We all know the kind of security threats lurking in each and every corner today. Most security threats get into devices through outdated software. It can really be a task if you have hundreds of software applications installed on your device and you don’t know which one to update and when. Now you can stop worrying about all of that with Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector, a free computer security solution that identifies vulnerabilities in non-Microsoft (third-party) programs which can leave your PC or laptop open to attacks.
The software once installed on you system, will scan all the software applications on your system and identify programs in need of security updates to safeguard your PC against cybercriminals. It then supplies your computer with the necessary software security updates to keep it safe. The Secunia PSI even automates the updates for your insecure programs, making it a lot easier for you to maintain a secure PC.
Installing the software is easy-peasy – just double-click and follow the on-screen instructions. At install the software will also let you choose whether the you want to apply all the missing updates on your PC’s software applications automatically or whether you would like to choose what you want to update. This can also be changed by going into “Settings” menu upon install. The way Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector works is it examines files such as .exe, .dll and .ocx files on your computer. These files contain non-specific meta information provided only by the software vendor. This data is the same for all users, and originates from the installed programs on your computer. After examining all the files on your local hard drive(s), the collected data is sent to Secunia’s servers, which match the data against the Secunia File Signatures engine to determine the exact applications installed on your system.
Once it determines the exact applications installed on your system, it will check whether thse applications are up to date and issue a report at the end of the scan. You can then decide whether you would like to update specific applications or all applications. The scan results also show software applications that are up to date and this is all presented in a streamlined fashion.
The Secunia PSI also constantly monitors your system for insecure software installations, notifies you when an insecure application is installed, and even provides you with detailed instructions for updating the application when available. Note however that the Secunia PSI is not an antivirus or an antispam. So it does not tell you whether your system has been already compromised.
Using the Secunia PSI is quite intuitive. It does not overwhelm you with loads of information – it just shows you what you need to know and the information provided is quite easy to understand. The application is also not heavy on the system. We tested the Secunia PSI on an Acer ultrabook that had heavy installations such as Adobe Creative Suite. To scan the entire system and report, the Secunia PSI took around 7 minutes in total, which we think is pretty fast. If you want your system to be up to date with all the updates applied automatically, the Secunia PSI is one of the best things available out there. And did we mention it is completely free?
Price: FREE
Download Link for Desktop version (also available in Arabic): http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
Download Link for Android version: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/psi-android/
