Kaspersky Lab has released Kaspersky Software Updater – a free application for Windows computers that makes it quick and easy to update software, to help eliminate potential security holes.
The more popular the application, the more actively criminals will scrutinise it for vulnerabilities that, for example, allow malware to invisibly penetrate devices. In 2016, Kaspersky Lab has detected over four million exploits that use vulnerabilities in popular applications and operating systems as of mid-December.
Software developers regularly patch any vulnerabilities they discover by releasing new versions of their applications, but many users do not check for updates regularly or install them. According to Kaspersky Lab data, only half of people update their most exploitable software within a week of an update being available.
The Kaspersky Lab solution works by scanning a device for popular programs* that need to be updated, and provides a report to the owner. Updates that are critical are marked accordingly, so that users do not miss them among other, less important, updates – such as those due to new features or software code blips. From this report, users can select which programs to update, and the application can automatically download the latest software from the developer sites, replacing all out-of-date versions in one stroke. A user can benefit from regular automatic checks or launch scans manually.
"Our main task is to improve the level of user protection against cyberthreats,” says Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky, Head of the Anti-Malware Research Team at Kaspersky Lab. “Software vulnerabilities are now a critical problem, as they allow cybercriminals to secretly gain control of a user’s PC. We believe it is better to prevent a threat rather than combat it, and that’s why we call on all users to regularly update their operating system and the applications installed on it.”
Interested?
Kaspersky Software Updater is available online at free.kaspersky.com, or as part of Kaspersky Security Scan – an application designed to scan Windows-based computers for malware infections and hazardous settings.
*The list of programs that are checked, as well as the technical requirements for optimal operation of the solution, are available at: http://support.kaspersky.com/11827
