Secunia Emphasizes Patch Importance During National Cyber Security Awareness Month

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), Secunia, a leading provider of IT security solutions for vulnerability management, has released its latest quarterly Country Report that provides the current state of security among U.S. PC users. The report emphasizes the need for vigilant patch management and serves as a reminder to users to keep the programs on their PCs updated.

As the number of software vulnerabilities increases, and people connect across personal and corporate devices using a multitude of different platforms each day, time and time again, patch management has proven to be one of the most effective practice users can take in securing their PCs. In fact the Secunia Vulnerability Review 2014 finds that 86% of vulnerabilities in the Top 50 software applications on private PCs had patches available on the day of disclosure in 2013, placing the power to patch end-points in the hands of end-users and organizations.

Key findings in the report include:

• With a market share of 73%, Microsoft's Internet Explorer had 218 vulnerabilities with 11% of installed programs unpatched and thus vulnerable.

• The most exposed programs over the last quarter include:
  • Oracle Java 7 with 145 vulnerabilities and 42% of installed programs unpatched.
  • Apple QuickTime 7 with 11 vulnerabilities and 33% of installed programs unpatched.
  • Adobe Reader 10 with 21 vulnerabilities and 230% of installed programs unpatched.

• Users running unpatched operating systems has gone up to 12.6%, from 11.1% last quarter.

• Users running unpatched End-of-Life programs is also up to 5.7%, from 4.9% last quarter.

"It only takes one vulnerability for a hacker to exploit a user's system. Just one.  We are concerned to see such a high share of users with unpatched and End-of-Life browsers and operating systems," said Kasper Lindgaard, Director of Research at Secunia.  "We hope that as part of National Cyber Security Awareness month, users will take a moment to make sure their systems are up to date with the most recent program versions and patches. These are free and readily available to consumers and we invite users to download our free Secunia Personal Software Inspector to make this task even easier."

With a shared goal to remind and educate consumers and businesses that the Internet is a shared resource and everyone needs to do their part to protect it, Secunia is encouraging users worldwide to download its PSI, a free security tool downloaded by more than 7 million PC users globally, to detect vulnerable and outdated programs and plug-ins, which expose user PCs to attacks. Once installed, the Secunia PSI can help users automatically patch vulnerable programs and stay secure.

As background, Secunia's quarterly Country Reports document the state of security among PC users in the U.S. and is based on data from scans performed by the Secunia PSI.  Secunia also produces similar reports for 14 other countries. The security of a PC is largely controlled by the number and type of programs installed on it and to what extent these programs are patched. The data reflects the state of Secunia PSI users. It is safe to assume that Secunia PSI users are more secure than other PC users. To access the full report visit: http://secunia.com/resources/countryreports/us/

Now in its eleventh year, National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), celebrated every October, was created as a collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure every American has the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online. Under leadership from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance, NCSAM has grown exponentially, reaching consumers, small and medium-size businesses, corporations, educational institutions, and young people across the nation.

About Secunia
Founded in 2002, Secunia is a leading provider of IT security solutions that help businesses and private individuals globally manage and control vulnerability threats, risks across their networks, and end-points. This is enabled by Secunia's award-winning Vulnerability Intelligence, Vulnerability Assessment, and Patch Management solutions that ensure optimal and cost-effective protection of critical information assets.

Secunia plays an important role in the IT security ecosystem, and is the preferred supplier for enterprises and government agencies worldwide, counting Fortune 500 and Global 2000 businesses among its customer base. Secunia is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

For more information, please visit secunia.com

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SOURCE Secunia