Free security tool ferrets out unpatched software

IDG News Service - A Danish security vendor is offering a free tool designed to inform users when their applications need patching.

Secunia APS has made the beta version of its Personal Software Inspector available for download.

A client program, Personal Software Inspector periodically checks to see if new updates have been issued for some 4,200 applications. Once it is installed on a user's PC, it inventories the computer's software and versions and classifies programs as "insecure," "end-of-life" or "up-to-date." When a patch is issued for a program on a user's computer, Personal Software Inspector 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 they are released, Secunia said, noting that that many users may not be aware when new patches are available and that hackers increasingly are trying to exploit vulnerabilities in a wider range of applications.

Some software programs, such as Apple Inc.'s QuickTime and the Firefox browser, will check on start-up to see if new patches are available and then download and install those patches. But Kristensen said not all programs do that, 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, notify users when a new version of their software is available. But Kristensen said Secunia's offering is focused on security, rather than merely alerting users when any new version is released.

Secunia monitors the Web sites 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. It has struck two deals so far, but Kristensen said he could not yet reveal the companies.