Skip to main content

Pentagon CIO wants staff to upgrade to Windows 10 on their home devices

vulnerable pentagon servers the united states department of defense
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Windows 10 has so much “baked in security” that the Department of Defense’s CIO Terry Halvorsen thinks DOD employees should definitely be using the operating system on their personal devices as well.

The Pentagon is currently updating all 4 million of its official devices to the latest version of Windows by January of next year, and Halvorsen is such a fan that he’s encouraging employees to move over to the OS at home.

“If you’re using a computer at home and you’re not on Windows 10, you’re doing yourself an injustice — you ought to be moving to Windows 10,” Halvorsen said in a press call last week, adding that he plans to issue this guidance to employees.

“We’re going to put out some guidance to our employees in general — it’s not an endorsement of Windows 10 or Microsoft specifically — listing what the characteristics of Windows 10 would give you if you put it in your home system,” said the CIO, who has cited security as the No. 1 reason for using the OS. “That’s as close to an endorsement as I can get for a software product.”

Microsoft’s deal with the Department of Defense to upgrade its systems to Windows 10 has been a boon for the company in trying to push its enterprise packages. Halvorsen added that the department is on track to complete the upgrade by the January 2017 target.

Windows 10 continues to be pushed hard by the company both for individuals and enterprises with the July 29 deadline approaching for the free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users.

This friendly relationship between the Department of Defense and Microsoft exists even though the company isn’t exactly on friendly terms with the government in other areas: Microsoft is currently suing the government over practices pertaining to search warrants for data and the right to notify customers.

Editors' Recommendations

Jonathan Keane
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jonathan is a freelance technology journalist living in Dublin, Ireland. He's previously written for publications and sites…
PC gamers are flocking to Windows 11, new Steam survey says
Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the Alienware 34 QD-OLED.

According to the latest Steam Hardware and Software Survey, more PC gamers are switching to using Windows 11. Although Windows 10 continues to top the charts, it's slowly losing users to Microsoft's newer operating system, as Windows 11 now compromises over a third of all operating systems in Steam's monthly survey.

It's happy news for Microsoft as Windows 11 continues to inch forward in the Steam Hardware Survey. While the survey doesn't include the software and hardware utilized by each and every gamer on the platform, it still shows us some significant averages. Microsoft has continued to push Windows 11 for new PCs, and the latest survey from Steam suggests that the effort is working.

Read more
Windows 11 has been causing problems with Intel graphics for months, and no one said a word
A Windows 11 device sits on a table.

If you're using Intel integrated graphics and you've been having some issues with DirectX apps, we may know the reason why -- outdated drivers paired with a recent Windows update.

According to Microsoft, a Windows 11 update may have caused some errors in Intel graphics. The update is not recent at all, so even if you haven't updated in the last few weeks, you may be affected.

Read more
Update Windows now — Microsoft just fixed several dangerous exploits
Person sitting and using an HP computer with Windows 11.

Microsoft has just released a new patch, and this time around, the update comes with fixes for several dangerous and actively abused vulnerabilities and exploits in Windows.

A total of 68 vulnerabilities were addressed in the patch, many of them critical. Here's what was fixed and how to make sure your Windows device is up to date.

Read more