Server updates – We all know it’s important, but many often, server owners push aside these server updates, until its too late..

One may have many reasons for that, and most often it happens as we think it’s not that important or a top priority matter. Server owners may also be worried about something going wrong after the update.

In our Emergency support services, we often come across customers who had their servers hacked due to not keeping their servers updated.

See how we keep your servers secure!

Why should you keep your server updated?

The point is crystal clear. Software updates cannot wait! – especially if it is for your Servers or Business systems. Software updates can contain critical bug fixes and vulnerability patches that are crucial for your server security.

If left unpatched, your system is a sitting duck for hackers. The Wannacry ransomware attack that caused millions of loss in the internet world recently, is one such hack that targeted servers that were running outdated OS versions.

And with each passing year, the job is getting easier for hackers. An analysis of the MITRE vulnerability database shows that the number of software vulnerabilities keep increasing year on year. The more the vulnerabilities, the greater the chance for a successful hack.

Once your server is hacked, the loss you encounter is humongous – 1. Server downtime leading to customer loss and compensations 2. Data loss leading to poor reputation and security risks that can end you up in law suits and further financial loss.

All the hardwork you did to build up your business, the cost and effort you put in over years to garner a decent customer base, the future prospects of getting more business, everything can go for a toss due to a single hack incident.

[ Don’t lose your hard-earned business to server hacks. Our expert server technicians are here 24/7 with instant solutions for all your server issues.]

What drives server owners away from server updates?

So, we know there are a ton of vulnerabilities discovered everyday. There are high profile hacks reported almost daily. We’ve heard of all this before. But why do many server owners still keep their servers unpatched?

Here are the top reasons we’ve noticed during our interactions with various server owners, when they come to us for hack recovery assistance:

• Improper notification system – Unlike update notifications in phone or laptop, updates in some software require you to login to these systems to see the notification. On the other hand, some software keeps sending too many update notifications every other day. It is easy to miss both these alert notifications.
• Fear of breaking things – It’s true that if not done right, updates can break things and affect normal functioning of services, and you wouldn’t want to take a risk, especially with your ‘live’ servers.
• Complicated upgrades – While some applications like WordPress allow a straight-forward one-click update, that may not be the case with a kernel upgrade. You may need to download a patch, test it, upload it to the server and apply it effectively without incurring a downtime, which is a cumbersome task.
• It doesn’t feel like a priority – Sometimes the update notifications pop up in the middle of some critical task and you tend to push it aside for later and may miss it. Many server owners also get complacent thinking his server is safe from hacks.

Yes, keeping a server patched and updated could be tiresome, and at times, a bit complicated. But the few dollars you spend now in hiring a good server management team can save you from incurring a huge loss later on.

In our Server management services, Bobcares’ server specialists help server owners forget all their server concerns by keeping the servers secure, performing upgrades of all server software and applying critical vulnerability patches on time.

  Many business owners don’t get time to look at the nitty-gritty of keeping a system secure. In our server management services, we help website and server owners keep their applications fully patched and secure. It includes several considerations like software conflict resolution, emergency security patches, custom application upgrades, etc.    

Blessen Cherian
Member of Executive Group, Bobcares

Today, we’ll go through a few best practices that we do at Bobcares to keep your websites and servers free off crippling vulnerabilities.

How we keep your server updated

Security threats can strike from anywhere. Bobcares’ server management services covers a multi-channel approach to provide 360 degree server security for our customers. Here is a sneak peak into what we do.

1. Tracking security issues 24/7

A security exploit or software vulnerability can be unveiled any moment by hackers or researchers. Many software vendors release emergency patches in response to vulnerability disclosures.

To keep the servers safe, these patches should be applied as soon as possible. But you cannot act if you do not know about it. Subscribing to all the relevant security channels that cover the critical software in the servers, is a vital task we do.

At Bobcares, we have a 24/7 server security expert team who keeps track of all critical vulnerabilities, and apply the relevant patches on the servers as soon as the news is out.

By keeping a constant vigil on the changing threat-scape, we instantly become aware of any emerging vulnerabilities. This enables us to quickly secure the servers before anyone gets a chance to execute any zero-day exploits.

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2. Immediately patch the servers

Every moment after a vulnerability disclosure is critical for your servers. If the software or server update is related to a security loophole, no time should be wasted in applying the patch in your servers.

Often, application vendors take many days to patch a publicly disclosed vulnerability. In these situations, security researchers suggest ways to block an exploit attempt until a full patch is available.

In cases where operating system vendors have stopped providing patches, or in cases where application software was installed from source, we help service providers keep the system updated by creating custom installation packages.

Bobcares team set up update notifications via an internal tracking system for all major server applications. We prioritise these updates based on the criticality of the security vulnerability (eg. “denial of service”, “arbitrary code execution”, “privilege escalation”, etc.)

Our 24/7 presence and adherence to resolution time guarantee helps us ensure that the updates and patches are done within minutes, without any delay. This helps us wade off all exploits that have the power to cripple your business.

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3. Automating security patches where possible

Many applications allow configuring auto-updates. It helps save valuable time when faced with high severity vulnerabilities and can help them to be repaired in no time.

However, auto-updates have the potential to break applications. Not every application or software works fine after updates, especially when you do that in live servers.

For instance, cPanel updates to beta versions have often broke many other functionalities in many web hosting servers. Also, if there are any custom configuration changes done in the software, auto-updates can break them.

With our expertise handling almost all major server software and applications, we are well aware of the pros and cons of each software update. We employ the auto-update feature only after our critical assessment of this information in hand.

For instance, for applications such as WordPress, we configure auto-updates for security fixes (called minor releases) and set it up for manual updates for major releases (as it might break other themes, plugins, etc.).

Automatic updates set for WordPress

4. Test the updates before applying

Not all updates can be applied right away. If you have customized your server or applications, new updates could break existing functionality, or even cause a downtime.

While installing new updates, it is possible that some custom configuration might break in a server. So, before scheduling a new feature upgrade, we determine the full dependency tree, and engineer an upgrade path which will not break any existing functionality.

Investigating the reports related to compatibility issues of a software helps us determine if the update is safe to apply in the server. In cases where we suspect issues, we try out the new patches in a test server.

The test server is maintained identical to the live, and we validate the functionalities in the test server after applying the updates. Only after confirming that there are no issues, we apply the patches in the live server and thus avoid a catastrophe.

In short..

Software updates are critical. You cannot afford to miss any of those if you want to keep your system secure. Like the saying goes, a stitch in time saves nine.

Bobcares helps online businesses of all sizes achieve world-class security and uptime, using tried and tested solutions. If you’d like to know how to make your server more reliable, we’d be happy to talk to you.