What is the importance of keeping firewalls updated?

I know many people try to use a firewall that is regularly updated and supported,but i would like to know just how important an issue this really is,
If we take for an example the windows firewall,its an effective firewall but i personally have never seen microsoft issue an update for it.So in that respect is keeping your firewall updated really as important as we believe it is.?

 

Yes, MS updates the firewall component on regular bases to address issues and vulnerabilities. The same applies to other software producers. Vulnerabilities may not be disclosed by producers for obvious reasons and running old version may expose you to risk especially if your firewall is the first line of defense. (e.g. not behind a router).

 

There are basically two types: program and definition updates.
The program updates are meant for fixing (security) issues in the software (like Windows Update in Windows).
The definitions updates help firewalls better decide what to do - it usually contains "description" of the file and whether to allow or block it. For instance: Miranda IM, version, checksum, allow. (And it might contain even more meta-data of the program.)

 

Very well written, thanks, this really helps.