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How long before companies start consciously de-risking by replacing general-purpose systems like Windows with newer systems with smaller attack surfaces? Why d

How long before companies start consciously de-risking by replacing general-purpose systems like Windows with newer systems with smaller attack surfaces? Why does an airline need to use Windows at all for operations? From what I’ve seen, their backend systems are still running on mainframes. The terminals are accessed on PCs running Windows, but those could trivially be replaced with iPadOS devices that are more locked down than Windows and generally more secure by design.

ricardobayes 2y ago
Often, the cost of switching is too high or too complex to justify. On top of that, many applications commonly run in manufacturing etc., simply does not run on any other OS.
- fransje26 2y ago
  It's true that a multi-billion dollars screw-up, with possible deaths, is a cost that is much easier to justify..
  - sabas123 2y ago
    And you think that any realistic alternative (which does require appropriate funding) does not have similar risks?
    - fransje26 2y ago
      The billions that have been lost, and the lives that have been lost, have, in the blink of an eye, rendered the "too costly to implement" argument moot. For bean-counting purposes, it's just really convenient that the burden of that cost was transferred onto somebody else, so that the claim can continue to be made that another solution would still be too costly to implement. Accepting the status-quo that got us here in the first place, under the pseudo-rational argument that there are not realistic alternatives, is simply putting ones head in the sand and careening, full steam ahead, to the next wall waiting for us. That there might not be an alternative available currently does not mean that a new alternative cannot be actively pursued, and that it is not time for extreem introspection.
lobsterthief 2y ago
They likely run software written for windows, patched together over decades, that wouldn’t port easily to an iPad.
andrybak 2y ago
One of the problems possibly preventing this is that budgets for buying software aren't controlled by people administering the software. Definitely not by people using it.
krembo 2y ago
“Nobody ever got fired for Buying IBM”
- jeffhuys 2y ago
  They should’ve been.
nullindividual 2y ago
Certain backend systems run on mainframes, yes. But the airline's website? No (only the booking portion interacts with a mainframe via API calls). Identity management system? No. Etc.
nprateem 2y ago
Never if they can help it and have heard of Santander
samcat116 2y ago
Embedded Windows has always seemed like an oxymoron to me.
mr90210 2y ago
You lost me at iPadOS.

ricardobayes 2y ago

Often, the cost of switching is too high or too complex to justify. On top of that, many applications commonly run in manufacturing etc., simply does not run on any other OS.

fransje26 2y ago
It's true that a multi-billion dollars screw-up, with possible deaths, is a cost that is much easier to justify..
- sabas123 2y ago
  And you think that any realistic alternative (which does require appropriate funding) does not have similar risks?
  - fransje26 2y ago
    The billions that have been lost, and the lives that have been lost, have, in the blink of an eye, rendered the "too costly to implement" argument moot. For bean-counting purposes, it's just really convenient that the burden of that cost was transferred onto somebody else, so that the claim can continue to be made that another solution would still be too costly to implement. Accepting the status-quo that got us here in the first place, under the pseudo-rational argument that there are not realistic alternatives, is simply putting ones head in the sand and careening, full steam ahead, to the next wall waiting for us. That there might not be an alternative available currently does not mean that a new alternative cannot be actively pursued, and that it is not time for extreem introspection.

lobsterthief 2y ago

They likely run software written for windows, patched together over decades, that wouldn’t port easily to an iPad.

andrybak 2y ago

One of the problems possibly preventing this is that budgets for buying software aren't controlled by people administering the software. Definitely not by people using it.

krembo 2y ago

“Nobody ever got fired for Buying IBM”

jeffhuys 2y ago
They should’ve been.

nullindividual 2y ago

Certain backend systems run on mainframes, yes. But the airline's website? No (only the booking portion interacts with a mainframe via API calls). Identity management system? No. Etc.

nprateem 2y ago

Never if they can help it and have heard of Santander

samcat116 2y ago

Embedded Windows has always seemed like an oxymoron to me.

mr90210 2y ago

You lost me at iPadOS.