Securing the Vista Environment

Staying Current On Security Issues

Unless your Vista system is managed by a well-run IT shop that does a good job of staying on top of security issues, you will need to stay "in the know" yourself. Fortunately there is a plethora of ways you can do this—so how do you choose?

Before we dive in, let's talk about just what you need to be aware of, in general:

• Microsoft Vista patches. Yes, even Vista will have security patches.

• Other Microsoft patches. If you have Office and other Microsoft software, you'll need to be aware of these patches, too.

• Patches for other software tools. Whatever it is you run on your Windows system, I'm sure that patches or updates of some sort will be released now and then. You want to stay on current versions of important software; older versions go off of support and no longer get patches issued for them.

• Security threats. It helps to be aware of new techniques that the black hats are using to try to steal your identity and your money.

• Security trends and events. It helps to know what's going on in the world.

  It definitely pays to stay current on issues—the data you save could be your own!

Sources for Patches

There's really only one good place for patches for Microsoft software: Microsoft. Once in a great while a third party will develop patches for Microsoft software, but in most situations you are better off just waiting for Microsoft to release a patch.

There are several ways to get Microsoft patches installed on your system, including:

• Microsoft Update. Point ...