The update you keep skipping
Your phone says: "Update available." You press Later. You press Later again.
Many attacks use a weakness that the maker already fixed. The people who were attacked had not installed the fix. Keeping systems up to date is one of the cheapest ways to make them resilient: able to resist and recover.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Update | A small change to software that fixes faults or adds small features. | Version 4.1 to 4.2 |
| Upgrade | A bigger change to a new version, with many new features. | Version 4 to version 5 |
| Patch | A quick fix for one weakness or fault. | A fix for a new attack |
| Vulnerability | A weak point that an attacker could use. | An old, unpatched program |
| Redundancy | Spare parts or copies that take over when something fails. | A second server |
| Hardening | Making a system harder to attack by removing what it does not need. | Closing unused ports |
| Port | A numbered door on a computer. A program waits on it for data. | Port 80 for web pages |
| Failover | Switching to a spare system automatically when the main one fails. | The spare server takes over |
| Secure disposal | Getting rid of old equipment so no data can be read from it. | Shredding a hard disk |
| Operating system | The main program that runs a computer. | Windows, Linux |
| Network | Computers joined together to share data. | The college network |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Update, upgrade and patch
| Update | Upgrade | Patch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Small | Large | Very small |
| Purpose | Fix faults, small improvements | New version with new features | Fix one weakness quickly |
| Planned? | Usually, on a schedule | Always, with care and testing | Often urgent, after a new vulnerability |
| Example | Monthly update for the operating system | Moving from one major version to the next | Emergency fix for a new attack |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Plan an update
Have a go
Plan an update
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Planned updates and urgent patches
A planned update happens on a schedule, so that people know and are ready. It is tested first. It is done when few people use the system.
A patch is different. When a new vulnerability is found, attackers move fast. So patches go out quickly, and the team must install them quickly too. Old software that no longer gets patches is a risk.
Replacing hardware
Hardware gets old and fails. A rolling replacement plan replaces some of the equipment each year. Everything is new within a few years, and the cost is spread out.
When old equipment leaves, we use secure disposal. The data on it must be erased, or the disk must be destroyed. A disk put in a bin can show customer data to a stranger.
Worked example: a rolling plan
| Step | Sum | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| A college has 100 laptops. It replaces 25 each year. | ||
| Years to replace them all | 100 divided by 25 | 4 years |
| Year 1: laptops replaced | 25 | Total new: 25 |
| Year 2 | 25 more | Total new: 50 |
| Year 4 | 25 more | Total new: 100 |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check: old equipment
Have a go
Quick check: old equipment
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.