Cyber-criminals love security gaps and software vulnerabilities because they can exploit them to distribute malware and possibly gain access to sensitive personal information.

When these security gaps are discovered by legitimate developers, programming to repair the vulnerability is created and distributed to users via updates.

Downloading these updates as soon as they are available ensures that your device is as secure as possible.

The easiest way to stay on track with updates is to set up automatic downloads. This setting is available for most operating systems and many other software programs.

If you use software that will not update automatically, set up a regular schedule (at least weekly) to go to the company’s website and download and install updates.

For more information on Internet safety and cyber-security, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer website at consumer.ftc.gov.