F-Secure Creates Automated Service To Protect Windows Systems
Windows has so many security holes people have given up on patching, the company claims
Security vendor F-Secure has created a package to make the daily task of patching Microsoft Windows less painful. By automating the task, through its Client Security Premium service, the vendor and VARs can save businesses millions, it claimed.
Businesses are threatened by hundreds of holes in their operating systems, said F-Secure, and patching the vulnerabilities in this “Swiss cheese” software is a never ending struggle which many companies give up on, it reported. As a result, cyber-criminals are finding and exposing these holes in the defences and these data breaches are costing British businesses millions of pounds a year.
A ton of patches
June, 2013, saw security updates for well over 100 vulnerabilities within the Microsoft Windows environment, both the operating system itself and the most commonly used software. The frequency of these alerts has made end users blasé about the dangers, while the scale of the task of patching them has made them reluctant to act. As a result, they are making themselves targets for attack, explained Pekka Usva, vice president for corporate security at F-Secure.
“Cyber-criminals are targeting businesses. The cost of just one infection can be considerable – with information loss, stolen funds, business disruption and clean-up,” he said.
The problem F-Secure is tackling is too time consuming for most IT departments to address, the company claimed, and the launch of Client Security Premium promises to plug known software holes in Windows and detect possible comprises more efficiently. “The best defence is a two-pronged approach,” said Usva.
Client Security Premium includes Software Updater, which ensures that operating systems and applications are fully patched. It proactively scans computers for missing security updates and starts them automatically. According to F-Secure, 80 percent of the worst malware infections could have been prevented with up-to-date software. Software Updater also includes updates for third party applications.