Zero Day Vulnerabilities are a newly discovered software vulnerabilities that are unknown to the manufacturer. A software vulnerability is a weakness in the software where cybercriminals can sneak malware onto your computer. In these cases hackers will rush to exploit the newly discovered vulnerability before the software company has the chance to fix it.
While Norton customers are automatically protected in most cases, it’s still always a good idea to err on the side of caution and continue to apply vendor patches as they become available.
Performing these updates can be a cumbersome and annoying task. They tend to pop up usually during the most inconvenient times- while you’re working on something on your device-so, of course, there is the option to update later. People tend to push the updates off (and off, and off again).
The good news is, even if you don’t have the chance to apply it immediately, Norton automatically defends against most of these vulnerabilities. However, it is still a strongly recommended best practice to apply software updates as soon as they are available. In addition to fixing the holes identified in the software, these manufacturer patches also serve up a plethora of other benefits to your system, such as adding new features, removing outdated features, updating drivers, delivering bug fixes and more.
Basic Antivirus is Just Not Enough Anymore
While most operating systems do come with their own form of anti-virus protection built in, it is not always as comprehensive as a proper Internet security suite. Internet security suites have much more functionality than regular anti-virus software. Anti-virus software protects against some threats such as spyware, adware and malware, but not much more. In order to reach far beyond those limitations, it’s important to have technology that can specialize in the detection of higher-risk malware, contain anti-spam filters and email protection, built-in firewall protection, safer web browsing by blocking malicious websites, parental controls and can even safeguard your identity while you’re conducting online transactions. That’s something that is built into a product like Norton Security.
The Internet threat landscape has evolved into so much more than viruses, that simple anti-virus detection is just not enough. The best way to stay ahead of all threats on the Internet is to take a multi-layered approach to your security by installing an Internet security suite such as Norton Security as well as applying those patches A.S.A.P.!