What are security patches?

Security patches are critical updates designed to fix vulnerabilities in software or hardware. When developers or vendors identify security flaws that could be exploited by attackers—such as bugs that allow unauthorized access or data breaches—they release these patches to mitigate the risk and protect users.

By applying security patches, organizations help safeguard their systems against potential threats, ensuring that known vulnerabilities are addressed before they can be exploited. This proactive measure is essential in maintaining a secure network environment and defending against cyber threats.

Updates that improve system speed and performance, add new features, or change the user interface do not specifically address security vulnerabilities and are therefore not classified as security patches. While those types of updates can enhance user experience or functionality, they do not focus on fixing security issues, which is the primary purpose of security patches.