Be careful with these programs because they have serious security vulnerabilities that can help criminals gain access to your data. Federal Office for Information Security (FOIS) studied what weaknesses popular programs have, and we chose the most dangerous of them.
The most dangerous programs 2017/18
Windows: 194 security holes were reported in the Windows operating system in 2017/18. So many vulnerabilities do not exist in any other program from the list created by the Federal Information Security Administration.
linux: With 187 vulnerabilities Linux almost became the most insecure operating system. It should be noted that the Linux kernel was investigated, which serves as the basis for its own Linux distributions.
Adobe Acrobat Reader: Adobe Reader is actually considered quite safe, but this program has also been found to have 167 vulnerabilities in 2017/18.
Mac OS X: Apple operating system with its 148 security gaps seems to be the least vulnerable operating system compared to competitors.
Chrome: last year in the Google browser revealed 111 gaps in security, due to which the program took fifth place.
safari: Apple’s Safari browser also turned out to be not entirely safe. According to the Federal Information Security Administration, at the time of the last inspection, 99 vulnerabilities.
Internet explorer: were discovered 96 vulnerabilities, making the long-deprecated browser still more secure than Apple’s Safari. Meanwhile, Windows 10 comes with Edge preinstalled.
Microsoft office: only 65 weaknesses were fixed in the Microsoft Office package.
Java runtime: The Federal Information Security Administration in 2017/18 recorded 63 vulnerabilities in the Java Runtime.
Firefox: the only exception is that no vulnerabilities were found in the program.
And now what i can do? Throw your computer out the window?
Keep in mind that there are important differences between critical vulnerabilities and “normal” vulnerabilities. Critical vulnerabilities are distinguished by the fact that they are used or can be used by criminals, while almost every program has “normal” weaknesses.
Here is what the rating of really dangerous programs looks like:
- Nucleus linux: 119 critical vulnerabilities.
- Adobe reader: 100 critical vulnerabilities.
- OS x: 67 critical vulnerabilities.
In recent years, there have been fewer vulnerabilities in software
In recent years, the number of vulnerabilities in programs and operating systems has seriously decreased. This is evidenced by data from the Federal Office for Information Security.
An analysis by the Potsdam Hasso Plattner Institute also confirms the fact that there are fewer and fewer vulnerabilities in modern versions of programs. And many companies even pay pay users a reward for identifying such errors. However, users must update their software regularly.
How to remove vulnerable programs
As you have already noticed, most of the programs from our list are simply impossible to remove from the computer. However, some of them, such as Flash Player, can still be removed.
Despite the fact that no vulnerabilities have been discovered in Flash Player recently, there is simply no special need for this program, because all major sites work without it. But removing it is not so easy, because various parts of the program are “hiding” in the system.
To uninstall Flash Player, you will need a special Flash Player Uninstaller that monitors and removes all of its fragments. After downloading the file, double-click it and then click the “Delete” button to remove all parts of Flash Player. In a few seconds you will receive a confirmation.
If you can not part with this player, we recommend that you do not refuse regular updates. By the way, we recently talked about why Flash Player is insecure.
Read also:
- Technology killers: 7 deadly dangers for your gadgets
- Life hacks for fast internet and TV
Photo: chip.de, pixabay.com
