|
What are updates?
As we all know, perfect software
does not exist in this real world. From the movie
“Matrix”, humans learnt that ‘flaws’
did exist in what was touted as the most perfect
human creation. Similarly, in the automobile industry,
while it is imperative to have the best quality
assurance for every vehicle that is rolled out of
the factory, there can still be situations where
certain processes will fail along the assembly line,
rendering some parts faulty over a period of time.
Incidentally, we have seen this analogy happening
to us with the massive recall of certain models
of cars for some kind of inspection or upgrading.
As we can see, a perfect piece of work is hard to
justify or quantify for it can bear flaws that are
invisible to the naked eye.
Today, every piece of software will contain
some vulnerabilities known as software
‘bugs’ or ‘holes’, waiting
to be discovered. Software companies will
periodically release software updates
which are also known as patches
to rectify those vulnerabilities reported
on their software. |
 
|
Why do I need updates?
Most software flaws can be easily exploited by hackers
to steal information or have your computer hijacked.
Software companies will attempt to eradicate the
problem as quickly as possible by releasing updates
to fix those flaws in their software.
More often than not, when these updates are released,
they are reverse-engineered by hackers, who in turn
use them to break into ‘un-patched’
computers. The reason is simple. Curiosity is what
fuels a hacker in gaining a good understanding of
a vulnerability and he will gain the upper-hand
just by studying how a patch works.
As such, it is important that you update your software
once they (commonly known as “patches”)
become available.
|
|
What is a "vulnerability" and what does it look
like?
In its simplest definition,
‘vulnerability’ is a software ‘bug’
or ‘flaw’ that if it is not fixed, it
may render the software unusable or a state where
your system becomes unstable or ‘cranky’.
For example, if you are using Microsoft Windows
Operating Systems (OS) and perform a Windows Update,
your PC will be scanned to detect existing vulnerabilities
in your software. The following shows a vulnerability
finding. You can click for more information.
|
 Click image
for larger view |
|
How do I ensure my software is updated?
Update Operating System and Other Software Regularly
The most important piece of software that you
should update is your Operating System (OS).
For Microsoft Windows users, go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com
to check for and obtain updates for your OS.
Some software (e.g. Microsoft Windows) has an
automatic software update features. Use them
to ensure that you always have the latest software
patches.
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 comes with a
user-friendly configuration screen as shown
below, where you can easily turn on the Automatic-Update
feature:
Click Start > Control Panel > Security Center
or
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Security Center
|
Click
image for larger view |
| For more information
on the detailed steps, check out: http://www.theeldergeek.com/security_center.htm
|
The following screenshots show the process
of updating
Windows XP Operating System manually.
Of course you can choose to do auto-update
by enabling the “Auto-Update” feature. |
Click
image for larger view |
| Upon clicking “Install”, the selected patches
will be downloaded and installed. |
Click
image for larger view |
| When it’s done, you will see the following screen
showing that the updates/patches were successfully
installed. |
Click
image for larger view |
|
|
How often should you update your software?
Interestingly, there is no magic number to this
question. Updates will be released whenever a software
‘bug’ is reported to the software manufacturer
or vendor. Having said that, we must also understand
that not all bugs can be fixed easily and some will
probably take a longer time than others.
Thus, it’s always a good practice to
embrace other forms of protection such as
using a
personal firewall coupled with an
up-to-date anti-virus software to block off
malicious traffic and to perform a system
scan for any malicious activities.
Hackers will always be ‘lurking’
around waiting to hijack an ‘unpatched’
system. Hence, the rule-of-thumb is to do
a check for any updates on a monthly basis.
Bear in mind that not all software has “auto-update”
features, although most software will provide
a link to check for updates.
|
|
Checking your update history?
Every time your system is updated, there is also
a catalogue containing the update history should
you wish to examine.
Click image
for larger view
|
|
What other software do you have to update?
As you should know by now that all software
needs to be updated occasionally. Some will
have updated versions being released that
have fixed old and current bugs.
The most important piece of software is probably
your Operating System (OS), e.g. Windows XP OS.
The following lists some common software that will
need updating as well:
|
Internet Browser |
|
Microsoft Office XP |
|
Anti-Virus software |
|
Personal Firewall software |
|
and any other applications that you use frequently |
The following screenshots show some of the common
applications that need to be updated as well.
For example, the Microsoft Office applications:
Click image
for larger view
Click image
for larger view
Click image
for larger view
Click image
for larger view
Click image
for larger view
For example, the Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser
application:
Click image
for larger view
Sometimes, we may be prompted
by our personal firewall to update its “Authorised
Applications” database whenever there
are software changes. In this case, it is the
Mozilla Firefox browser that we have just performed
an update.
Sometimes, we may also encounter some Alert Prompts from our personal firewall during a Windows Update process as seen below:
Click
image for larger view
Another example, the Symantec Norton Anti-Virus
& Norton SystemWorks application:
Updating your anti-virus software will also
update the other components such as the Virus
Scanning Engine, the drivers, and other components
as shown above. As for the virus signature,
you are strongly encouraged to update at least
once a week or you may want to enable LiveUpdate,
which is the automatic update feature in Symantec
products.
|
|
Security is always incomplete without "U"
!
Human beings have been known to be the weakest link
as far as security is concerned. Thus, while we
are cultivating a good habit to update our software
frequently, we should also be cautious and mindful
of the constant threats we may encounter while working
on our computer. |
|
