Closing security holes in outdated software - PSI

Skybird · 03-01-11, 05:27 PM

I found a very nice, free tool that helps you to identify security breaches hackers could abuse. It is Secunia'S PSI (Personal Software Inspector), and it is a quick and comfortable way to see which of your software is outdated and has newer versions available, for it scans all installed software and compares to the web's sources whether or not updates, patches or newer versions are available. From the results, you can easily trigger according update action.

This is especially helpful for software that is more or less hidden, has no icons, and that you have forgotten. For me it was an Excel viewer, and various versions of flash players. Also, lacking Windows security updates will trigger alarms.

I had to do several updates, and manually delete some things, to silence all alarms in repeated scans. Deal with all alrms one by opne, and after you are done, use PSI again to scan. Updates or deinstallatrions sometimes can cause subsequent security breaches. I thus had several runs before I got a 100% score.

Try it, it is very nice! But check the settings, and understand the options there. Especially if you run several partitions, you need to activated the others for scanning, too, because by default just c: is activated.

http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal

Feuer Frei! · 03-02-11, 04:44 AM

Danke,
werde es ausprobieren

Castout · 03-02-11, 04:53 AM

Thank you it seems trustworthy I'll try it out!

Feuer Frei! · 03-02-11, 05:26 AM

Just tried it out, the only 'apparent' security issues were my Irfanview, which i have updated.
The util seems a little sluggish, and when attempting to update Irfanview via the util it couldn't d/l the update.

So i manually installed it via Irfan's website.

Skybird · 03-02-11, 07:31 AM

I had several issues with two versions of Adobe Flash, and two versions of Excel viewers. If a program has reached the end of its lifespan, no updates will be found, obviously, and updates of software sometimes can raise the need to do subsequent updates of other components, especially Windows updates.

The one flashplayer was updated correctly, so was the one version of Excel viewer. The older flash and excel I had to manually delete. After that, several Windows updates for the new versions of flash and excel were needed.

The real value of the tool however lies in that it makes you aware and rings an alarm bell of outdated software versions of yours.

03-01-11, 05:27 PM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 40,679 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	Closing security holes in outdated software - PSI I found a very nice, free tool that helps you to identify security breaches hackers could abuse. It is Secunia'S PSI (Personal Software Inspector), and it is a quick and comfortable way to see which of your software is outdated and has newer versions available, for it scans all installed software and compares to the web's sources whether or not updates, patches or newer versions are available. From the results, you can easily trigger according update action. This is especially helpful for software that is more or less hidden, has no icons, and that you have forgotten. For me it was an Excel viewer, and various versions of flash players. Also, lacking Windows security updates will trigger alarms. I had to do several updates, and manually delete some things, to silence all alarms in repeated scans. Deal with all alrms one by opne, and after you are done, use PSI again to scan. Updates or deinstallatrions sometimes can cause subsequent security breaches. I thus had several runs before I got a 100% score. Try it, it is very nice! But check the settings, and understand the options there. Especially if you run several partitions, you need to activated the others for scanning, too, because by default just c: is activated. http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

03-02-11, 04:44 AM	#2
Feuer Frei! Navy Seal Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Valhalla Posts: 5,295 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 17	Danke, werde es ausprobieren __________________ "History is the lies that the victors agree on"- Napoleon LINK TO MY SH 3 MODS

03-02-11, 04:53 AM	#3
Castout Silent Hunter Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Jakarta Posts: 4,794 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 6	Thank you it seems trustworthy I'll try it out! __________________ My blog: http://exposingsingapore.wordpress.com/

03-02-11, 05:26 AM	#4
Feuer Frei! Navy Seal Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Valhalla Posts: 5,295 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 17	Just tried it out, the only 'apparent' security issues were my Irfanview, which i have updated. The util seems a little sluggish, and when attempting to update Irfanview via the util it couldn't d/l the update. So i manually installed it via Irfan's website. __________________ "History is the lies that the victors agree on"- Napoleon LINK TO MY SH 3 MODS

03-02-11, 07:31 AM	#5
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 40,679 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	I had several issues with two versions of Adobe Flash, and two versions of Excel viewers. If a program has reached the end of its lifespan, no updates will be found, obviously, and updates of software sometimes can raise the need to do subsequent updates of other components, especially Windows updates. The one flashplayer was updated correctly, so was the one version of Excel viewer. The older flash and excel I had to manually delete. After that, several Windows updates for the new versions of flash and excel were needed. The real value of the tool however lies in that it makes you aware and rings an alarm bell of outdated software versions of yours. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.