TLS and Windows POS Ready 2009 End of Life

We have some important news to share regarding Microsoft Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009.
Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 is now nearly a decade old (wow, time flies, doesn't it?) and unfortunately, it doesn't fully support the TLS 1.2 encryption protocol.
TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a type of cryptographic protocol which is used to provide secure communications between computers over a network. This protocol is used by Idealpos when communications between your Idealpos system and our online services occur. Our online services which use the TLS protocol include Idealpos Online, WebIt as well as online licencing services.

TLS 1.0 is being phased out and replaced with TLS 1.1 and 1.2 (with the use of TLS 1.2 being strongly encouraged). TLS 1.1 and 1.2 offer a higher level of security for the transmission of data between two systems. The PCI Security Standards Council has devised a deadline of 30 June 2018 for using TLS 1.0. 

In order to meet the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), TLS 1.1 or higher must be used after 30th June 2018 when transmitting data between systems.
Failure to upgrade to use the TLS 1.1 or higher protocol after 30 June 2018 means that any data which is transmitted using the older protocol could be susceptible to being intercepted. In the event that data is intercepted and a data breach occurs, you will be liable for failing to comply with the PCI Data Security Standard. This is serious and we must stress the importance of complying with this standard.

Therefore, we have some important cut-off dates to announce as follows:

• 30th June 2018 - Idealpos will be disabling TLS 1.0 for all Idealpos Online communication after 30 June 2018. Any customers who are syncing data from a POS Ready 2009 terminal to the Idealpos Online service will find that transaction data will no longer sync after this date and the status of those terminals will show as being Offline in the Idealpos Online POS Terminal screen.
   
• March 2019 - Idealpos will be disabling TLS 1.0 for all Online Licencing communication at the end of March 2019. This means that any POS Terminals running Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 after the end of March 2019 will no longer be able to communicate with our licencing server. This means that Idealpos will stop working a short time afterwards.
  This cut-off date is in-line with Microsoft's cut-off date for supporting Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 (9 April 2019).

We strongly recommend that all customers who are still using Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 upgrade their Operating System.
Considerations to note when upgrading the Operating System on a terminal are:

• The age of the terminal
• Is the terminal is supported by the Operating System?
• Does the terminal meet the recommended system requirements for the Operating System?
• Are drivers, system software, etc. available for the Operating System?

If your POS Terminal does not support a newer Operating System or if you require assistance regarding this matter, please contact Idealpos or your reseller.

For further information about PCI Compliance and the Windows POS Ready 2009 end of support date, please refer to the below links:

PCI Security Standards blog post - Are you ready for 30 June 2018

Microsoft Products reaching end of support for 2019