Fix Security Holes: Vulnerable programs you should update
In order to be protected against attacks from the Internet, we recommend using anti-virus software and a firewall. Another component of a security concept is to keep installed applications up to date. This is how you close dangerous security gaps that malware can use to gain control of the PC. Some programs install their updates themselves, but by no means all of them do this. A rule of thumb: The more widespread an application, the higher the degree of danger. In the following overview you will find popular software that you should always use in the latest version for security reasons. There are also download links that give you versions with fixed gaps.
Threatened programs: You should update them
Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
It is often in use Adobe Reader, which you use to open PDF files. The program does have a sandbox function, but it does not guarantee perfect protection. Therefore, manipulated PDFs can still infect the PC if you call them up in the Adobe tool. You can protect yourself from this with a simple measure: updates, updates, updates. As a rule, these appear monthly for Adobe Acrobat Reader DC – on the second Tuesday, which also coincides with Microsoft’s patch day.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe and other PDF providers sometimes offer web apps in addition to local PC applications. These run entirely in the browser. Updates are also necessary here, but beyond your control: Here it is important to trust the provider to regularly update his applications. If there is no version information for the online services you use, there is no simple way to verify that the software is up-to-date. In the case of large cloud providers, however, it can be assumed that they will do their homework and quickly install patches for known security gaps in their cloud applications.
Java in the hacker focus
A danger comes from Java out of. The runtime environment is necessary to run various software and web applications. Java supports different classes of devices: It runs on PCs and a few mobile phones. This is attractive to attackers: if they distribute malicious programs that exploit a Java vulnerability, they may work across platforms.
Download Java Runtime Environment (64-bit).
Update Manager: Check software for updates
Beyond Adobe products and Java, you should consider all other installed programs when refreshing your software equipment. Update managers will help you with this. With an existing Internet connection, such tools compare the version numbers of the installed applications with the numbers in a web database. If the updaters come across outdated software, they report this – some automatically replace outdated goods with the current version. The popular classic Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) has not been developed further since 2018. Essentially, you only need two tools to keep your PC software up to date: a software helper and a driver helper.
SUMo: Software Update Manager also for betas
Various antivirus programs come with software updaters, such as Avast Free and paid products like McAfee. You do not need to install a new virus protection tool for software updates: SUMo is an excellent alternative. Of the Soften uupdate Monitor scans your program inventory for outdated versions and even discovers beta updates, for example for Firefox, if the appropriate check box is set in the settings.
Download SUMo Portable
CCleaner software updater – useful?
The update search function in CCleaner is not so good: the popular tuning tool recognizes whether updates are available for relatively few programs. If you are already using the CCleaner, there is little reason not to try the function (click sequence: “Extras > Software Updater”). You are even better served with a special tool like SUMo. A comparison: more than 100 programs are installed on the article author’s home office PC. SUMo found around 30 updates, CCleaner only nine. The driver updater of the tuning tool is also of little use, since it (similar to the software updater) only detects updates in the CCleaner free version, but does not install them.
The Software Update Monitor, SUMo for short, is ahead of CCleaner when it comes to patches.
Update drivers automatically
Driver Booster Free updates installed drivers with a high degree of automation. A keylogger in the audio driver on HP notebooks proved that the latter can be dangerous. IObits Updater searches for newer drivers online, downloads them, installs them and even restarts Windows after setting a tick. The latter in particular sets the tool apart from others. Complete one or more driver installations with a restart. If you wish, you can do without the automatic function and reboot Windows yourself. Also comes from the SUMo provider DUMo, which can be used in a similar way. It focuses on finding newer driver versions. You do the downloading and installation manually – so you retain full control.
Download Driver Booster Free
Download DUMo Portable
More security for Windows 10
Security Risk: Old Windows
Users of operating systems that are no longer further developed are faced with a huge security problem. Windows 7 was hit in 2020, which received updates for the last time that year and has been excluded from patch days since February 2020. Furthermore, Windows XP, Vista and 8.0 are no longer supported. Even when Microsoft learns of new security vulnerabilities, the company typically does not close them in the affected systems. Security-conscious people have two options: take the PC off the network and possibly do without data carriers such as USB sticks and burned CDs – or upgrade to a current system.
Anyone using Windows 10 should keep an eye on the expiry dates of its major release version numbers. Microsoft provides such information online, and you will also find warnings about the end of an update on relevant news websites. Next, Windows 10 20H2 (October 2020 Update) disappears from the update offer: On May 10, 2022 there will be patches for the last time. By June 2022 at the latest, you should have switched to Windows 10 21H2 or (if the hardware allows it) to Windows 11.
Other security measures
Keeping installed applications up to date is important, but it is not a substitute for using an anti-virus program. Antivirus and security suite software, for example, often arm you against attacks, even if the security gaps used by third parties are not yet known. Techniques such as heuristics and behavior analysis contribute to this. Popular supplements work on a similar pattern Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit and Microsoft’s EMET (Eenhanced Miteration Eexperience Ttoolkit). The features of EMET are now integrated into Windows 10. Both applications prevent criminal attackers from exploiting programming errors.
Download Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
Download Microsoft EMET
The small tool provides further protection Clear Event Viewer, which as a batch script deletes telltale logs that Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 11 create in the background – experienced PC co-users could use the data sets to get an idea of the previous PC use. To run our Event Viewer Cleaner, right-click the batch file and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu that appears.
Download Clear Event Viewer
Exploit Protection: Tips and Tools
Discontinued software and alternatives
Always informed about software updates
If you are interested in what a security update changes in detail, then search for “changelog” on the respective manufacturer’s website. Many providers keep such lists that list the changes made by previously released versions. If you can’t find a changelog on a homepage, use Google or Bing to search for the software and/or version number of your interest. Write the latter with the term “changelog”, “history” or “release notes” in the search phrase.
The terms mentioned are alternatively suitable for entering into the browser search field: When the manufacturer’s website is loaded, call up the search function with Ctrl-F, then type in one of the phrases.
If there are no security improvements and the focus is only on bug fixes, you might want to forgo an update – it doesn’t always change everything for the (subjectively) positive. Make up your own mind and don’t be hasty in updating. In the case of purchased programs, major updates (upgrades) are chargeable and rarely relevant to security.
New software releases and updates regularly arrive on our download server. The current program versions for download can be found bundled here. Advantages: The downloads are checked for viruses – not every download portal and not every software provider does this on their website. You will also receive a German-language description and a screenshot for each program and you will usually be shown several alternatives.
