One of the most important things you can do to protect your computer is to regularly update the operating system. But that won't be an option for many Windows 7 users starting early next year.
Microsoft plans to end support for the Windows 7 operating system on January 14, 2020, except for organizations who purchase extended support through January 2023.
For organizations without extended support, this means they will no longer get security patches for their operating system.
Bad actors frequently take advantage of unpatched vulnerabilities in operating systems to launch attacks.
Microsoft has stated that although Windows 7 will continue to work past next January, "once support ends, your PC will become more vulnerable to security risks."
For perspective, the National Health Service, NHS, in the United Kingdom was hit with a ransomware virus, WannaCry, in 2017 that affected hundreds of health care providers and resulted in thousands of cancelled appointments. (WannaCry also affected organizations across the world, in addition to the NHS).
A report by the UK National Accounting Office found that all the health care providers affected by the virus had unpatched or unsupported Windows operating systems and that most of the computers had unpatched Windows 7 operating systems. The report noted a WannaCry patch was issued by Microsoft for Windows 7 prior to the attack, but had not yet been installed by the affected health care organizations.
WannaCry is a ransomware worm that encrypts files on computer hard drives, making them impossible for users to access. Bad actors usually demand a ransom payment in Bitcoin in return for a key that might, or might not, decrypt the files. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is a form of electronic cash preferred by many bad actors because it provides anonymity.
There were reportedly around 184 million Windows 7 users worldwide last year, excluding China. If your organization is one of them, it's recommended that you move to a new operating system before Microsoft ends support for the product.