Software Updates

The goal of software updates is to stay current and avoid exploitation of vulnerabilities. Microsoft, Apple and other operating system producers release patches and updates almost every day and applications such as web browsers, mobile apps and web servers are often updated by the companies or organizations responsible for them.

Despite the fact that organizations put a lot of effort into finding and patching software vulnerabilities, new vulnerabilities are discovered regularly. That’s why some organizations use third party security researchers who specialize in finding vulnerabilities in software, or actually invest in their own penetration testing teams dedicated to search, find and patch software vulnerabilities before they can get exploited.

Google’s Project Zero is a great example of this practice. After discovering a number of vulnerabilities in various software used by end users, Google formed a permanent team dedicated to finding software vulnerabilities. You can find out more about Google’s security research