Fixing the Cracks in your Window to the Internet (Web Browser Updates)

AIT Security Blog bailey.teter

Your web browser is the window that you use to view and interact with websites every day.

Naturally, this makes it a frequent target of malicious parties. If the attacker can break and control the browser, then they can manipulate all interactions with websites or even take over the entire system.

It is common for web browser companies to host or sponsor competitions offering large cash prizes to participating security researchers who can find and exploit vulnerabilities so that the company can patch them before malicious users can exploit them.

Recent Activity

Recently, malicious parties have been exploiting several active web browser vulnerabilities. Researchers discovered them out on the internet, targeting users before the web browser companies were aware they existed. These are known as 0-Day Vulnerabilities since no one has had any knowledge of them prior to their exploitation and no fix is available yet.

Updates

Virtually all web browsers have some form of auto-update feature baked into them, which is great, but the web browser application does require restarting to apply these automated updates.

This is the same principle that applies to Operating Systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android)
Applying the patches requires that the relevant software be restarted (relaunched)
Regularly restarting your device will apply any pending browser updates along with system updates
Fully patched and updated devices and software are the easiest way to protect yourself and everyone else on the network

How to Check for Updates on Common Web Browsers

Most browsers update automatically, but if you want to check for updates, or see what version of the browser you are using, you can use the steps below.