Keep Your Operating System Up To Date

Operating systems, like Windows and macOS (formerly Mac OS X), are made up of countless parts with different functions, ideally working in harmony. It's inevitable that some of these parts will be less than perfect. But when a problem leaves a hole in your machine's defenses, it is extremely important to patch it as soon as possible. This is best accomplished by using built-in update features through the Windows Update Page in the Windows Control Panel for Windows PCs, and the Software Update feature, on macOS and OS X systems. Your machine may need to be restarted after you update.

Keeping your computer's security up to date

  1. Click on the Windows Start Menu and select or type 'Control Panel'.
  2. Select or type 'Windows Update".
  3. Select 'Check for Updates'.
  4. Install all recommended updates.
  1. Click on the Apple menu icon on the top left hand corner of your screen.
  2. Select 'App Store'.
  3. Click on Updates in the top Menu Bar of the application.
  4. Click 'Update All' to install all the application and operating system updates.

Most savvy computer users are aware of the need to keep their operating system, Windows or macOS, up to date. Despite applying all critical updates in Windows Update or Software Updates, many of these users place their system security and stability at risk by neglecting to apply the same measure of caution to third-party applications like Mozilla Firefox or Adobe Acrobat.

It is very important that you check all of the programs that you use for built-in updating options. It's also a good idea to make sure that you have the most recent version of the software as long as it can run on your machine. Checking the vendor's website is typically the best first step.

It can be difficult to manage updates for all of the applications we use online. Flexera PSI is a free security tool designed to detect vulnerable and outdated programs and plug-ins which expose your computer to attacks. You can download PSI from Flexera's website.