The regular updating of software is one of the most important aspects of information technology (IT) and cybersecurity maintenance, providing a wide range of benefits to users. Among these, it bolsters security measures, rectifies bugs, improves performance and usability.
A software update, also known as a patch or fix, is a refinement issued by software developers to improve or correct aspects of a program or system. These improvements can include repairing or fixing bugs, enhancing performance and usability, addressing security flaws and improving compatibility with other programs.
Keeping your device(s), software applications and other programs up to date is essential to protect against attackers looking for ways to exploit old, unsupported or vulnerable protocols. Hackers can use these vulnerabilities to steal your data, compromise systems and even render devices useless.
Most of the time, updates are relatively small – for example, they will usually change only the third number in the versioning system (e.g. from 1.00 to 1.01.) For modern consumer devices, such as smartphones, the process is simple. Essentially, a new file with the updated software is written on the storage chip, and the old file is then discarded.
The easiest way to keep up to date is to choose a default settings option that will automatically check for and install updates when they become available. However, it’s a good idea to manually monitor for updates, as there are occasional problems that can prevent automatic updating from working properly. For example, if an automatic update requires your device to be connected to Wi-Fi or power, or have sufficient storage, it may not install successfully.