PCs are everywhere these days, so it’s easy to think that they are just normal bits of equipment like a TV or a DVD player that will keep to themselves and need little or no maintenance. It’s not the case at all – they need to be kept up to date to be safe. Just like you would service a road car every year, and you’d pay attention to flashing red lights on the dashboard: you need to keep an eye on your PC.
The obvious thing is antivirus, everyone knows that you need antivirus software installed on your PC. Well, yes, of course you do: but I’d say that antivirus software is not the most important security measure you should be taking.
Using up to date software is much, much more important in my opinion than using antivirus software. That’s not to say that if you use up to date software you don’t need antivirus, but if you use antivirus software and keep old versions of Windows, Adobe Reader, Flash and Java installed, I’d consider your PC more likely to be open to attack than a PC with current software and no antivirus software.
You should keep all of your PCs up to date with the latest Windows Updates, and you should check regularly (at least every other month) that you are using the latest version of Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Java and things like Skype and any other programs that you use too. Virtually always, and certainly always in these examples, updates are free. You really would have to be crazy not to install them.
If you are not confident in installing the updates, or don’t want to fall victim to some dodgy fake update, or if you have too many PCs to keep on top of yourself, you could give me a call on 020 3411 4445 and see what we can arrange. I visit some customers’ offices once a month to make sure that their data backups are working properly, to take a copy of the backup away with me so that I can test and keep it offsite, and to update every PC in the office with the latest plugins and software updates. If you’re not already doing that yourself, or if you can’t get someone in the office to do it for you, then perhaps I can start doing it.
