There are still people who don’t want to install Operating System (OS) updates – whether those are Windows Updates or Apple updates. Why are people hesitant to do so? Usually, people don’t want to take the time to perform the OS updates or they heard that an update crashed someone’s equipment. While it is true that updates will sometimes have issues and cause a computing device to either operate differently or stop operating altogether, the alternative – not installing the updates – can cause a far worse outcome.

In the computing world, there is something called “zero-day flaws.” What the term means is that a flaw is discovered and hackers start taking advantage of the flaw on the very day it is uncovered. In the old days of computing, if a software flaw was found, it would often be weeks or even months before hackers started to use the flaw to their advantage. Those days are gone forever.

This past week, Microsoft fixed four zero-day flaws on its April Patch Tuesday. (Most Microsoft patches are released on the second Tuesday of the month thus the term Patch Tuesday. Many other software companies have followed suit and release their sets of patches on the same Tuesday.)

If you allowed your computing device to update automatically right after that, it means you’re protected from these flaws. If, however, you have delayed updates, your machine is vulnerable. What can hackers do if you haven’t updated? Well, here’s what Microsoft says could happen concerning just one of the zero-day flaws it fixed in April:

Bottom line: if you have to put off OS updates because they will interfere with something you’re doing on your device, perform the updates as soon as you’ve finished with your project. Better safe than sorry!