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Updates & Patches

ServiceDesk

Regularly download security updates and “patches” for operating systems and other software. Most major software companies today release updates and patches to fix newly discovered vulnerabilities in their software. These companies create free patches for you that they post on their web sites. It is absolutely critical to download and install the updates and patches! Check your software vendors’ web sites regularly for new security patches or use the automated patching features that some companies offer.
Be careful to get updates only from the correct update site. Beware of the bogus update sites or e-mails that appear to be from a legitimate company but provide links to the bogus sites.
 

 

Operating System Updates and Patches

A. Microsoft and Apple provide free security updates for their software products.
Windows: Microsoft issues patches for all Microsoft products on the second Tuesday of each month as well as out-of-cycle patches on any day of the month.This is a good occasion to check manually, a practice that you should follow once every two weeks, to make sure all of the updates have been installed. More information

Apple OS X: Updates are issued frequently, and their contents may differ depending on which processor is in your Mac (PPC or Intel). More information .

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Updating software programs and applications

Besides OS updates, a user should update software programs and various applications.To update a specific application, find a “check for updates” option under its Help menu or try searching for updates on an application’s web site. You may also be prompted by the software when it opens or closes if an automatic update feature is enabled.

 

Updating Adobe Acrobat Reader and Acrobat Pro

Step 1 – Launch Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Pro
Step 2 – Go to the ‘Help’ menu and select ‘Check for Updates’
Step 3 – Follow the recommendations provided by the ‘Adobe Updater Utility’.  

You can also check for Adobe Reader:

Updates  for Windows
Updates for Mac

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Adobe Flash and Shockwave Players

Visit this Adobe webpage to check your Adobe Flash and Shockwave versions as well test Adobe Shockwave & Flash Players

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/

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QuickTime Player

QuickTime will auto prompt the user to update to latest version. If this does not occur:

Open the QuickTime application
Click the ‘Help’ tab from ToolBar
Select ‘Update Existing Software.’

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RealPlayer

Detemine your current version: Open the RealPlayer application
If the application is outdated, a dialog box will appear at start up with two options: ‘Get It Now’ or ‘Remind Me Later.’ At the bottom of the dialog box is an unchecked box with ‘Don’t remind me to upgrade’ beside it. We strongly recommneded you to NOT select this box. It is recommended you select ‘Get It Now,’ but if you choose to select ‘Remind Me Later,’ the dialog box will reappear the next time you open the application to remind you an upgrade is available.
If you turned off the reminder for upgrades
Click on the ‘Help’ tab from ToolBar
Select ‘Check for Upgrade.’

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Browsers

Older, outdated and unpatched versions of internet browsers contain multiple vulnerabilities that can lead to memory corruption, spoofing and execution of malicious scripts or code. It is absolutely critical to update your internet browser. Get latest versions of following web browser software:

Microsoft Internet Explorer
Mozilla FireFox
Apple Safari
Google Chrome
Opera