Unpatched systems and apps on the rise

As the number of software vulnerabilities increases, and people connect across personal and corporate devices using a multitude of different platforms each day, time and time again, patch management has proven to be one of the most effective practice users can take in securing their PCs.

In fact, 86% of vulnerabilities in the Top 50 software applications on private PCs had patches available on the day of disclosure in 2013, placing the power to patch end-points in the hands of end-users and organizations, according to Secunia.

With a market share of 73%, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer had 218 vulnerabilities with 11% of installed programs unpatched and thus vulnerable.

The most exposed programs over the last quarter include:

• Oracle Java 7 with 145 vulnerabilities and 42% of installed programs unpatched.
• Apple QuickTime 7 with 11 vulnerabilities and 33% of installed programs unpatched.
• Adobe Reader 10 with 21 vulnerabilities and 230% of installed programs unpatched.

Users running unpatched operating systems has gone up to 12.6%, from 11.1% last quarter. Users running unpatched End-of-Life programs is also up to 5.7%, from 4.9% last quarter.

“It only takes one vulnerability for a hacker to exploit a user’s system. Just one. We are concerned to see such a high share of users with unpatched and End-of-Life browsers and operating systems,” said Kasper Lindgaard, Director of Research at Secunia.