What’s With All These Updates, Anyway?
If you use a computer with any sort of regularity, you’re probably bombarded weekly with various updates on your computer. Windows, Java, Adobe, Microsoft, Symantec, IBM, Apple, etc. The list of things residing in your computer that require updates is nearly endless. And you may be asking yourself just what is so important about these updates and why do they seem so frequent?
The first and most important reason for frequent updates is that they close security vulnerabilities that have been discovered since the program in question has been released. This reduces your computer’s vulnerability and thus lowers your risk of being hacked.
For example, the Conficker worm (which was first discovered in November 2008 and received much publicity), wreaked global-wide havoc by taking advantage of security loopholes in Microsoft network services. Roughly a week before the virus went live, a patch had been released to close those very loopholes. However, most people around the planet don’t stay current on their updates. As a result of this lack of personal vigilance, within a few short weeks Conficker had spread to as many as 15 million computers worldwide, nearly crippling many conglomerates and other fairly large businesses. Loss of revenue was the least of the problems caused by this worm, and it all could have been easily prevented.
The second reason to keep current on updates is that they fix bugs in programs. I have seen on some computers running Microsoft Office without any service packs crash when trying to save files. This was an application bug that was fixed in MS Office Service Pack 1. Graphics drivers are also a common culprit when computers crash unexpectedly, which makes updating them essential for uninterrupted. . .well, anything. Your graphics card and its drivers are so integral to how a computer functions, if they are out-of-date, it can compromise functionality as well as security.
The third and final reason updates are so important is they will frequently add new features and functionality to your system. Due to marketing deadlines and firm street dates, vendors often release products which are not entirely complete. Or, at least, not as complete as they would like them to be. Someone on the development team may have struck in a truly awesome idea for an add-on, but due to how far along the program was, it was simply too late to implement it before launch. That’s where updates come in. The most well-known examples are Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Anyone who has used either (or both) of these browsers has seen them evolve over the last several years. The first versions of these programs are a far cry from the ones we use today, and that’s thanks in no small part to frequent updates.
In the case of antivirus software, updates provide the program with the ability to detect the newest threats out there. Most often you will just update your virus definition file, which is the file that tells the scan engine what virus/spyware to look for. About once every 6 months or so, though, you will update the scan engine, the part of the program that does the actual searching. What this means is that they have re-enginereed the program to scan for more threats (some new, and some just previously unknown), and do so more efficiently.
Just recently, I had to reimage many a Windows XP machine that happened to be running Symantec 10. These machines were infected with tons of malware because the Symantec 10 scan engine is incapable of detecting this particular type of malware. I have yet to remove this type of malware from any computers running Symantec 11 because its scan engine detects and blocks the threat. The list of virus definitions is the same, but the engines themselves are somewhat different. As such, if you are given the opportunity to upgrade your scan engine PLEASE DO SO. ASAP!
In closing, go run your updates. NOW. Your computer (and your IT reps) will thank you for it.
Sources for further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Update
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker
The first and most important reason for frequent updates is that they close security vulnerabilities that have been discovered since the program in question has been released. This reduces your computer’s vulnerability and thus lowers your risk of being hacked.
For example, the Conficker worm (which was first discovered in November 2008 and received much publicity), wreaked global-wide havoc by taking advantage of security loopholes in Microsoft network services. Roughly a week before the virus went live, a patch had been released to close those very loopholes. However, most people around the planet don’t stay current on their updates. As a result of this lack of personal vigilance, within a few short weeks Conficker had spread to as many as 15 million computers worldwide, nearly crippling many conglomerates and other fairly large businesses. Loss of revenue was the least of the problems caused by this worm, and it all could have been easily prevented.
The second reason to keep current on updates is that they fix bugs in programs. I have seen on some computers running Microsoft Office without any service packs crash when trying to save files. This was an application bug that was fixed in MS Office Service Pack 1. Graphics drivers are also a common culprit when computers crash unexpectedly, which makes updating them essential for uninterrupted. . .well, anything. Your graphics card and its drivers are so integral to how a computer functions, if they are out-of-date, it can compromise functionality as well as security.
The third and final reason updates are so important is they will frequently add new features and functionality to your system. Due to marketing deadlines and firm street dates, vendors often release products which are not entirely complete. Or, at least, not as complete as they would like them to be. Someone on the development team may have struck in a truly awesome idea for an add-on, but due to how far along the program was, it was simply too late to implement it before launch. That’s where updates come in. The most well-known examples are Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Anyone who has used either (or both) of these browsers has seen them evolve over the last several years. The first versions of these programs are a far cry from the ones we use today, and that’s thanks in no small part to frequent updates.
In the case of antivirus software, updates provide the program with the ability to detect the newest threats out there. Most often you will just update your virus definition file, which is the file that tells the scan engine what virus/spyware to look for. About once every 6 months or so, though, you will update the scan engine, the part of the program that does the actual searching. What this means is that they have re-enginereed the program to scan for more threats (some new, and some just previously unknown), and do so more efficiently.
Just recently, I had to reimage many a Windows XP machine that happened to be running Symantec 10. These machines were infected with tons of malware because the Symantec 10 scan engine is incapable of detecting this particular type of malware. I have yet to remove this type of malware from any computers running Symantec 11 because its scan engine detects and blocks the threat. The list of virus definitions is the same, but the engines themselves are somewhat different. As such, if you are given the opportunity to upgrade your scan engine PLEASE DO SO. ASAP!
In closing, go run your updates. NOW. Your computer (and your IT reps) will thank you for it.
Sources for further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Update
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker
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