Maintain a Secure Desktop, Patch Management

Desktop security is an old topic that is often addressed, especially within larger enterprises that require secure networks. Home users need not be scared of the internet, you can be protected!

Despite the constant emotions of fear and insecurity surrounding the topic ofsecurity, virus protection and malware, user education is the number one conflict surrounding desktop security.

Often, networks are compromised, not by external attacks from exploitations towards servers but users executing unknown applications received through email, instant messages and at times data mediums that are mailed directly to companies.

Receiving a cdrom or floppy, as out of date as they sound, from an unknown source is always suspicious, however, it happens. Users place the cd into their cdrom’s cup-holder shaped try and close the drive.

Next, you have been infected with a variant worm or trojan that typically propagates quickly through the victims’ network, eventually allowing access to the intruder(s).

In as basic terms as I can possibly deliver, I am going to begin a slew of articles providing a bit of user education on the topic of desktop security. Within the next few articles, visitors reading this set of articles should be a little more on top of the aforementioned subjects.

Software Updates and Patches

Maintaining a secure desktop environment begins with something as simple as patch management. Ensuring that your applications are up to date is an extremely easy task.

Most applications, out of the box, are capable of checking for software updateson the fly. Most will give users some sort of indication informing them when it is time to download the newest available version or patch for the application in question.

Do not ignore these messages. At times, users become so overwhelmed with their current processes, applications and tasks that they choose to ignore these prompts and continue on with their business. These patches are being delivered to you via dialogs of warnings because they’re warranted to keep your computer safe.

Urgent updates are often distributed, especially by large vendors such as McAfee, Symantec, Microsoft and Adobe to provide their mass about of software users secure.

If you are going to opt-out of these updates, you are risking infection. Application security is a topic discussed frequently by security conferences and companies. Applications are typically very unstable.

Software frequently requires updates after initial releases because developers are rushed to get the product on the shelf. While developers are spending long evenings and weekends developing patches for new-found holes, attackers, penetration testers and security firms are constantly spending the same, if not more time, searching for vulnerabilities.

Once an exploit or so-called kit has been released to take advantage of these newly discovered holes, they are used to propagate viruses, spy ware and other malicious code to unsuspecting victims.

Ensure you stay up to date! Think of it as news for your software, without your daily dose of news media and such, you feel out of touch with your surroundings. Without updates, your software is in a sense, out of touch with its environment. As long as we have software we will have software updates.