Although it may be tempting to click “remind me later” when an update pops up and you’re too busy to take a couple of minutes away from your screen, rethink pressing that snooze button—you could be doing your device some serious harm.
While it may not seem like it at first, by letting your updates sit there for weeks on end you’re inhibiting your device from updating to the software that is best recommended by developers. From your mobile phone to your laptop, here’s a short guide focusing on the consequences of pushing off those updates, and what you can do to make it a little easier.
So, Why the Updates?
There are different types of software updates, although typically it’s a piece of software designed to update a computer program or operating system. It helps improve security, fix software bugs, remove outdated features, update drives, patch vulnerabilities, and add new or enhanced features to the software.
Minor updates are sometimes recommended to fix one or two small errors, however most updates are designed to fix and update everything all at once, which is why they are recommended after longer intervals.
Cyber Attacks: Why Updating Your Software Is the Safest Thing for Your Devices
Cyberattacks are incredibly common, and if you’re not updating your device when a new system update becomes available you’re opening yourself up to threats. With security patches that help protect your device in each update, you can see exactly why you shouldn’t be clicking “remind me later” when the latest system update pops up.
A great, although unfortunate, example of a cyberattack that was caused as a result of ignoring a software update is the 2017 WannaCry attack. The attack was a worldwide cyberattack crafted by the WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm.
It targeted computers running Microsoft Windows by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments to be made in Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Microsoft Office Governance had provided patches to help block WannaCry attacks, however, most cases were from those that had not yet run the update.
To put things into perspective, recent statistics show that 60% of security breaches involve vulnerabilities for which a patch was available but was not yet applied.
How To Set Up Automatic Updates for Your Company
If you run a small business, you may want to consider setting up automatic updates. To do this, simply go through the settings on each of your devices to ensure you have automated updates checked. Each device will have a different process, but you can look up instructions online for your device.
For enterprise companies, working with a Managed Service Provider is a much better option as they will be able to roll out updates company-wide on all devices in order to ensure they’re constantly updated and secure. If you have any issues, a professional IT company can also be on hand to provide immediate support.
