What the End of Windows 10 Means for Healthcare Security

What Is Windows 10 EOL?

In October 2025, Microsoft plans to officially end its support for Windows 10. This official “end of life” means no more customer support—and no more security updates for Windows 10 users.

Normally, it wouldn’t be too surprising—or upsetting—for an operating system’s creator to end support after nine years of faithful service. But when that operating system is Windows 10, it hits differently.

Twenty years ago, using a nearly-decade-old OS would have been unthinkable, but today, it’s the norm. Windows 11 has faced an uphill climb to gain market share: in early 2024, as many as 70 percent of Windows users were still using Windows 10, not Windows 11. Even though Microsoft offered free upgrades to the new version, users remained attached to their old OS.

Adoption of Windows 11 has been almost non-existent in the world of medical devices. This slow pace of adoption is nothing new in the medical industry: even in 2020, 80 percent of imaging devices still used unsupported operating systems including Windows 7 or even Windows XP. 

For many devices, the reason is simple: there is simply no way to upgrade. With the imposing hardware requirements of Windows 11, many devices don’t make the cut. 

Medical devices typically run older hardware on old versions of Windows—often stripped-down versions, including Windows Embedded, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC. Of these operating systems, Windows Embedded is already unsupported, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise will lose support at the same time as Windows 10, but Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC will still be supported until 2032.

Confusing—and in that confusion, attackers can gain a foothold.

With Microsoft’s “patch Tuesdays” cleaning up multiple zero-days so frequently, it’s obvious that both attackers and threat researchers will find new vulnerabilities in Windows even after its sunset—so how can healthcare organizations stop being sitting ducks, defenseless against anyone choosing to exploit their devices?

What Are The Options?

There are still options (like Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates, which will cost $61/device/year). But every option starts with knowing what you’ve got. It’s 2024…do you know where your Windows 10 devices are?
Chances are, doing device inventories and manually discovering devices and their operating systems isn’t your favorite part of your job. 

Luckily, you’ve got alternatives: Cynerio’s Complete Asset Visibility can bring your security picture into focus. With Cynerio, you can map out your entire environment to understand which devices are running which operating system versions—and whether those versions are supported or not.

Cynerio can discover every device in your environment automatically, even those that run on stripped-down or specialized operating systems designed for embedded and IoT devices. With our healthcare-specific solution, you can find out which of your devices still use unsupported operating systems and use your insights to tailor your security efforts.

Upgrading to Windows 11 can be tough…but seeing which devices on your network use Windows 10 doesn’t have to be. Talk to us today to learn more about how Cynerio can shine a light on your endpoints and make it easier to plan your Windows 10 sunset strategy.

Schedule your call with Cynerio today to see how you can take control of your Windows device lifecycle and understand your risks.