Patch for EOS Servers

My company have got a few Windows 2008 servers that have already reached end of support. We are delaying the decommissioning of the server and I am thinking of controls that can help to mitigate risks.

Doing a rough check, i noticed that there are security patches from 2018 not installed, are we able to patch them at this point of time since it was already reached end of support?

Solution 1:

Yes, you're able to patch them. I would suggest installing all available updates.

Solution 2:

Purchase and install Extended Security Updates. This grants you at most 22 more months, as the program is already in year 2 of 3.

ESU also is required for support from Microsoft. Not having this would be a risk to mitigate.