What is it? Microsoft’s windows runs on a large number of PC’s. Traditionally Windows had bugs that would permit its security to be compromised allowing PC’s to be infected with malware or causing it to crash or misbehave in some other way.
However with the common use of Internet rising, it has become increasingly critical that these vulnerabilities are quickly identified and patched.
When in the past you had to download files from the Internet to install them on your PC’s, today this process is largely automated through windows updates. These days windows updating process can be automated entirely by turning on automatic updates.
What happens when you install bug fixes is that a hole (defect in OS software) is patched so that a worm or any other kind of malware cant use a particular bug to infect that PC. Hence you eliminate a large enough issue by keeping the windows always updated. When vulnerabilities are left without being patched, that’s equivalent to inviting trouble.
Other operating systems such as Linux, Unix and Mac has bugs too. Hence do not presume that you will be safe if you use any other Operating system. Windows faces the maximum threat also due to its popularity.
Updates to other software: Apart from Operating System updates, there are other software’s which has vulnerabilities too. MS Office is one example. Although these are comparatively few, you need to keep a watch on the security vulnerability of other software’s too.
Solution: Updating the Operating Systems
Next in threats : Virus, Worm
How to respond to this issue..
Always take all responses together to tackle any one threat. More on this..
More Information:
On windows updates, more information can be obtained from windowsupdate.com. With regards to other Operating Systems and software, you need to keep a watch on the web and on their respective sites.
MS Office Updates:
Updates for the MS Office is now available on the Windows update website itself through windows update page.