2019 has been a good year for cybercriminals, and it’s not quite over yet. The list of hospitals, schools, businesses, and city governments that have experienced significant data losses and financial damages due to ransomware is still growing. In October, the FBI listed “software vulnerabilities” as one of the three main techniques being used to infect systems with ransomware. Admittedly, it’s an investment of both time and resources to upgrade systems to the latest software versions and consistently patch for security vulnerabilities. However, ransomware is becoming so prevalent that if you haven’t updated your operating system and other software applications lately, it needs to be a high priority.

Here are some of the lifecycle schedules for the operating systems and software that you may be using. Scroll down to see if your software is still receiving security updates. Any paid support options listed below are a stopgap for maintaining security updates. In most cases, upgrading to the most recent software version is recommended.

CentOS

Product	End-of-Life Date
CentOS 5	March 31, 2017
CentOS 6*	November 30, 2020
CentOS 7	June 30, 2024

*For cPanel & WHM users that cannot upgrade to CentOS 7, a move to CloudLinux OS 6 with Extended Support provides up to three years of full updates.

CloudLinux OS

Product	End-of-Life Date
CloudLinux OS 5	March 31, 2017
CloudLinux OS 6	November 30, 2020*
CloudLinux OS 7	June 30, 2024

*For cPanel & WHM users, full updates are available for up to three years through CloudLinux OS 6 Extended Support.

Microsoft

Product	End of Support Date
SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2*	July 9, 2019
Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2*	January 14, 2020
Windows Server 2016 Standard	January 11, 2022
Windows Server 2019 Standard	January 9, 2024

*For those that cannot upgrade, security updates are available for up to three years through Microsoft’s Extended Security Update program.

Ubuntu

Currently Supported Versions	End of Standard Support	# of Years	End of Life
Ubuntu 14.04.6 LTS	April 2019*	3 years	April 2022
Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS	April 2021*	3 years	April 2024
Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS	April 2023*	5 years	April 2028

*For those that cannot upgrade, Extended Security Maintenance is available through Ubuntu Advantage.

Adobe ColdFusion

Product name	Version	Build	General availability	End of core support	End of extended support
ColdFusion	8.x.x		7/30/2007	7/31/2012	7/31/2014
ColdFusion	9.x		10/5/2009	12/31/2014	12/31/2016
ColdFusion	10.x		5/15/2012	5/16/2017	5/16/2019
ColdFusion	11.x		4/29/2014	4/30/2019	4/30/2021
ColdFusion	2016		2/16/2016	2/17/2021	2/17/2022
ColdFusion	2018		7/12/2018	7/13/2023	7/13/2024

PHP

Branch	Initial Release	Active Support Until	Security Support Until
5.6	Aug 28, 2014	Jan 19, 2017	Dec 31, 2018
7.0	Dec 3, 2015	Dec 3, 2018	Jan 10, 2019
7.1	Dec 1, 2016	Dec 1, 2018	Dec 1, 2019
7.2	Nov 30, 2017	Nov 30, 2019	Nov 30, 2020
7.3	Dec 6, 2018	Dec 6, 2020	Dec 6, 2021
7.4	Nov 28, 2019	Nov 28, 2021	Nov 28, 2022

Railo

Version	Release Date	Notes
4.2.2.005	12-18-2014	Current stable release of Railo*

*Railo is no longer supported. Transitioning to Lucee is recommended.

Lucee

Version	Support
4.5	Not Supported
5.0	Not Supported
5.1	Not Supported
5.2	Not Supported
5.3	Supported*

*In Vivio’s experience, only the most recent release of Lucee is officially supported.

WordPress

Version	Support
5.0	Not Supported
5.1	Not Supported
5.2	Not Supported
5.3	Supported*

*Only the most recent release of WordPress is officially supported. All previous releases are not safe to use.

The best defense from ransomware and malware that exploit software vulnerabilities is to patch for vulnerabilities as soon as possible. Planning for future software upgrades and scheduling them into your project calendar can be a helpful way to stay on top of significant upgrades. Creating processes to check for updates and apply security patches regularly will also help you to stay current. The time and resources invested in maintaining software provide your business with another layer of protection from ransomware attacks.

As always, let us know how we can help!

References:

https://www.ic3.gov/media/2019/191002.aspx

www.centosblog.com/centos-eol-dates/

blog.cpanel.com/centos-6-eol-cloudlinux-6-os-and-you/

support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4487594/prepare-now-for-end-of-support-in-2019-and-2020

support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search

wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

helpx.adobe.com/support/programs/eol-matrix.html#CD

www.php.net/supported-versions.php

download.lucee.org/

codex.wordpress.org/Supported_Versions

wordpress.org/download/releases/