Updates and patching
- Michael Laurentius
Purpose
Updates and patches can provide your software with new functionality, but the most important purpose they serve is to fix security vulnerability that could place your system and work at risk.
Audience
faculty researchers Admin staff IT staff students
On this page
Initial considerations
Evaluate possible institutional options.
Consult with your local IT group about whether an institutionally managed system would meet your needs. These systems are managed by technical experts at the University, divisional, or departmental level, allowing you to focus more on the task at hand, rather than maintaining the security of unmanaged systems.
Be aware of ongoing vulnerabilities that might impact your systems.
Security alerts and advisories inform you of possible vulnerabilities to your system and can provide you with recommended mitigations, including recent security patches.Â
What can I do?
Use supported version of operating systems and configure automatic updates.
If devices cannot be updated but are required for your work, contact your local IT group regarding how to securely segregate devices from institutional networks. Contact us | Information Technology (IT)
Windows
Automatic updates are enabled by default within current versions of Windows and cannot be disabled.
MacOS
Linux
Distribution dependent. Contract your local IT group about how to setup automatic updates.
Android
iOS
Regularly patch and update your software and applications.
Configure automatic updates where available.
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Additional help
General
Contact us | Information Security (IS)
Contact us | Information Technology (IT)
Researchers
Research Information Security - Information Security at University of Toronto
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