It’s so tempting when you see those annoying messages pop-up about installing software and running updates and the inevitable restart that follows, to ignore them and “X” out of them. Who wants to spend five or more minutes waiting for everything to come back up?
No one.
But those five or more minutes can be a big deal in your business and not just because it gives you the newest features. If you don’t run updates, your computer’s security, and that of your network, could be in jeopardy. Don’t take the risk.
Software Updates Versus Upgrades
Updates and upgrades are not the same. An upgrade is a major improvement to your software. It likely means additional functionality, maybe even a new user interface. Upgrades can be free, like Windows 10 was for many Microsoft users, or have a charge associated with it.
An update, on the other hand, is being released for a reason. It’s updating the existing version with bug fixes, security vulnerability patches, and/or product enhancements. Updates are almost always free, at least when they are released for the first two reasons.
Impact Of Out-Of-Date Software And Not Running Updates On Your Business
Upgrades are optional. Updates are not, or at least they shouldn’t be. An update that is not applied places your computer, network, and critical data at risk for:
Issues That Affect Performance
Cyber Attacks And Malicious Threats
Drive-By Downloads
One of the lesser things to be concerned with is bug fixes. However, bug fixes are released because something in the software is not operating properly. While most of these things are small inconveniences, some problems can be quite large and affect efficiency and performance.
While updates may be free for users, they’re not free for the company that releases them. If the software company is releasing a bug fix, you can imagine it’s legitimate and important to operations. If you don’t install it, you run the risk or crashing.
One of the most common ways cyber criminals gain access to your systems, outside of human error and people clicking on malicious links, is through out-of-date software. When software companies discover a weakness in their system, they release updates to close them. If you don’t apply those updates, you’re still vulnerable. Outdated software is prone to malware infections and other cyber concerns like Ransomware.
In some cases, if you fail to update your software and then you visit a malicious site, that is enough to infect your computer, without even clicking on anything. This is referred to as a “drive-by download.” It’s frightening to think about the ease of infection and lack of protection if you don’t keep your software up-to-date.
Life gets busy and updates seem to happen every few days. Managing the whole schedule, particularly if you have multiple machines, seems like a lot to keep track of. It also seems like a lot of downtime while you wait for installs and reboots but it’s nothing compared to the downtime you’ll experience with cyber crime or malicious attacks.
We can help you manage the process and handle the software updates for you. That’s one less thing for you to worry about. Call us today for a free consultation.
