Microsoft will offer free Windows 7 support for election officials through 2020

The move is the latest step by Microsoft and other powerful tech companies to offer free or discounted services in support of election security.

Microsoft said Friday it will offer state and local election officials free security support for Windows 7 operating systems used in voting systems through 2020.

“We want to make sure that Windows 7 end-of-life doesn’t…become a barrier to having a secure and safe election,” Jan Neutze, head of Microsoft’s cybersecurity and democracy team, said in announcing the news, which CyberScoop was first to report. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said at a conference hosted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Microsoft has long planned to stop providing security updates for Windows 7 users in general in January 2020, but was allowing users to pay for those updates through January 2023. But the offer of free services through next year’s U.S. presidential election is an additional effort to make it easier to update operating software used in voting systems, such as the election management systems that format ballots.

Some systems that support voting in the U.S. still rely on Windows 7, which is not nearly as straightforward to update on those machines as it is on a personal computer. Patches require installation and testing to verify that they will not disrupt a voting system.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has said it will not de-certify certain voting systems that use Windows 7, highlighting the challenge of keeping voting equipment running on up-to-date systems. In the meantime, voting systems with Windows 10, the latest Windows system, are gradually becoming available.

Tom Burt, a corporate vice president at Microsoft, said that the free security updates for Windows 7 would be available for other countries aside from the United States that will be holding national elections in 2020.

The move is the latest step by Microsoft and other powerful tech companies to offer free or discounted services in support of election security following the sweeping effort by the Russian government to intervene in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

While the vendor hit another monthly record, it hasn’t resulted in a flood of active exploits. Researchers encourage customers to focus on their specific areas of risk…

Tina Peters, through attorney, backs off formal role in Shasta County elections

Election official says Tina Peters would be consultant, won’t have access to election systems

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

• Dogged Russia-based botnet dismantled after 23-year run

• FBI raises alarm over deceptive phishing campaign targeting prominent people

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure