Recently the Department of Homeland Security released a list of important updates to popular computer programs. The most critical of these are two Windows 10 updates. The good news is that if you use Windows 10, updates are automatically downloaded and installed on your computer when they become available. However, if you use Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise you can choose to stop updates from being automatically downloaded and installed, although I cannot think of a good reason why someone would want to do this. In 2017 the massive WannaCry and Petya ransomware attacks took advantage of computer users that had not patched their Windows operating system with available updates. Many of these people were using pirated counterfeit versions of Windows which would not get updates sent to them. Constant updating of the software we all use with the latest security patches and updates is a critical part of avoiding scams and identity theft threats.

Whenever important new security updates and patches are issued, we provide access to these so that you can update your software to provide better security on your computers, smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices.  Updating your software with the latest security patches and updates as soon as possible is important because identity thieves and scammers are always finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in the software that we all use.  Delay in updating your software could lead to disastrous results.  However, it is also important to be sure that you are downloading legitimate patches and updates rather than being tricked by an identity thief or scammer into downloading malware under the guise of downloading a security patch or update. Whenever possible, it is my recommendation that you provide for automatic updating of all of your software programs.

TIPS

Here is a link to a list of all of the recent security updates as posted by the Department of Homeland Security. In particular, the updates posted for Windows 10 are considered critical:

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/bulletins/SB18-351

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