Secunia PSI : A must-have for your Windows PC

by Oscar Sodani

August 27, 2007

Oscar Sodani is a founder of Help2Go and owner of Help2Go Networks, an IT consulting firm in the Washington D.C. area. Oscar holds the CISSP certification as well as industry certifications from Microsoft, Cisco and Novell.

One of the best things you can do to keep your computer safe from viruses and spyware is to keep your software up to date. All software has bugs, and sometimes these bugs can be used as entry points into your system by malicious people, via a virus, spyware, or other "malware". These bugs are commonly called "security holes".

Windows and Internet Explorer are notorious for the number of security holes - that is why you should allow Windows to automatically update your computer. These updates close the security holes in your PC as soon as Microsoft fixes them. But what about all the other software on your computer?

One of the top computer security firms in the nation, Secunia, has released a new program called PSI that tackles the problem of security holes in your other software. PSI identifies the software programs installed on your PC, and notifies you if a new version or security fix is available. It will even provide you with a link directly to the download, if available.

PSI is currently in beta testing, meaning that it is still being developed. However, even in its current state, PSI is extremely useful to all people with Windows PCs. Best of all, PSI is being offered completely free of charge.

You can download Secunia PSI here. I highly recommend it for all Windows users. A helpful "screencast" introduction to the software can be viewed here.

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