Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Largest Patch Tuesday for Windows Users
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by Bryan Anderson
We've seen some busy patches in the past but, with 14
bulletins, the latest Microsoft security advisory speaks to some
serious security vulnerabilities. To be exact, there are 34 serious
security vulnerabilities, including holes in Internet Explorer,
Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Silverlight, Microsoft XML
Core Services, and Server Message Block, according to ZDnet.com.
Eight of the bulletins are pegged as "critical" due to the risk
of remote code execution attacks, and six are rated as "important."
Of the 34 flaws, 14 are critical, the highest threat ranking, 17
are important, and 3 are moderate. As noted by Computerworld.com, the August patch
is the "biggest ever by number of security bulletins, and equaled
the single-month record for individual patches."
The numbers are certainly overwhelming, and even researchers
disagree on which vulnerabilities should be given priority. One
researcher likens the Office 2007 critical fix to a drive-by,
explaining that "the vulnerability delivered via e-mail wouldn't
even require a recipient to open an attachment." Another researcher
expresses his concern for the media-related updates, pointing out
that the market for media and social media relies heavily on video
data, where a pair of bugs in two codecs have been labeled as a
critical fix.
This patch was preceded by an emergency patch last week which
covered a critical Windows vulnerability that was being exploited
by malware, according to CNET.com.
Hit this link for a visual diagram of
deployment priority based on severity rating, exploitability, and
affected range of products.
While security remains an important issue, all business users
could use an added pep in their browser step. When it comes to
Internet Explorer, you probably witness slow run times at startup
or when opening a new tab/window. Microsoft has moved to increase
productivity by recently providing tools to dramatically improve
performance based on what add-ons can be cut off by the user.
What are the add-ons causing most of your speed frustration?
Winamp Toolbar (ver.5), AVG Safe Search IE Add-on (ver.9), and
SweetIM Toolbar (ver. 3) can each take about 1 second to
initialize.
Here's the steps to disable pesky add-ons, courtesy of bnet.com:
- Click Tools, and then click Manage Add-ons
- Browse the list. You can see the time it takes each add-on to
load
- When you see an add-on you want to eliminate, click
Disable
Remember to take these security patches seriously-now that
Microsoft has released this information, hackers will quickly adapt
the code and start utilizing it for malicious means. Get your
software upgraded and backed up to save your company from
unnecessary down time.
Until next time -
Matthew Hymel
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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