The end of Windows XP's life could weaken regulatory compliance standards: the most widespread and reigning operating system, Windows XP, was released on October 25 2001 and has been considered the most remarkably accepted operating system. The system platform between the consumer and business markets will now be defunct after April 8, 2014. This means that from April 9, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide support, marketing or updates, patches, any type of support options like Microsoft Security Essentials or online technical content updates. Additionally, many applications and devices may not even work properly with Windows XP. Now this will exponentially increase hacking attacks on machines that continue to use Windows XP. This impending sunset will directly impact corporate environments, security locks on doors/buildings, ATMs, government computing devices, e-commerce, military computing devices, retail industry retail with point of sale and other applications running in this environment and other organizations that conduct business. with the data of credit card holders and those who are obliged to comply with PCI DSS requirements. For retailers, the impact may be greater as the PCI Security Standard Council (PCI SSC) does not take into account the outdated operating system, which could pose a problem for retailers (using Windows XP) with their banks, regardless of the payment software they use. The overarching issue here is how this change will affect those who notably updated from version 2.0 to version 3.0 late last year and are required to comply with PCI DSS requirements. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a set of 12 requirements administered by the payment card industry...... middle of paper ......ds and also to ensure complete confidentiality of their sensitive data and audit reports.References:1. Source: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/answer/How-Windows-XP-end-of-life-conflicts-with-PCI-DSS-requirement-62?asrc=EM_ERU_26645973&utm_medium=EM&utm_source=ERU&utm_campaign=20140218_ERU%20Transmission% 20for%2002/18/2014%20(User universe:%20672236)[email protected]&src=5213080 2. PCI DSS version 3.0 (PDF)3. Will the Demise of XP Shut Down Your Business or Your Heart http://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/23692-Will-the-Demise-of-XP-Shut-Down-Your-Businessor-Heart.html 4. Wikipedia: http http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP 5. Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/End-of-Windows-XP-Who-all -are-at-risk /articlesshow/33431926.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral 6. BBChttp://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26884167