microsoft should provide free updates for decades for an OS they only charge once for /s. Also, Windows 7 and 8 had free upgrade paths to Windows 10, the government doesn't have an excuse for being this far behind.

Source: Been working in IT for the government for a long time.

 

[Jon Heil]

Yup typical government.... they are mostly slow and federal workers too. Too much drinking the kool aid and not upgrading their old dinosaur crap.

 

[Mark Fuller]

I used to work for Dell Technical support and long after the support for wxp lapsed for civilians, the Federal Government continued to make microsoft and all vendors for computers continue to support wxp.

 

[yRaz]

You're right, Microsoft should provide free updates for decades for an OS they only charge once for /s. Also, Windows 7 and 8 had free upgrade paths to Windows 10, the government doesn't have an excuse for being this far behind.

Source: Been working in IT for the government for a long time.

Windows 10 and 11 are trash and they have data collection practices in them that they use to make money. This is okay if the OS is free(not really, Linux is free), but Windows IS NOT free. Microsoft sells other services that run on their OS that make them money. Windows 10 will be my last Windows. Also, how long have you been working in IT? Lifetime licenses used to be a real thing and this idea that support drops off after a few years is absolutely absurd. If you look at phones, most phones only get updates for 3 to 5 years and are locked so that you can't run custom ROMs on them. There is nothing wrong with the hardware they sold you, they just want to sell you a new phone. Hell, even Philps is now making lightbulbs with licenses agreements about you need apps.

MS wanted you to upgrade to Windows 10 for free from Windows 7 and 8 because it collects data on you that they can then sell. This stuff needs to stop but I don't think it will because people like you allow yourself to be pushed over by these companies and accept it as the new normal. Who knows, maybe you're young enough that this has always been normal for you.

 

[Hotlynx16]

When my brother went to work for a billion dollar company in 2000 they were still using Windows NT and had Windows 3 machines on their network!This was when Windows 98 was commonplace in public!

 

[Mark Fuller]

Window 10 and 11 are trash and they have data collection practices in them that they use to make money. This is okay if the OS is free(not really, Linux is free), but Windows IS NOT free. Microsoft sells other services that run on their OS that make them money. Windows 10 will be my last Windows. Also, how long have you been working in IT? Lifetime licenses used to be a real thing and this idea that support drops off after a few years is absolutely absurd. If you look at phones, most phones only get updates for 3 to 5 years and are locked so that you can't run custom ROMs on them. There is nothing wrong with the hardware they sold you, they just want to sell you a new phone. Hell, even Philps is now making lightbulbs with licenses agreements about you need apps.

MS wanted you to upgrade to Windows 10 for free from Windows 7 and 8 because it collects data on you that they can then sell. This stuff needs to stop but I don't think it will because people like you allow yourself to be pushed over by these companies and accept it as the new normal. Who knows, maybe you're young enough that this has always been normal for you.

It's just like you said, they want to sell you some new hardware. If the government can force a manufacturer to continue to support their hardware and software, it just goes to show you that there is nothing wrong with it. Like I said before in this column, there are millions of hardware devices just sitting around with nothing wrong with them that could be used to generate commerce if they were supported. Even a used car will be used till it won't run.

 

[Mark Fuller]

When my brother went to work for a billion dollar company in 2000 they were still using Windows NT and had Windows 3 machines on their network!This was when Windows 98 was commonplace in public!

I still have working hardware with both W98 and WXP on them that still do everything they would always do. They still do the same wordprocessing, video and all other original applications they always did, of course though they won't surf the web. Which, by the way, differentiates an obsolete computer from one that is not in my opinion.

 

[Hotlynx16]

I still have working hardware with both W98 and WXP on them that still do everything they would always do. They still do the same wordprocessing, video and all other original applications they always did, of course though they won't surf the web. Which, by the way, differentiates an obsolete computer from one that is not in my opinion.

I have two back up computers with intel 775 socket chip-sets with 3ghz Core2 Quad processors,1TB ssd, RX480 video and 16gb of memory that are running windows 10 just fine! They originally had XP on them, then Win 7. Even have a game called 3D Ultra Pinball Creep Night that came out in 1996 on CD and years ago I found out how to run it from the hard drive an it still works on windows 10!

 

[Ben Myers]

It's just like you said, they want to sell you some new hardware. If the government can force a manufacturer to continue to support their hardware and software, it just goes to show you that there is nothing wrong with it. Like I said before in this column, there are millions of hardware devices just sitting around with nothing wrong with them that could be used to generate commerce if they were supported. Even a used car will be used till it won't run.

Well, I have to disagree some. The real question to be answered here is whether the old operating systems like Windows XP limit what people can do with their computers. For me, the answer is a resounding YES, with big exclamation points. XP's serious limits include system memory (no more than approximately 3.5GB available), disk storage capacity, processor power and speed, speed, speed. These all end up being a severe drag on worker productivity.

 

[Ben Myers]

I have two back up computers with intel 775 socket chip-sets with 3ghz Core2 Quad processors,1TB ssd, RX480 video and 16gb of memory that are running windows 10 just fine! They originally had XP on them, then Win 7. Even have a game called 3D Ultra Pinball Creep Night that came out in 1996 on CD and years ago I found out how to run it from the hard drive an it still works on windows 10!

Whoa! Which Socket 775 mobo and chipset support 16GB? I've never seen one capable of more than 8GB.

Also the SSD and high end graphics make your computer perform really well. But to see something really fast, watch a Pentium 100 system start up DOS 6.2 from an SSD. That is real speed! Did one of those for a client running an ancient $200,000 machine, which would cost at least a mil to replace. Now client has hardware as reliable as can be.

 

[Ben Myers]

Hey, State Dept, contact me. I have a lot of experience with older hardware and software and I help the State Department out of the dark ages in the world of modern computers that improve employee productivity.

 

[Hotlynx16]

Whoa! Which Socket 775 mobo and chipset support 16GB? I've never seen one capable of more than 8GB.

Also the SSD and high end graphics make your computer perform really well. But to see something really fast, watch a Pentium 100 system start up DOS 6.2 from an SSD. That is real speed! Did one of those for a client running an ancient $200,000 machine, which would cost at least a mil to replace. Now client has hardware as reliable as can be.

Gigabyte P43T-ES3G,CPU=Core2Quad Q9650, 16GB DDR3@ 1333MHZ, RX480.
P45T-ES3G,CPU= "modified" Xeon® Quad Processor E5472 12M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 1600 MHz FSB, 16GB DDR3@ 1600MHZ RX460. Both with 1TB SSD drives and Windows10. You may be still able to find these boards on Ali Express!

 

[Mark Fuller]

Well, I have to disagree some. The real question to be answered here is whether the old operating systems like Windows XP limit what people can do with their computers. For me, the answer is a resounding YES, with big exclamation points. XP's serious limits include system memory (no more than approximately 3.5GB available), disk storage capacity, processor power and speed, speed, speed. These all end up being a severe drag on worker productivity.

You got me there, but if you don't need the capacity that the state department needs to process data and just need a little word processing or maybe watch a video or two, they work fine. Of course, 4K video is out as well a most games nowadays.

 

[Ben Myers]

That explains it. Sounds like the Gigabyte P43T-ES3G was produced right at the industry crossover from DDR2 to DDR3, and it's chipset supports more memory. Did you ever think of going for broke and trying 4x8GB DDR3, to get to 32GB? Probably won't work, as the early socket 115x i3/i5/i7 motherboards would not handle more memory, whereas the LGA1366 boards would. It's almost always the chipset that controls the max amount of memory possible, unless some lunkhead cobbles up the BIOS to limit the max.

 

[3ogdy]

Thing is Microsoft themselves do provide updates for Windows XP as long as the customer is willing to pay.

Microsoft is Still Making Security Updates for Windows XP, But You Can't Have Them

Windows XP isn't dead and buried yet.

www.howtogeek.com

IRS will reportedly pay Microsoft millions for extended Windows XP support

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which is supposed to get paid this time of year, will be shelling out millions of dollars to Microsoft for extended Windows...

www.techspot.com

US Navy pays out millions to Microsoft to keep running Windows XP

Deal with Microsoft will allow the US Navy to continue running the 14-year-old OS.

www.zdnet.com

This article doesn't mention whether the government is using up-to-date Windows XP they're paying some kind fo subscription for, or just using consumer XP with SP3.

 

[Ben Myers]

Thing is Microsoft themselves do provide updates for Windows XP as long as the customer is willing to pay.

Microsoft is Still Making Security Updates for Windows XP, But You Can't Have Them

Windows XP isn't dead and buried yet.

www.howtogeek.com

IRS will reportedly pay Microsoft millions for extended Windows XP support

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which is supposed to get paid this time of year, will be shelling out millions of dollars to Microsoft for extended Windows...

www.techspot.com

US Navy pays out millions to Microsoft to keep running Windows XP

Deal with Microsoft will allow the US Navy to continue running the 14-year-old OS.

www.zdnet.com

This article doesn't mention whether the government is using up-to-date Windows XP they're paying some kind fo subscription for, or just using consumer XP with SP3.

Most likely, the govt continues to pay big bucks to a Microsoft increasingly unwilling to keep leaky XP secure. All for the lack of analysis and planning to get out of the XP mess. The longer this goes on, the more expensive it will be for taxpayers.

 

[Ben Myers]

You got me there, but if you don't need the capacity that the state department needs to process data and just need a little word processing or maybe watch a video or two, they work fine. Of course, 4K video is out as well a most games nowadays.

Office use has changed an awful lot since the days of XP. Systems need power and good graphics for Zoom. Many people, including me, keep many browser tabs open at once, and that takes memory. I have clients who use gigantic spreadsheets to run a company, big enough that 32GB system memory is the norm. So the reality is that people can get something done with XP, but the State Department is limiting productivity, which is always my argument for having a pretty powerful computer available.

 

[Ben Myers]

The problem with using old operating systems isn't that they're old, it's that people who make them stop supporting them after x years so they can sell you a new one. It's planned obsolescence and the software that people use to run with those systems is often not compatible with new ones

Sometimes newer hardware is necessary to do things you could not do with older hardware.

 

[yRaz]

Sometimes newer hardware is necessary to do things you could not do with older hardware.

Yeah, sometimes, but if it's been running fine for the last 20 years on hardware from 2003 then I doubt anything that came out in the last few years, hardware wise, is going to do anything. I remember a power PC workstation I worked on in 2005 that had 2 cores with 2 GB of ram and thought it was mind blowingly powerful. Aside from bloatware incorporated by MS, I really dont understand what is going on in these operating systems to start requiring so many resources.

Basically any Linux distro out doesn't require more than 4gigs of ram. I don't think we've needed a real hardware upgrade for several years now.

 

[Hotlynx16]

That explains it. Sounds like the Gigabyte P43T-ES3G was produced right at the industry crossover from DDR2 to DDR3, and it's chipset supports more memory. Did you ever think of going for broke and trying 4x8GB DDR3, to get to 32GB? Probably won't work, as the early socket 115x i3/i5/i7 motherboards would not handle more memory, whereas the LGA1366 boards would. It's almost always the chipset that controls the max amount of memory possible, unless some lunkhead cobbles up the BIOS to limit the max.

Unfortunately my P43T & P45T board slots ( the T means DDR3) will only take 4GB max low density DDR3 for a max of 16GB. I found crucial made some years ago that will even run at 1600Mhz (DDR) and was able to max them out with used memory for a cheap price on Ebay! The 8GB DDR3 is high density!

 

[Ben Myers]

Yeah, sometimes, but if it's been running fine for the last 20 years on hardware from 2003 then I doubt anything that came out in the last few years, hardware wise, is going to do anything. I remember a power PC workstation I worked on in 2005 that had 2 cores with 2 GB of ram and thought it was mind blowingly powerful. Aside from bloatware incorporated by MS, I really dont understand what is going on in these operating systems to start requiring so many resources.

Basically any Linux distro out doesn't require more than 4gigs of ram. I don't think we've needed a real hardware upgrade for several years now.

Never mind the operating system! It's the apps that drive the choice of OS and hardware. If people are perfectly happy with Windows XP, Office 2003, whatever for email (not Outlook), and the other apps available at the time, great! But we're talking about the Department of State, which needs its employees to be productive. Correction. We Americans need the Department of State to run more smoothly.

I have a client running a homegrown program that generates tons of revenue for him, but the programmer who did it is long gone. So he runs XP, almost always isolated from the terrors of the outside world, and I changed his system to run with an SSD instead of a spinning and vulnerable hard drive. I also put together a second system for him, exactly like the first one which may some day bite the dust. He also runs a Windows 10 system for his other work.

If you install Windows 10 or 11 yourself, there is little or no bloatware except for the dumb games included. And of course the telemetry, another word for surveillance and collection of data about your work habits.

 

[yRaz]

If you install Windows 10 or 11 yourself, there is little or no bloatware except for the dumb games included. And of course the telemetry, another word for surveillance and collection of data about your work habits.

yes, of course the telemetry. Tell me, why does Microsoft need to be spying on the US government? What 'app' could possibly warrant the government needed spied on? Windows has been trash for years. The first iteration of Windows 10 was actually pretty good, then they kept changing things and trying to implement features no one asked for.