Tag: patches
October 15, 2009 by
Jason
On October 13th, 2009, Microsoft started serving to Windows users patches for no less than 34 vulnerabilities, releasing the most security bulletins in the company’s history. The 13 security bulletins made available are designed to offer fixes for a range of security issues affecting Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, Microsoft Office, Developer Tools, Forefront and SQL Server. Microsoft underlined that, despite the large number of patches, all security updates had been thoroughly tested, and only received the green light for broad release once they met specific quality standards.
Out of the total 13 security bulletins released, eight have received Microsoft’s maximum severity rating, namely Critical, indicating that they are designed to patch severe vulnerabilities that could allow for remote code execution in the eventuality of a successful attack. The remaining six patch packages have all been deemed Important, a less severe rating. However, customers should apply the patches offered by the Redmond company immediately. The simplest way to access the security updates is through Windows Update. Users with Automatic Updates enabled will have all patches automatically downloaded to their machines.
Microsoft revealed that no less than seven security bulletins with a maximum severity rating of Critical out of the total eight also had an exploitability index of 1. The highest possible exploitability index: 1 is indicative of the fact that Microsoft considers the possibility of exploit code becoming available in the wild for the seven flaws extremely likely, perhaps even within the first 30 days since the patches were released. This just in case you needed additional incentive to deploy the security updates. Read More»
Posted in Computer | 1 Comment »
Microsoft released no less than eight security bulletins for the various supported releases of Windows client and server operating systems, including for the latest service packs of Windows Vista and Windows XP. Out of the total of patch packages impacting Windows, half feature a maximum severity rating of Critical, with the remaining four being rated as Important. The security updates are available through Windows Update since August 11, 2009, and customers are advised to deploy the patches as soon as possible in order to bulletproof their systems against attacks.
“Of note, Microsoft released MS09-043 to help protect customers from attacks on the Office Web Components vulnerability previously addressed by Security Advisory 973472. I also wanted to let you know that MS09-037 addresses five privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL). Security Advisory 973882 has been updated with a reference to MS09-037. Additionally, Microsoft has released Security Advisory 973811 to include a non-security update that enables new protection technology on the Windows platform,†revealed Christopher Budd, security response communications lead for Microsoft. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
November 12, 2008 by
Jason The upcoming stage in the development of the next iteration of Firefox is blocked by a consistent volume of bugs, Mozilla revealed. No less than 17 blockers are stopping Firefox 3.1 from moving onward to Beta 2. On November 10, the conclusion was that the Firefox 3.1, codename Shiretoko, Beta 2 was not ready for build because of the large number of issues affecting the development milestone of the open source browser.
“Despite a lot of hard work, we’re still a little bit away from being ready to hand the code for Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 over to the build team at this time. As of this writing, there are 17 bugs (marked blocking with the appropriate TM) that need to be resolved before we can ship,†revealed Mike Beltzner, Mozilla’s User Experience lead.
Beltzner indicated that no less than ten bugs impact Firefox 3.1 Beta 2, while another seven affect the underlying Gecko 1.9.1 Beta 2 rendering engine. The release of Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 continues to be planned for mid-November 2008; however, considering the number of blockers still unresolved, availability might slip toward the end of the month. Read More»
Posted in Firefox | No Comments »
November 01, 2008 by
Jason Although Outlook Express was known to be rather vulnerable to online attacks, viruses and spyware, recent updates have improved Outlook Express security a lot. Considering that many use Outlook Express for e-mail and news reading, it is reassuring that Microsoft has addressed most known security holes.
As with most software though, security can be harmed when users get sloppy in how they use the software and how they configure the software. This is especially true with online applications. If you allow all kinds of content in e-mail or click every attachment you receive, no protection will be good enough.
So use good judgment when using Outlook Express to minimize your exposure to online threats. For MAXIMUM Outlook Express security consider the following tips too.
Windows and Outlook Express Updates
Regularly update your Windows XP software. Outlook Express is an integrated part of Windows XP, so any patches or updates to Outlook Express are released through Windows XP updates. If you have Windows updates set to automatic, Outlook Express will be updated as well. If you set Windows updates to ‘disabled’, then you need to manually update Windows XP. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Office | No Comments »
Microsoft has been supplying beta testers with two special patches for Windows Vista, patches that are designed to improve the performance and compatibility of the operating system. The two patches, distributed through Connect to a select group of beta testers, have leaked onto the internet, and you can download them here (or here for 64-bit systems).
What do the patches do? The Vista Performance and Reliability Pack improves some things that hurt the performance of systems running Vista, including file copying, corrupted AVI files, Canon RAW files, memory corruption, and more. The Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack fixes some common compatibility issues Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 4 Comments »
When installing a new device, and it doesn’t work, don’t automatically assume that the device is defective. The problem is more likely to be a driver issue, especially if you are running a different Windows version than the driver was specifically written for.
Visit the device manufacturer’s Web site and download any updated drivers or patches and install them. Only after you have installed the most recent driver and software versions should you seriously suspect a physical problem with the hardware. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | No Comments »
Although it seem unlikely virus writers and hackers are going to give up looking for and attempting to exploit loopholes in Microsoft products, it seems some of them may be turning their attention to other popular applications. According to security experts at Symantec the defences on one of its PC’s, used as bait to attract and trap virus writers, was breached through known vulnerabilities in Apple QuickTime and WinZip. Read More»
Posted in Software | No Comments »
Okay, so Apple PCs are still a lot safer than Windows PCs, but the next time an Apple owner smugly reminds you of the fact, just ask him or her whether they’ve installed the security update issued in April 19th. This fixes no less than 25 security flaws in OS X and it includes three patches for ‘Zero Day’ bugs, and vulnerabilities that would allow hackers to gain access to data. So far this year Apple has issued at least one security update each month and whilst the level of threat and number of attacks are nowhere near the level PC owners have to put up with, it does appear that Apple owners may no longer be as safe as they once used to be. Read More»
Posted in Mac | No Comments »
Microsoft has released a special security patch today (Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-017) to protect your computer against the Animated Cursor vulnerability first discovered a few weeks ago. Apparently, Microsoft decided that this was important enough to break their normal second Tuesday of the month patch release cycle to get this patch on computers.
According to the Determina security web site that first discovered the issue, “As Microsoft has pointed out, any web page, email or content that can load an animated cursor can allow an attacker to take advantage of the vulnerability and run arbitrary code on the users system.†Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
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