Newsletter Archives

  • February — Same number of patches, fewer bugs

    PATCH WATCH

    Susan Bradley

    By Susan Bradley

    This month we have a more “normal” patch release of 57 vulnerabilities.

    Although that’s a “woo-hoo” for the security researchers, you and I will still see the same old security updates being offered. That is, we will see a Windows security update.

    What also hasn’t changed is my stance toward Windows 11 24H2. If you buy a computer with it, stay there. If you are already on it and see no issues, stay there. But if you haven’t yet installed the 24H2 feature release on your existing Windows 11 23H2 machine, I still recommend holding back, especially for businesses. For consumers, the risk is less — as long as you are not a gamer.

    Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.07.0, 2025-02-17).

  • February 2025 updates are upon us

    Nine months and counting befor the end of support (but not end of using) Windows 10. We also have a zero day that Apple released yesterday. The updates include the following:

    iOS 18.3.1 fixing a zero day CVE-2025-24200 used in extremely sophisticated attacks. So if you’ve seen headlines about massive risk, actually no, only if you are a CEO or someone high up in an organization.

    For Windows 10 22H2, it’s KB5051974 – note the event ID issue with the System Guard runtime monitor service is not fixed with this release.

    Windows 11 24H2 – KB5051987 – which I’m still not recommending 24H2 unless you’ve bought a machine with it or you’ve already upgraded and see no issues – has been released.

    For Windows 11 23H2 look for KB5051989. Remember at this time we are in test mode only.

    Microsoft indicates that the February updates include a fix for the following:

    After installing the January 2025 Windows security update released January 14, 2025 (the Originating KBs listed above), you might experience issues with USB audio devices. You are more likely to experience this issue if you are using a USB 1.0 audio driver based DAC (Digital to Analog converter) in your audio setup. This issue might cause USB audio devices to stop working, preventing audio playback.