Microsoft is officially ending support for all versions of Windows 2003 Server less than a week from today. After July 14, 2015, Microsoft will not release any security, reliability, or compatibility updates or patches for Windows 2003 Server nor will they provide support to solve issues with this more than twelve-year-old server operating system. The remaining users of Windows 2003 Server must migrate to a newer version of Windows Server such as 2008 R2 or 2012 as soon as possible. This migration may require the purchase of new hardware that is capable of running newer versions of Windows Server and will at a minimum require the purchase of a Windows Server operating system upgrade.
ISC Information Security has been scanning PennNet in an effort to find instances of Windows 2003 Server and has also been contacting the owners of identified systems. Note that external scans are not comprehensive, and therefore intended only to compliment or inform any inventories you conduct in your local environment.
Resources
Microsoft’s Windows 2003 Server end of support site is here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2003/
The University’s Computer Security Policy is here:
http://www.net.isc.upenn.edu/policy/approved/20100308-computersecurity.html
The University’s Policy on Computer Disconnection from PennNet is here:
http://www.upenn.edu/computing/policy/disconnect.html