Microsoft Discontinues Support of Older Versions of Internet Explorer

After January 12, 2016, only the most recent versions of IE available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates. For example, customers using IE 8, IE 9, or IE 10 on Windows 7 SP1 should migrate to IE 11 to continue receiving security updates and technical support. In light of Microsoft’s announcement, credit unions using older versions of IE should make plans to upgrade to versions that will continue to be supported after January 12, 2016.

The risk of using older, unsupported versions of IE is highlighted by the POODLE vulnerability. POODLE (Padding Oracle on Downgraded Legacy Encryption) is a vulnerability in the design of Secure Socket Layer 3.0 (SSL 3.0). The vulnerability allows the decryption to plain text of secure connections. SSL 3.0 is an older encryption model and is still in use by many websites to allow users of older web browsers to navigate those sites. Using web browsers that are no longer supported increases the risk of being impacted by the POODLE vulnerability.

Internet Explorer Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ