Technically Foreign – Technology, Culture & a KB of Humor

The Bad words of Computer Security Part 3 – Software Updates

There is a lot of words for Software updates including, Vulnerabilities, patches, versions and bugs. Software and your Operating system need to have the latest version, otherwise you risk your computer to cyber attacks. For example if your using an outdated version of Firefox (a web browser) and enter a site that attacks a certain bug which has been known and fixed in newer versions then even if you have an Anti-virus program you can get attacked. The simple rules:

• Make sure your Operating system is always up to date. Schedule your machine to automatically update your software.
  • For windows make sure automatic update is on, follow Microsoft's instructions here: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/update/msupdate_keep_current.mspx
  • For Mac make sure you install the updates when prompted, follow Apples instructions here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106704
  • Linux - since every Linux distribution is different you will have to read the help page, but most distributions have a simple software update button that not only updates the Operating System but updates all software that is installed which is better then both Apple and Microsoft's updates.
  Next make sure that all your applications are up to date. This use to be a very hard one but has gotten much easier. Before you would have to compare each verison of your software or goto each software and see if they have an upgrade button and click it once in a while. Today a lot of software like Firefox and Thunderbird will automatically install new updates and inform you when these have been done. Also There is a software inspector that inspects your computer for all out dated (vulnerable) software. This is the secunia inspector. Click the button below to inspect your computer and make sure all your software is up to date. This should be run every month.
• Run the Secunia Software inspector to make sure your computer is safe.

If you follow the first part of the serious about passwords, the second part about Viruses and this part about updating your software there will be a 99% chance of your computer getting taken over, infected and your identity stolen over the Internet. These are simple rules and are equivalent to changing the oil in your car.

Tags: Apple, Computer, Internet, Microsoft, Security, Technology

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Advice, Internet Tools, Security, Technically Foreign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.