Manufacturers frequently release patches to close security vulnerabilities that could leave your network open to attacks.

A modern Ethernet driver typically has these layers (Linux/Windows):

Ethernet drivers are the low-level software interfaces between the OS kernel (or network stack) and the Network Interface Controller (NIC) hardware. While often ignored in routine maintenance, outdated or buggy Ethernet drivers are a common source of unexplained packet loss, latency spikes, CPU overhead, system crashes (BSOD/kernel panic), and security vulnerabilities.

New drivers often include optimizations that can improve data transfer rates and reduce latency.