“See Yourself in Cyber” Keep your Software Updated!

Welcome to TekMonks articles focused on CISA's Cyber Security Month and this year's theme "See Yourself in Cyber," focusing on the people that impact cyber security.

We have contributed content and recent LinkedIn articles on the four key actions CISA highlights for Cyber Security Month.??

The first is Multi-factor Authentication and how adding additional factors such as fingerprints to identify users helps protect users from identity theft and companies from cyber-attacks from cyber thieves stealing credentials.

Next is Use Strong Passwords that can exponentially increase the effort and time for cyber thieves to crack passwords.? We also highlighted the value of companies having a centralized management system to manage and change passwords for users.

Third, the need to Recognize and Report Phishing attacks.? Phishing schemes are where impostors try to get users to share their credentials or financial information online via email.??

The fourth, Update Your Software, is the purpose of this article on the importance for all to keep software updated from desktops to servers, to online applications, to home and mobile devices as a critical step to stopping cybercriminals.

As shared in a recent TechTarget article on 5 reasons software updates are important, "Security is the No. 1 reason to update software immediately. Software vulnerabilities enable cybercriminals to access a person's computer. Threat actors see these vulnerabilities as open doors, enabling them to plant malware on people's systems."

Keeping software up to date is important.? Vendors and security sites will alert the cyber community of vulnerabilities and updates required so that cyber professionals and users can update their systems.? Cybercriminals monitor these same notifications to attack users and companies that can be slow to update systems.

Let's take last year’s Login4J vulnerability discussed in a recent blog article earlier in the year.? This vulnerability, discovered in widely used open-source software, caused issues for the cyber community.? Vendors rushed out updates for their software to protect against the vulnerability, but many cybercriminals were able to focus on companies that were slow to implement these updates.

What can users of systems do to keep their systems updated?

Home and remote office users, turn on automatic updates on any system or device you may have, including PCS, MACS, smartphones, Wi-Fi routers, and any connected devices in your home.? A washing machine connected to your home network and the internet could be the easiest path for cybercriminals to access your home network and steal a home user's identity.

Employees must follow company policy and use their software tools to maintain systems and update software.? There may be a good reason a company’s cyber professionals are delaying updates but following procedures for updating software as quickly as possible.? Employees also need to focus on company software and policies for remote work as company network security no longer stops at the edge of the company’s network.??

Companies and their cyber professionals must also keep a keen focus on keeping their software up to date, including their systems, clients, and application software.???

An article in Forbes, 16 Tips For Ensuring Your Team Keeps Up With Software And Security Updates, provides insight and tips for keeping software updated.? A few were interesting to focus on to help companies with software updates and their cyber security value.

• Consider the benefits of a Software as a Service (SAAS) cloud-based software:? Instead of managing software releases in-house, choose a vendor's SAAS or cloud version that they maintain and update on a timely basis.
• Remind employees of the importance of home office software updates are essential for their home as well as for office security.??
• Focus on Awareness, Automation, and Administration to keep everyone aware of the need for updates, automate using solutions that ensure updates are made, and timely administration.
• Monitor security and vendor-notified vulnerabilities to ensure timely action to understand the vulnerabilities and high-priority security threats.

As mentioned above, automation is one of the keys to success in maintaining company software that is up to date.? At TekMonks, our Cronlord solution can work to schedule and monitor manual and automated tasks, including processes to maintain software releases.

To learn more about Cronlord and how to ensure your software stays up to date, contact the Tekmonks team at [email protected].