Antivirus, Apple, Chromebook, Enterprise, Internet Security, Microsoft, OS X, Windows

5 Reasons to keep your operating system up to date

Many users have developed the bad habit of delaying or ignoring operating systems updates. They see the little pop up…

Published 7 years ago in
5 Reasons to keep your operating system up to date

Many users have developed the bad habit of delaying or ignoring operating systems updates. They see the little pop up reminders and simply hit “postpone” without a second thought. That is until they experience their first major problem with their shiny new PC or laptop!

Instead of putting off important updates, which we all know inevitably pop up at the least opportune times, users should prioritise them. This is not only to keep yourself secure but also it has benefits relating to your computers performance speed.

So, why is it so important to keep your system updated?

 

Security vulnerability fixes

 

The very first reason why new updates constantly appear is to fix security holes. The thing is, no matter how secure an operating system is designed to be, hackers more often than not find ways to exploit systems. Most malicious threats are caused by security flaws that remain unfixed due to a not up-to-date OS.

By ignoring updates, this is the digital equivalent of leaving your doors unlocked and open!

 

Better Functionality

 

An OS update will usually provide its users with new and enhanced features. This might also include processing speed improvements. So, the next time you feel your computer isn’t functioning as good as it used to a few weeks back, all you might have to do is wait for an update!

Other functionality features can include improved web browsers or built in security features such as fingerprint ID or face recognition logins.

 

Bug fixes

 

All software providers, including your OS provider, carry out meticulous checks before selling their products. However, it is only after some time that faults in the source code starts to appear. That is where updates come into play.

By not updating and having these bugs in play, many bad things can potentially happen on your PC. From software simply not working to an entire OS failure at the extreme end of the spectrum!

 

Improvement of Hardware performance

 

OS updates very often bring along driver updates. A driver is a piece of software that allows the operating system to interact with hardware. Depending on the hardware connected to a computer, driver updates might increase the overall performance of your machine, especially when it comes to gaming and connecting to the Wi-Fi.

Although many hardware manufacturers provide driver update capabilities separately, OS providers have improved leaps and bounds in recent years as far as seamlessly providing driver updates is concerned.

 

Avoiding passing a virus to other computers

 

While your computer’s operating system might be relatively immune to different malware, it doesn’t necessarily mean it cannot spread to other devices that are on the same network you are on.

For instance, your Macintosh should be quite safe from cyber attacks however you may easily pass a threat to your friends or colleagues who are on a Windows device if you are sharing a common network.

While an update might not be able to completely prevent such a scenario, it definitely can reduce the risks associated with it.

As well as updating your operating system, make sure you have an anti-virus installed to protect yourself. For more information check our article – Top 5 Antivirus programs for 2018

 

No excuses – Keep your Operating System up to date!

 

Don’t forget, system updates are designed to protect their users from cyber attacks and provide the best performance. Ignoring them might prove critical to the functioning of your device. If you want to ensure best user experience, there really shouldn’t be an excuse to not keep your operating system up to date!

 

 

 

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Antivirus

Gamers at risk as scammers are using malware-infected cheats and mods to steal passwords and crypto — here’s how to stay safe

Cheats and mods are now frontlines for cybercrime targeting gamers’ wallets and private data Verified crypto wallets like MetaMask and Exodus are being drained through browser injection Trojan.Scavenger abuses overlooked flaws to disable browser safety and manipulate trusted extensions Gamers seeking performance enhancements or special abilities through third-party patches and mods may be unwittingly exposing

Published 3 hours ago in
Gamers at risk as scammers are using malware-infected cheats and mods to steal passwords and crypto — here’s how to stay safe
  • Cheats and mods are now frontlines for cybercrime targeting gamers’ wallets and private data
  • Verified crypto wallets like MetaMask and Exodus are being drained through browser injection
  • Trojan.Scavenger abuses overlooked flaws to disable browser safety and manipulate trusted extensions

Gamers seeking performance enhancements or special abilities through third-party patches and mods may be unwittingly exposing themselves to sophisticated malware, experts have warned.

Recent findings from Dr.Web revealed a malware family known as “Trojan.Scavenger” which targets Windows users by disguising itself as cheats or enhancements for popular games.

This seemingly harmless mod can ultimately compromise crypto wallets, password managers, and web browsers, posing serious risks to user privacy and digital assets.

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When cheats become covert threats

The infection chain begins when users download ZIP archives claiming to improve performance in games including the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5 or Oblivion Remastered.

These archives contain modified dynamic libraries, sometimes renamed with extensions like .ASI to resemble legitimate plugin formats.

When the user follows the installation instructions, the malicious library is placed in the same folder as the target game. If the game does not properly validate its libraries, the trojan loads automatically at startup.

In some cases, flaws in library search priorities are essential to the malware’s success, allowing it to hijack execution within the host application.

Once loaded, the malware establishes contact with a command-and-control server using encrypted communication. This process includes verifying encryption keys and checking timestamp consistency, which is meant to evade analysis and block antivirus detection.

The malware doesn’t stop with the initial payload. In more complex infections, it deploys additional trojans that embed themselves in Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Yandex.

These troj

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Enterprise

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Antivirus

Major new malware strain targets crypto users via malicious ads – here’s what we know, and how to stay safe

Check Point finds thousands of ads promoting fake crypto apps The apps come with an infostealer malware targeting users The infostealer can bypass most antivirus protections Cryptocurrency users are being targeted by a highly sophisticated, widespread cybercriminal campaign with the goal of deploying malware capable of grabbing exchange and wallet information, essentially robbing the people

Published 3 days ago in
Major new malware strain targets crypto users via malicious ads – here’s what we know, and how to stay safe
  • Check Point finds thousands of ads promoting fake crypto apps
  • The apps come with an infostealer malware targeting users
  • The infostealer can bypass most antivirus protections

Cryptocurrency users are being targeted by a highly sophisticated, widespread cybercriminal campaign with the goal of deploying malware capable of grabbing exchange and wallet information, essentially robbing the people of their tokens, experts from Check Point have warned.

Apparently active since March 2024, what makes this campaign, dubbed JSCEAL by the researchers, unique is the use of compiled JavaScript files (JSC), which allows the malware to remain hidden from most traditional antivirus solutions.

The criminals created fake cryptocurrency exchange and wallet apps, which come with an infostealer. They also created websites to host these apps, and managed to purchase thousands of advertisements on the internet to promote the scam. Check Point says that just in the European Union (EU), 35,000 malicious ads were served between January and June 2025.

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JSCEAL malware

“The use of Facebook’s Ad Library enabled us to estimate the campaign’s reach, while in a very conservative approach we can estimate the total reach of the malvertising campaign at 3.5 million users within the EU alone, and likely above 10 million users worldwide,” the researchers explained.

People who fall for the scam download an MSI installer which triggers “a sequence of profiling scripts” that gather critical system information. These scripts also use PowerShell commands to collect and exfiltrate data, in preparation of the final payload deployment.

This final payload is the JSCEAL malware, which steals crypto-related data such as credentials and private keys. The payload is executed through Node.js, it was said.

What makes this malware particularly dangerous is the use of compiled JavaScript files.

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Microsoft

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Published 2 weeks ago in
Arkane Founder: ‘I Think Game Pass is Unsustainable’

The founder and former president of Arkane Studios Raphaël Colantonio, who left in 2019, took to social media weighing on the huge Microsoft and Xbox layoffs.
“Why is no-one talking about the elephant in the room? Cough cough (Gamepass),” said Colantonio (spotted by VideoGamesChronicle).
He added…
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