How to stay safe online| keep devices and software updated

Staying safe online requires a universal effort and can only e achieved through constant education and a change in behaviours.
There are certain habits that we can all learn, change and adapt to help keep our devices secure, protect our most valuable information, lock down our online accounts and protect our data from cyber criminals.
Education on all aspects of cyber security awareness is the first step

Keep devices and software updated

There is an ongoing battle between hackers and operating device software developers.
While hackers try to find holes and gaps in the system to exploit, developers are hard at work trying to hold the opposing forces back with a counter attack. In the background there is a whole army of developers chewing and pouring over the code looking for potential cybersecurity gaps. (The hackers are giving them sleepless nights!)

Operating systems routinely check for known flaws, gaps and bugs in the security of the system, they then issue or release updates known as patches that can protect a computer from the latest security threats found.
The combination of patches and upgrades are known as a service pack.

Patches are crucial bits of code that can prevent a new virus, worm, or other form of malware from making a successful attack.
There have been many data breaches that have taken place all because the security update warnings were ignored, This lead to malware attacks that could have been avoided.

These can be configured to download and install automatically as and when they become available
Although it sometimes takes a long time to install , you can manually download the latest updates.
You can also set up automatic updates to take place at a convenient time ie. at night or whenever you are not using your device.

To make sure your software has the strongest protection -all your computer operating system, like Windows, MacOS, mobile devices like iOS or Android for mobile devices, software on your computer and apps on your phone or tablet must be Kept updated