So everyone knows you have to update your operating system. Whether it be Mac OS X or Windows XP, Vista, or 7, system updates have become a normal part of our computer experience. What you may not know is there are other programs on your computer that are security threats if not updated. I’m going to mention a few.
Flash
Flash is a big one, because of how integrated it is with your browser. A lot of video on websites is embedded as flash code, as are a lot of advertisements. To update flash, go to http://www.adobe.com or http://www.flash.com and click the flash platform. If you already have 10.2 or above, it should prompt you to update automatically, but you still have to accept their terms and licensing agreement.
Java
Java is another big one. Many of the latest viruses exploit Java vulnerabilities and run code that newer versions of Java won’t let run. Java is a programming language that allows your browser to run platformless applications, meaning they run the same on any browser or operating system. To get Sun’s latest version of Java, go to http://www.java.com and follow the prompts.
Adobe Reader
This is one you may not think about but according to this article, it is one of the worse security risks on your computer. The latest version of Adobe Reader, Version 10, loads a lot quicker also over version 9, so you should update for that reason if nothing else. Adobe Reader allows you to read PDFs, or Portable Document Format files, which are commonly passed around to computer to computer, making them a security risk. Go to http://www.adobe.com for the latest version.
Conclusion
To cover all the security bases, you need to update all the software on your machine, so don’t ignore that little flashing box telling you there are Java updates or Adobe updates. There probably are and you need them!
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