An important step in protecting your computer against malicious actions and applications is to keep the operating system and the applications you regularly use up to date. You should also consider disabling Windows settings that make the system more vulnerable to malware. Moreover, to prevent unauthorized physical access to your computer, strong passwords (passwords that cannot be easily guessed) must be configured for each Windows user account.
Bitdefender automatically checks your system for vulnerabilities and alerts you about them. System vulnerabilities include the following:
●outdated applications on your computer.
●missing Windows updates.
●weak passwords to Windows user accounts.
Bitdefender provides two easy ways to fix the vulnerabilities of your system:
●You can scan your system for vulnerabilities and fix them step by step using the Vulnerability Scan option.
●Using automatic vulnerability monitoring, you can check and fix detected vulnerabilities in theEventswindow.
You should check and fix system vulnerabilities every one or two weeks.
21.1. Scanning your system for vulnerabilities
To fix system vulnerabilities using the Vulnerability Scan option, follow these steps:
1. Click the icon in the lower-left corner of theBitdefender interface.
2. Select the Protection tab.
3. Under the Vulnerability module, select Vulnerability Scan.
4. Wait for Bitdefender to check your system for vulnerabilities. To stop the scanning process, click the Skip button at the top of the window.
Or quicker, click the Vulnerability Scan action button from the Bitdefender interface.
●Critical Windows updates
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Click View details to see the list of critical Windows updates that are not currently installed on your computer.
To initiate the installation of selected updates, click Install updates.
Please note that it may take a while to install the updates and some of them may require a system restart to complete the installation. If required, restart the system at your earliest convenience.
●Application updates
If an application is not up to date, click the Download new version link to download the latest version.
Click View details to see information about the application that needs to be updated.
●Weak Windows account passwords
You can see the list of the Windows user accounts configured on your computer and the level of protection their password provides.
Click Change password at login to set a new password for your system.
Click View details to modify the weak passwords. You can choose between asking the user to change the password at the next login or changing the password yourself immediately. For a strong password, use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (such as #, $ or @).
In the upper-right corner of the window you can filter the results according to your preferences.
21.2. Using automatic vulnerability monitoring
Bitdefender scans your system for vulnerabilities regularly, in the background, and keeps records of detected issues in theEventswindow.
To check and fix the detected issues, follow these steps:
1. Click the icon at the top of theBitdefender interfaceand select Events from the drop-down menu.
2. In the Events window, select Vulnerability from the Select Events list.
3. You can see detailed information regarding the detected system vulnerabilities. Depending on the issue, to fix a specific vulnerability proceed as follows:
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●If Windows updates are available, click Update now.
●If automatic Windows update is disabled, click Enable.
●If an application is outdated, click Update now to find a link to the vendor web page from where you can install the latest version of that application.
●If a Windows user account has a weak password, click Change password to force the user to change the password at the next logon or change the password yourself. For a strong password, use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (such as #, $ or @).
●If the Windows Autorun feature is enabled, click Fix to disable it.
To configure the vulnerability monitoring settings, follow these steps:
1. Click the icon in the lower-left corner of theBitdefender interface.
2. Select the Protection tab.
3. Click the Vulnerability module.
4. Click the switch to turn on or off Vulnerability scan.
Important
To be automatically notified about system or application vulnerabilities, keep the Vulnerability scan option enabled.
5. Choose the system vulnerabilities you want to be regularly checked by using the corresponding switches.
Critical Windows updates
Check if your Windows operating system has the latest critical security updates from Microsoft.
Application updates
Check if applications installed on your system are up-to-date. Outdated applications can be exploited by malicious software, making your PC vulnerable to outside attacks.
Weak passwords
Check whether the passwords of the Windows accounts configured on the system are easy to guess or not. Setting passwords that are hard to guess (strong passwords) makes it very difficult for hackers
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to break into your system. A strong password includes uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (such as #, $ or @).
Media autorun
Check the status of the Windows Autorun feature. This feature enables applications to be automatically started from CDs, DVDs, USB drives or other external devices.
Some types of malware use Autorun to spread automatically from removable media to the PC. This is why it is recommended to disable this Windows feature.
Note
If you turn off monitoring of a specific vulnerability, related issues will no longer be recorded in the Events window.Vulnerability 125