Secunia PSI to be discontinued on April 20, 2018

[HansV]

I usually fire up Secunia PSI once a week, on Tuesday. Today, it showed the following message:

S2085.png

The link is to PSI - End of Life.

[StuartR]

That is very disappointing. I have Secunia PSI installed on all my PCs, and I rely on it to make sure that I keep everything patched.

If anyone knows of any other vulnerability checking software that will do a comparable job then please share the information here.

[RonH]

I think that most of us use this excellent reminder. It would be great if someone knew of an alternate ... maybe this? https://www.kcsoftwares.com/?sumo
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Hans

[HansV]

Hmmm... there is a German language Wikipedia page for SUMo. It mentions (translated into English by Google Translate):

Because SUMo installed the spyware program Relevant Knowledge, it came under fire. The spyware starts every time you start the computer and sends information to the manufacturer without asking. This is why some virus scanners detect it as spyware during the installation and stop the installation completely.

Since version 2.10.5.102, apart from Relevant Knowledge, the programs Facemoods as well as other advertising programs are offered for installation.

Be VERY careful if you try SUMo.

[RonH]

Velly interesting Hans. I picked this up in the Secunia thread about the discontinuation. Will most certainly exercise caution and if anyone has proved other software then I am sure we would like it listed in the 'Free Software' chart.

Any of these any good?
https://www.lifewire.com/free-software- ... ms-2625200

[StuartR]

I have just installed SUMo, and it seems to do a pretty thorough job. It identified lots of updates that Secunia PSI had missed, but you are pretty much on your own when it comes to locating and downloading the updates.

[RonH]

I have just installed SUMo, and it seems to do a pretty thorough job. It identified lots of updates that Secunia PSI had missed, but you are pretty much on your own when it comes to locating and downloading the updates.

Based on Hans comment above I have avoided SUMo and have just installed the Kaspersky Software Updater. Very simple but I'm not yet sure what important programmes it might miss ... if any. As I understand, Kaspersky is a reputable (Russian ) company ... I used to use their AV software and it functioned well.

[RonH]

Applications covered by Kaspersky Software Updater ...
https://support.kaspersky.com/11827#block6

[Claude]

I missed this thread and have never used Secunia PSI, so I'm not too sure what it does / did. I understand it looks for and alerts you to software which has updates available.

For years, I've been using Glarysoft's Glary Utilities which preforms that task reliably and automatically. I have bought the Pro version a long time ago, so not sure what the difference between the free and pro version is.

[StuartR]

I ran Malwarebytes, as well as manually checking for Relevant Knowledge and I can find no evidence of Relevant Knowledge, or any other PUP, having been installed with SUMo.

So far, I really like SUMo. It has identified lots of out-of-date software that I have updated manually. I can't find how to update "Intel(R) Management and Security Status" though.

[HansV]

Based on your recommendation, I installed the free version of Sumo. It works nicely, but it's disappointing that you need the Pro version if you want to get updates from the developer's official site instead of from Sumo. I always prefer getting updates from the developer...

[StuartR]

...I always prefer getting updates from the developer...

Me too. That's why I updated everything that it identified manually. BUT I can't find a couple of things...

[Argus]

I think that most of us use this excellent reminder. It would be great if someone knew of an alternate ...

I don't. I do manual checks.

[RonH]

I think that most of us use this excellent reminder. It would be great if someone knew of an alternate ...

I don't. I do manual checks.

One gets 'lazy' as one ages but I am finding Kaspersky works for me and covers my important software. Ain't got anything to hide so Russian, Chinese, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook have little to gain

[HansV]

I have a couple of applications for which the built-in "Check for Updates" option tells me that I have the latest version, but Sumo claims that an update is available, in one instance a major new version...

[Argus]

Manual checks for me means that I (most of the time) check the sites (not all applications have built-in update mechanisms, but many (most?)). And in many cases I wouldn't want to install a major update without reading anything about changes in the software.

[StuartR]

In some cases the major new version would require a major new purchase, so doesn't appear in a check for updates.

[StuartR]

For VeraCrypt the new version was available from the new web site that they have migrated to, but the old web site still had the older version!

[HansV]

The applications flagged by Sumo are both completely free.
One update was flagged as "minor", so the internal update option may not consider it important. But it's strange that the other one, an update flagged as "major", from version 7.x to 8.x, is not detected by the internal update option.

[Argus]

I have a couple of applications for which the built-in "Check for Updates" option tells me that I have the latest version [...]

I agree with you, Hans. I have found over the years that one can't always depend on the built-in checks. For different reasons. An odd example, new firmware for a SSD (that had major problems with speed), since there was a major demand for the new firmware they spread out the update over several days, no matter when or how often you checked, it told you that you had the latest.

VLC Media Player's built-in check has just told me that I have the latest, which I don't have (latest is ver. 3.01, late February I think).
(And sometimes there is a new version released at the time you leave the site. )