Secunia has been very instrumental in helping consumers and businesses make sure that their third party software applications are up-to-date. Their online scanner is great at looking at the software you have residing on your PC and alerting you whether you should patch a particular app.

At the recent RSA conference in San Francisco, they have announced that they have in Beta an application that will be free for consumers to install and it will automatically patch applications that are behind or become insecure. This is a huge step in helping end users make sure they are protected from insecure applications. They are in testing now and should have something in a few months, so we will keep you posted on developments.

In the meantime you can go to their site and check your PC for free. You will be given statuses as to your applications current support level and will have to follow the links to update your software. But at least you will be current until the much easier solution is available. We will keep you posted.

Secunia Online Software Inspector