The Importance of Software Updates
We receive notifications on all of our devices – computers, phones, and tablets. We’re all familiar with notifications that tell you a software update is available, and it’s recommended that you install it.
These updates serve countless purposes. They may be updating your operating system, or fixing bugs in the existing system. But most importantly, they patch security flaws. Often, the provider of the software updates will be patching holes that hackers have been exploiting (or attempting to exploit). For this reason alone, keeping your devices up to date is essential.
Much of the recent theft of private information has come from these type of breaches. In the case of Equifax, a massive data breach that affected millions of Americans, as well as a smaller number of Canadians. In this case, a software update had successfully patched the hole in the offending software, but the hackers exploited the company’s lethargy in updating their system, stealing the personal information of millions. This type of story is not uncommon, and on some levels it’s very understandable. Computer updates take time – especially a rollout across a larger corporation – so it’s easy to delay an update or assume it’s no big deal.
And finally, if security improvements aren’t enough, these updates generally improve the functionality of the operating system.
Programs such as Patch My PC or Ninite will look for updates from major programs, and ensure your machine is running on the most up-to-date versions as possible.
