Secunia Online Software Inspector

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 25, 2010
Updated • May 29, 2016
Security
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Update: Secunia has discontinued the Online Software Inspector. The company is offering the Personal Software Inspector free of charge to private users which offers similar functionality. It is however only available as a download and not online directly. Good news is that it does not require Java (the pulled online version did).

Keeping software and the operating system up to date is one of the first recommendations that you hear when you ask expert computer users about effective options to keep a computer system secure.

These users know how to check for updates, verify these updates, and install them as soon as they are released on computer systems to protect these system from attacks targeting known and patched security vulnerabilities.

Fact is, that vulnerable devices, those that are not updated regularly or at all, are prime targets for malicious attacks.

Inexperienced users on the other hand may have difficulties keeping up with updates that get released regularly. That burden is somewhat reduced by automatic update options that some programs and the Windows operating system offers.

The chance is relatively high however that some programs are not updated at all, or not early enough by the user which in turn means that the computer system is vulnerable to attacks targeting vulnerabilities in outdated program versions.

Secunia Online Software Inspector

Secunia Online Software Inspector is a cross-browser online scanner for the Windows operating system that can perform a quick scan of the computer system. It is a lightweight version of the security vulnerability checker Secunia Software Inspector that is offered by the same developer.

The only prerequisite is that Java is installed on the PC that the user wants to scan. A click on the Start button will perform a quick system scan. The vulnerability scanner will update information during the scan including the total number of programs that it has found on the system. This figure is broken down further into vulnerable and up to date programs.

It is possible to perform a deeper scan of the PC by checking the Enable thorough system inspection option before starting the scan. Vulnerable applications will be listed by the vulnerability scanner making it very easy to identify programs that need updating. Windows users who want more control over the scanning options can download the desktop software of the client instead.

Summary
Secunia Online Software Inspector
Article Name
Secunia Online Software Inspector
Description
Secunia Online Software Inspector is a cross-browser online scanner for the Windows operating system that can perform a quick scan of the computer system
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Taco said on January 28, 2010 at 2:05 am
    Reply

    I’ve been using Secunia PSI Personal Ed for quite some time. I have it as a scheduled task to be run once a week. It covers a lot more than the online version does and is free for personal use.

  2. subgrampus said on January 26, 2010 at 3:37 pm
    Reply

    Have used the desktop version for a few years. The scan only takes a few minutes, covers the majority of all software, and provides good fixes where necessary. This is a free software that I believe should be part of every desktop’s suite.

  3. Mike J said on January 26, 2010 at 2:47 pm
    Reply

    I’ve used the online scanner many times; it doesn’t take long, even with “thorough” enabled.Secunia is an easy way to find out if things like Flash & Java have been updated. I haven’t tried the desktop version.

  4. Rarst said on January 26, 2010 at 8:34 am
    Reply

    Convenient, but checks for very few apps (last time I tried) – mostly browsers. Their desktop app is time more extensive.

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