Did you know Adobe released three Flash updates this month? And that every last one of them was absolutely, positively necessary? (At the time. They’re cumulative.) Seriously, you need a computer to keep track of all this stuff.
Secunia PSI is a free program to keep track of these updates and pull them down and install them for you. I’ve written about it before, but not in any depth. I downloaded it to a machine that didn’t have it, and it scanned my system, found four out-of-date programs–it knows about 3,000 pieces of software–and updated three of the four without me doing anything at all. It’s dead simple. Download it, install it, accept the defaults, and let it run. If you can’t get by without the four horsemen of the security apocalypse (Quicktime, Flash, Acrobat, and Java), at least Secunia PSI will ensure you’re running the least insecure–I’m not calling any of those security nightmares any word that would suggest they’re good–version of each.
If you’re running Windows, go download it and install it, please. It’s not a substitute for antivirus software, but it’s a tool that can close the security holes that antivirus software can’t protect you against. Really, you probably need both.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.