Who's still using Windows XP until now? The answer would be the renowned President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. However, an expert says that this might be part of a plan of President Putin, and media sites seemed to be biting this issue real bad.
President Putin and the Issue of his 'Outdated' OS
As first mentioned in a Russian news site called Open Media, President Putin has said to be still using a very outdated operating system on his computer, Microsoft's Windows XP. For other people out there that don't know what Windows XP was (since this OS is very old), it was one of the pioneer OS of Microsoft's that was released in the year 2001. This OS is much older than the iconic Windows --it was also being replaced in the market due to its vulnerability.
As explained, Windows XP was a very old operating system but President Putin seemed to be still intact with the said Microsoft product-- or what the news site thought. To clear the assumptions, the Russian news site said that they based this information on a picture released by the Kremlin press office, published this year.
The picture released showed President Putin sitting on his desk at his residence at Novo-Ogaryovo. Along with his desk showed a computer of his, clearly showing the Windows XP user interface.
In the second picture, Bank of Russia Chairman Elvira Nabiullina was seen to be sitting inside Putin's office in Kremlin, wherein another photobomber of Putin's outdated computer was flashed in front of her.
So, since President Putin uses an outdated OS on his somehow personal computer, does this mean that hackers can easily infiltrate Putin's confidential information on his desktop? An expert says no.
Why the Issue of President Putin's Outdated OS Cannot be True
According to an interview of Forbes magazine to Philip Ingram MBE, a former Colonel in British Military Intelligence and currently a journalist specializing in security and intelligence matters, the said leaked pictures of Russian President Putin are interesting in many ways possible. He explained that President Putin and the Russian government will never release a photo, or in this case photos-- implying some weaknesses of their President.
Ingram noted that the image shown by the news site seemed to be too 'highlighted.' This means that the photograph was really showing not just President Putin but mainly his 'outdated' OS.
'Maskirovka': The Doctrine of Deception
This tactic of the Russian government is what he called the 'Maskirovka.' Ingram said that what the Russian government is doing is a doctrine of deception based on that strategy. He furthered explained that Maskirovka was being used by President Putin through the disguised of 'outdated' OS in order "to see what the reaction in the West and elsewhere would be."
And by the looks of it, the issue was successfully made online.
