Keeping software updated - actsecure/resources GitHub Wiki

Malware such as viruses or spyware can make your computer or phone sluggish and unusable, and they can also be used to harvest information about you. While some infections are targeted to organizations or individuals, most of the time no one is after you personally, they just released their virus into the wild and you caught it. The most damaging infections typically make use of what are called "known vulnerabilities" in your operating system or browser. These vulnerabilities are bugs or loopholes that can be used to control aspects of your machine. These holes get fixed regularly by software updates, which is why it's important to keep your operating system, browser, or other major applications up to date. Software which is no longer being updated by the company that maintains it (like Windows XP) will eventually have several publicly known holes and can be very unsafe to run. Most operating systems and browsers will prompt you to update them when updates are available. Take the time to run these updates regularly.