Patch Management of Microsoft Products Using HFNetChkPro

On many occasions security breaches could have been prevented if software patches and updates were applied when they were first available. In fact, figures from the SANS Institute and FBI show that the majority of commonly exploited vulnerabilities are due to the failure to apply fixes that were available from vendors for several weeks or even a month. For those who work with Microsoft products, it's a known fact, that keeping them secured, presents a great deal of challenge to any security or network administrator, especially when critical updates are being issued by Microsoft almost on a weekly basis. In response to such a challenge Microsoft together with Shavlik Technologies has developed a Network Security Hotfix Checker the HFNetChk tool (Hfnetchk.exe), which is a command-line tool that administrators can use to centrally assess a computer or group of computers for the absence of security patches. Unfortunately, the Microsoft version can only be used as a command-line tool and it's limited only for reporting of missing security patches. The burden of patch deployment is still placed on the shoulders of network and security administrators.