Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) is a free program that can inspect all the software installed on your computer and inform you as to which programs expose you to security threats. As many of the hacker attacks and security threats exploit software vulnerabilities and code flaws, this program will help you in identifying software on your computer which cause security threat to your computer.
Moreover, Secunia PSI will also advise you whether you have the latest security updates and patches installed on your computer. Since security patches are usually free and are available for download from the respective software vendors, you can easily download them once Secunia PSI advises you exactly which patches you need to secure your computer. Secunia specializes in conducting regular tests on daily basis to verify several vulnerabilities in various software products and also examines the conclusions and the fixes created by the software vendors themselves.
It constantly monitors your computer for insecure software installations and notifies you when an insecure application is installed, and even provides you with detailed instructions for updating the application when available. Note that Secunia PSI relies on the meta-data of executables and library files. It does NOT conduct an integrity check of the individual files, rather, it checks whether a specific program is vulnerable according to the reported version numbers and not whether the files have been compromised or replaced by other users or programs. It is not a replacement for other security measures such anti-virus or personal firewalls, but it is a good supplement to such other security measures as it helps in preventing exploitation of often overlooked security exposures.
Secunia PSI works by examining files on your computer (.exe, .dll, and .ocx files). These files contain non-specific meta information provided by the software vendor itself which is same for all users. After examining all the files on your local hard drive(s), the collected data is sent to Secunia’s servers, which match the data against the Secunia File Signatures engine to determine the exact applications installed on your system. This information can then be used to provide you with a detailed report of the missing security related updates for your system.
Secunia PSI is thus a useful utility which can give you extensive details about the software installed on your computer, and moreover, it can also provide you direct links to update programs that are not secure. And, it does not cost a dime.
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