How can big software (ex: windows xp) that has been used by millions and secured against all kinds of attacks throughout the years still manage to be insecure once its support has ended?

Question

For example a product like windows xp, it has been tested and secured by professionals throughout the years and on top of that patched against all kinds of security holes that might have appeared during that period.

Hasn’t the number of people that try to find security holes in windows xp decreased over the years when it wasn’t the main operating system from Microsoft anymore and they still manage to find security holes that a bigger group couldn’t find and hence making the operating system not secure?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Large software and operating systems will always have vulnerabilities, they are just so complex. Yes, with current software more people will be looking for bugs to exploit but there will also be more programmers working on patching those issues. As soon as Microsoft hears about a vulnerability with Windows 10 they can immediately fix and and release the patch over the internet. Windows XP isn’t being worked on so the discovery of a new security hole could leave current computers running it at risk.