A Danish security vendor is offering a free tool designed to inform users when their applications need patching.Secunia released the beta version of Personal Software Inspector for download, a client program that periodically checks to see if new updates have been issued for some 4,200 applications. After installation, the tool inventories a computer’s software and versions. It classifies programs as “insecure,” “end of life” or “up to date.” The tool then runs when the computer is started. When a patch is issued for a program on a user’s computer, the tool displays a pop-up window in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, said Thomas Kristensen, Secunia’s chief technology officer. Another panel provides a download link for the patch. Personal Software Inspector is intended to get users to apply patches soon after release, as hackers increasingly are trying to exploit vulnerabilities in a wider range of applications. Users may also be uninformed about a new patch, Secunia said.Some software programs, such as Apple’s QuickTime and Mozilla’s Firefox browser, will check on startup to see if patches are available and download and install those patches. But Kristensen said not all programs do this, and sometimes those mechanisms don’t work properly. “I’ll argue we are more reliable than other update mechanisms,” Kristensen said.Other products, such as VersionTracker, will notify users when a new software version is available. But Kristensen said Secunia’s software and service is focused on security, rather than merely alerting users when any new software version is released.Secunia monitors the websites of a large number of software vendors for security advisories. Those advisories are put into a database, and the Personal Software Inspector polls the database periodically to check for changes, Kristensen said. Secunia is licensing Personal Software Inspector to other vendors for use in security software suites. Two deals have been made so far, but Kristensen said he could not yet reveal the companies. — Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service (London Bureau) Related content news Apple patches info-stealing, zero day bugs in iPads and Macs The vulnerabilities that can allow the leaking of sensitive information and enable arbitrary code execution have had exploitations in the wild. By Shweta Sharma Dec 01, 2023 3 mins Zero-day vulnerability Vulnerabilities Security feature The CSO guide to top security conferences Tracking postponements, cancellations, and conferences gone virtual — CSO Online’s calendar of upcoming security conferences makes it easy to find the events that matter the most to you. By CSO Staff Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Technology Industry IT Skills Events news Conti-linked ransomware takes in $107 million in ransoms: Report A ransomware campaign linked to the ostensibly defunct Conti malware group has targeted mostly US businesses, in a costly series of attacks. By Jon Gold Nov 30, 2023 4 mins Ransomware news Okta confirms recent hack affected all customers within the affected system Contrary to its earlier analysis, Okta has confirmed that all of its customer support system users are affected by the recent security incident. By Shweta Sharma Nov 30, 2023 3 mins Data Breach Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe