Whenever you read about a security patch for Windows or any application, it's a fair bet that there's a reference to CVE somewhere in the notification. It's the database of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, and documents just about every known security-related problem. So whether you're patching a product from Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, Oracle, Drupal or just about anyone else, the patch will be referenced in the CVE database.

To make sure that all of your important programs are up to date with critical security fixes, it's therefore a good idea to check the CVE database occasionally. The easiest way to do this is at the CVE Details site, at www.cvedetails.com. You can search by product, vendor, date, and just about anything else. For example, all of this year's important fixes from Microsoft are at http://www.cvedetails.com/microsoft-bulletins/2016/ along with a description of the problem and a link to the Microsoft patch installer.

It's a very useful resource if you want to check that your PC is as secure as it can be, or whether there are any patches for the products you use which you haven't yet installed.