One-fifth of Windows apps go unpatched

**Glaswegian** · 12-30-2007, 09:00 AM

One in five applications installed on Windows PCs are missing security patches, a Copenhagen-based vulnerability tracker has reported.

According to Secunia APS, more than 20% of the applications scanned by its Personal Software Inspector (PSI) utility were open to attack because available fixes for security flaws had not been applied.

"More than 20% of all applications installed on users' PCs have known security flaws, but the users have yet to install the patch provided by the vendor of [the] product," said Jakob Balle, Secunia's development manager, in a post to the company's blog last week.

The 20% figure was based on scans of more than 14.5 million applications installed on the Windows PCs operated by users who downloaded and installed Secunia's PSI. The utility scans for some 4,200 different applications and reports on their patch status.

The 1-in-5 ratio, however, is an improvement over earlier PSI scans. Last May, Secunia said that 28% of the applications PSI scanned were missing available security updates.

Secunia released the free patch-detection utility a year ago but shifted it to Release Candidate 1 (RC1) stage earlier this month. The company claimed that nearly 191,000 users have downloaded and run the program.

PSI, which runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Server 2003, can be downloaded from Secunia's Web site.

tetonbob · 12-30-2007, 04:17 PM

Link to Secunia's PSI:

https://psi.secunia.com/

More info about patching applications here:

Security Risks from unpatched media players...Are you at Risk?

Secunia's online Software Inspector:

http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

12-30-2007, 09:00 AM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 21,678 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 My System Blog Entries: 10	One-fifth of Windows apps go unpatched One in five applications installed on Windows PCs are missing security patches, a Copenhagen-based vulnerability tracker has reported. According to Secunia APS, more than 20% of the applications scanned by its Personal Software Inspector (PSI) utility were open to attack because available fixes for security flaws had not been applied. "More than 20% of all applications installed on users' PCs have known security flaws, but the users have yet to install the patch provided by the vendor of [the] product," said Jakob Balle, Secunia's development manager, in a post to the company's blog last week. The 20% figure was based on scans of more than 14.5 million applications installed on the Windows PCs operated by users who downloaded and installed Secunia's PSI. The utility scans for some 4,200 different applications and reports on their patch status. The 1-in-5 ratio, however, is an improvement over earlier PSI scans. Last May, Secunia said that 28% of the applications PSI scanned were missing available security updates. Secunia released the free patch-detection utility a year ago but shifted it to Release Candidate 1 (RC1) stage earlier this month. The company claimed that nearly 191,000 users have downloaded and run the program. PSI, which runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Server 2003, can be downloaded from Secunia's Web site. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. Ad-Aware::SpywareBlaster::SpyBot::SpywareGuard::SnoopFree::AVG Free::HOSTS File::HijackThis::Donate::5 Steps For Infected PCs

12-30-2007, 04:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
tetonbob Manager, Security Center, TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Transylvania County, North Carolina, USA Posts: 26,486 OS: 2000 Pro; XP Pro; XP Home	Re: One-fifth of Windows apps go unpatched Link to Secunia's PSI: https://psi.secunia.com/ More info about patching applications here: Security Risks from unpatched media players...Are you at Risk? Secunia's online Software Inspector: http://secunia.com/software_inspector/ __________________ Practice Safe Surfing PC Safety and Security--What Do I Need? Because what you don't know, CAN hurt you. Proud Member of ASAP since 2005 Proud Member of UNITE since 2006 Please do not ask for help via Private Message.