Secunia adds 'automated patching' to software inspector tool

SAN FRANCISCO — Secunia has shipped a new version of its highly rated Personal Security Inspector (PSI) utility to offer automated patching for Windows users.

A beta version of the new Secunia PSI 3.0 was released at the RSA Security conference here with a new component called  Secunia Package System (SPS) that promised to remove the dependence on vendors to provide silent, automatic updates when security patches are released for software vulnerabilities.

[ SEE: Ten little things to secure your online presence ]

The tool works by examining files on a computer (primarily .exe, .dll, and .ocx files) and matching the data against a vulnerability database maintained by Secunia.  It automatically performs scans every seven days to ensure that the latest secure versions of the software is installed.

If an insecure program is detected, the new version of the Secunia PSI will not only alert the end user but it will download the required security updates and install them without any effort from the user, the company explained.

Secunia says it has about 4.8 million users of the software security inspector.

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