People are constantly finding security holes, vulnerabilities, in computer software which could be used to infect your computer with viruses, spyware or worse.  When vulnerabilities are discovered, the vendor typically issues a fix (i.e. patch) to correct the problem.  This fix/patch should be applied as soon as possible because the average time for someone to try to exploit this security hole can be as little as a few days.

Follow these best practices:

• If your software supports automatic updates, be sure to enable this feature.  If your software does not support automatic updates, be sure to check the vendor’s website at least once a month for updates, or subscribe to the vendor’s email list for update notification.
• Many organizations may already have a process for automatically applying patches so check with your help desk before applying patches on your work computer.

Cyber Security Tips are provided by Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), http://www.msisac.org

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