Newsletter Archives

• MS-DEFCON 2: Windows 10 22H2 expected this month

  Posted on October 6, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.40.1 • 2022-10-06

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We originally had the impression that Windows 10 and 11 updates would appear simultaneously, but — for this time at least — it looks like Windows 10 22H2 will be here in October, a month after Windows 11 2022 (22H2).

  As with Windows 11 2022, I am not expecting a major release. As per my usual recommendation, don’t accept the Windows 10 22H2 update right away. Instead, defer it until I’ve had a chance to test and review. That advice also comes with an elevation of the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (19.40.1, 2022-10-06).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Alert, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, Windows 10, Windows 11

• MS-DEFCON 4: A well-behaved September

  Posted on September 27, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.39.1 • 2022-09-27

  

  By Susan Bradley

  September updates have few side effects.

  It’s always nice when the monthly update process is calm, with no storms. But due to a few snags, the best I can do is lower the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

  These side effects are limited to issues seen in businesses; we ordinary, consumer mortals are not much affected.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (19.39.1, 2022-09-27).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Alert, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts

• Windows 11 2H22 released, mostly

  Posted on September 26, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.39 • 2022-09-26

  MICROSOFT NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Well, it wasn’t really 2H22. It was 2022.

  The entire news cycle about Windows 11, starting with its announcement over 18 months ago, has been different. Maybe weird is a better descriptor.

  The announcement wasn’t an event; nothing was live. There wasn’t even a video from Panos Panay, who was simply noted as the author of a blog post. The surprise twist in all this, especially from the perspective of someone in the press, was that the announcement was not accompanied by a press release in Microsoft’s usual location. Instead, it was given its own microsite. The release was not mentioned on Microsoft’s home page and was noted only on the Windows page with an eyebrow link at the very top.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.39.0, 2022-09-26).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Microsoft News AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft News, Newsletters, Windows 11

• MS-DEFCON 2: Will September updates behave?

  Posted on September 8, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.36.1 • 2022-09-08

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft patches need to go back to school, too.

  Summer vacation is over, which means it’s time for youngsters to return to school. After several years of computer-based, pandemic-induced remote learning, it’s back to the classrooms. Meanwhile, Microsoft is getting ready to roll out the 22H2 releases of Windows 10 and Windows 11.

  I’m hoping that the engineers at Microsoft have had enough vacation, rest, and other downtime to ensure that September’s releases are nice, calm, and — well — boring. Unfortunately, August updates haven’t been quite so boring, and that’s not encouraging. Caution is my watchword, so I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (19.36.1, 2022-09-08).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Plus Newsletter, BitLocker, Patch Lady Posts, Windows

• MS-DEFCON 4: July updates make some hot and bothered

  Posted on July 26, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.30.1 • 2022-07-26

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Access bugs ruin a quiet July, but we can still lower MS-DEFCON to 4.

  To any reader of this alert who is sweltering in a heat wave, my sincere condolences. I can slightly relate, as I’m having the normal July heat wave in my neck of the woods.

  The big difference is that my area of the country is used to this weather. Thus I’m inside an air-conditioned home, remotely accessing office workstations and servers to perform the monthly maintenance tasks while some of you are … well … just really hot and really uncomfortable. Fortunately for us, this month’s Windows and Office updates were mostly well behaved.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (19.30.1, 2022-07-25).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Plus Alerts, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts, Print Spooler

• MS-DEFCON 4: A mixed bag for May

  Posted on May 24, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.21.1 • 2022-05-24

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Good news! Most consumer and home users should be just fine after installing this month’s updates.

  I’m not seeing any major, trending issues with patches for the bulk of users, so I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

  But there’s a “but”: I’m still seeing some corner-case oddities and just can’t quite put my finger on the root cause. For example, reader Ray G reports:

  … after the updates are installed, I still have a black screen and have to wait for about 5 minutes for the desktop to appear.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (19.21.1, 2022-05-24).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Alert, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts

• MS-DEFCON 2: 2004 is out of support

  Posted on May 5, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.18.1 • 2022-05-05

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Check your Windows version, then update accordingly.

  I regularly come across PCs that are running old, out-of-support versions of Windows because they aren’t on the Web long enough to be “serviced” by Windows Update. For example, there are two Surface laptops in my office that are used by people on cellular connections. As a result of sporadic use, they never get a feature update.

  Just the other day, I realized they were running Windows 10 2004 and thus no longer were getting security updates, a serious matter.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (19.18.1, 2022-05-05).

  AskWoody Plus Alert AskWoody Plus Alerts, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts

• MS-DEFCON 4: March madness? Mostly quiet

  Posted on March 22, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.12.1 • 2022-03-22

  

  By Susan Bradley

  For the majority of computer users, it’s time to get the updates rolled out.

  I’m tracking some issues this month, but not so many as for a typical March. Thus I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

  An unusual occurrence is a problem with a Windows 8.1 update.

  Anyone can read the full AskWoody Plus Alert 19.12.1 (2022-03-22).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Alert, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4

• MS-DEFCON 2: Is it still safe to defer?

  Posted on March 3, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.09.1 • 2022-03-03

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Global troubles lead to patching worries.

  Even with all the heightened concerns regarding cybersecurity, my deferral strategy and recommendations for patching will not change. Use the time between now and next Tuesday (Wednesday for those of you outside the northern hemisphere) to wrap up whatever patching and updating you are doing, and get ready to defer updates. Hopefully, a window will open toward the end of the month, when we can have high confidence that applying patches and updates will be safe.

  Anyone can read the full AskWoody Plus Alert 19.09.1 (2022-03-03).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Alert, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts

• MS-DEFCON 4: A very complicated patching month

  Posted on January 25, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 19.04.1 • 2022-01-25

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Thanks, Microsoft, for a very messy January.

  This month will be somewhat convoluted for patching, due to the high number of side effects. To make it worse and more complicated, Microsoft has left it up to us to figure out what to install — rather than pushing out the fixed updates via Windows Update or WSUS. The side effects for those with servers are extreme. In some cases, you’ll need to install two updates before rebooting the servers you manage to successfully patch this month.

  I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4 in spite of these difficulties, but business users must be cautious.

  Anyone can read the full AskWoody Plus Alert 19.04.1 (2022-01-25).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Plus Alerts, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts

• Browsers with the best security and privacy in 2021

  Posted on November 29, 2021 at 02:45 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.46 • 2021-11-29

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Most of us use a Web browser on our personal computers or smartphones every day, but few of us truly know what those browsers are really doing for us — or to us.

  Too many browsers “leak” information about us and our everyday activities to backend servers, which are run by ad-tracking firms, search-engine giants, or the browser makers themselves.

  It’s extremely difficult to guess which browser is the “most secure” for surfing the Web. There are, to be sure, many respectable review sites that rank browsers. But most of the reviews weigh a browser’s security against unrelated features — ease of use, speed of throughput, memory usage, etc. — producing only a composite score.

  In this article, I focus solely on how well browsers deliver security against malware and protect the privacy of your personal identity.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.46.0 (2021-11-29).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.46.F (2021-11-29).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, browsers, Public Defender

• MS-DEFCON 3: We’re not out of the printing woods yet

  Posted on November 23, 2021 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.45.1 • 2021-11-22 By Susan Bradley The big news last week was Microsoft’s finally releasing Windows 10 version 21H2 and aligning the Windows 10 and Windows 11 annual feature release cadence. Changing the feature release cadence for Windows to an annual schedule is long overdue. From the first moment Microsoft announced that Windows 10 feature updates would be released on a semiannual basis, I’ve felt that the constant release process was too often, too fast. It’s good to see Microsoft finally listening to the feedback. Granted, it was pushed into this decision by the release of Windows 11, but I’ll take the win nonetheless. Now that 21H2 is officially out, I recommend sticking with 21H1 for the moment. That said, 21H2 will be a relatively easy and fast update with very few side effects. But I’m a cautious patcher and never install feature releases during the first week they are out. As November comes to a close, it’s again time to evaluate whether you can perform the basic process we all call “printing.” I discussed the annoyance of these constant and seemingly intractable printing problems in yesterday’s On Security column. The ongoing issues with printing force me, once again, to set our MS-DEFCON status at level 3. Exercise caution. Consumer and home users If you install the updates for November and can still print, pat yourself on the back and relax until next month. If you are still having issues with printing, I recommend installing the preview updates listed in the Master Patch list. For certain shared printers in peer-to-peer networks, we are still seeing issues triggered by the November 9 updates. While Microsoft has released out-of-band updates for authentication issues, they have not put the same priority on printing issues triggered by the updates. Business users Already, we’ve seen the out-of-band update KB5008602 to fix a known issue triggered on domain controllers and single sign-on that might cause authentication failures related to Kerberos tickets you acquired from Service for User to Self (S4U2self). This issue occurs after you install the November 9, 2021, security updates on domain controllers (DCs) that are running Windows Server, and you need to install this update on your domain controllers to fix this issue. References AskWoody Master Patch List Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.45.1 (2021-11-22).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 3, Patch Lady Posts, Printing
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