Systems running Windows 7 could become targets for malicious software as hackers discover new vulnerabilities.

Antivirus software companies supporting Win 7 will be unable to provide full protection and will discontinue development of new Win 7 virus protection solutions. Win 7 compliant hardware availability is also in question since most manufacturers are no longer testing for Win 7 compliance.

ABB strongly recommends customers running Windows 7 operating systems evaluate their system life cycle plans and risk mitigation strategy. Simultaneously, ABB is offering upgrade solutions that can remedy or mitigate risks and help customers better protect their plants and personnel while ensuring safe operations and continuous production.

Control systems are robust by design and development and therefore tolerant towards occurring issues. Non-optimal system settings and conditions often do not cause incidents immediately, but might result in disturbances over time:

• System overload is causing slow response rate
• Gradual system performance degradation is not diagnosed or resolved until issues arise
• Issues arise sporadically which are difficult to diagnose
• Hardware devices glide slowly towards unavailability
• Redundancy problems create single points of failures
• System efficiency losses
• Unavailability of operational features due to lacks in software installation
• Security vulnerabilities due to obsolete Microsoft Update status

Try out various reports and advanced services developed by ABB on the base of long-term customer support experience, with automated data collection and report generation.