The 5 controls of Cyber Essentials – Keeping your devices and software up to date

Keeping your devices up to date at all times is very important, no matter which phones, laptops, tablets or computers you’re using! This is true for both Operating systems and installed apps or software. Without adequately keeping your devices and software up to date you are leaving yourself open to problems, some of which can do irreparable damage to your computer systems.

Manufacturers and developers release regular updates that add new features regularly. These updates have a more important function, to fix any security vulnerabilities that have been discovered.

These updates (known as patches) are some of the most important things you can do to improve the security of your device. Most are automatically set to download the latest update when it comes out.

All IT has a lifespan and new modern replacements are released more and more often nowadays. When new updates stop appearing on your current device you should consider a modern replacement.

Cyber Essentials – The Objective

Ensure that devices and software are not vulnerable to known security issues for which fixes are available.

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities can be in any device that runs software (otherwise known as security flaws). Vulnerabilities are often found in all sorts of software. Opportunistic criminals or criminal organisations move quickly to exploit the vulnerabilities and attack computers and networks in businesses with these weaknesses.

As mentioned earlier updates do stop on products they no longer support – that includes not fixing vulnerabilities.

Cyber Essentials – Requirements under this technical control theme

The applicant must keep all their software up to date. The software must be licensed and supported, it should also be removed from devices when it is no longer supported. The software must also be patched within 2 weeks of an update being released; when the patch fixes a vulnerability with severity the product vendor describes as ‘critical’ or ‘high’.

How your IT provider should support patch management

If you have a good IT provider, most will automatically perform regular updates. A good IT provider will also identify if a patch is good before automatically installing it. We at 4tc can provide you with great support in your patch management by providing you with patches without flaws. We take the technological strain so you can concentrate on the core activities of the business. We help you save time, protect vital data and use your time more effectively.

Here at 4TC, we can help your business with all aspects of cybersecurity.

Our expertise covers a wide range of bases, from proactive maintenance and Backups to full-network anti-virus and managed anti-spam solutions.  We provide managed services, project management and advice to ensure the businesses we work with remain out-of-bounds to Cybercriminals.