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An easy way to keep your programs up-to-date

One way that the bad guys gain access to your computer is through old or unpatched software. Windows is a prime culprit here, but it's not the only software with potential security holes. I've been using a great new program from Secunia called the Personal Software Inspector. When you fire it up, the PSI will scan your system and report back those programs which are Insecure, End-of-Life (no longer supported by the developer), and which programs have been patched. You can view information about why the unpatched version of your software is insecure, and in most cases click a link to download the latest version. Oh, and did I mention it was free? You can configure the PSI to start on boot, so that it's always monitoring your programs. Or you can turn off that setting, and only scan it at your convenience. Either way, it's a terrific way to keep up with out-of-date programs on your computer. Another great program is UpdateStar, which does essentially the same thing as Secunia's PSI, but with one difference -- it will also provide links to update out-of-date programs that do not pose security risks. It's free, too.

Full post as published by Inter Alia on January 03, 2008 (boomark / email).