Whether you are using Windows, Mac, Linux, or Unix based operating systems, you must keep them current with the latest updates. Security holes, (re: vunerabilities), are in every operating system. For Windows users, you must not only keep up with the latest OS updates, but you must also keep updated antivirus and antimalware software.
As though keeping the OS and antivirus software updated is not enough, you must also keep all your other software updated and patched. Using any software that is out of date, just gives the “bad guys” one more place to enter your system. The list of software that needs updating just keeps growing. From browsers, (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, or Safari), to media players, (Windows Media Player, VLC,), to chat clients, to office software, (MS-Office, OpenOffice).
One of the advantages of most distributions of Linux is that there is a central updating system for all software, operating system and all other software. This makes is a lot easier to keep your system secure.
Note: As I’m writing this post, WordPress is prompting me to install an update!