Newsletter Archives

• MS-DEFCON 3: Time to patch, but be aware of Network-busting bugs in Win7

  Posted on June 2, 2018 at 17:37 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Full description now up on Computerworld. Weekend updates from the Computerworld team, thanks folks!

  Realize that installing the Win7 patches may knock out your network card. Susan Bradley has advice if you can’t connect after installing this month’s patches.

  Of course 1803 is a basket case and your best course of action is to roll back to your previous version of Windows, if you still can.

  (For those of you who actually believed the ridiculous assertion that 1803 now powers 50% of all Win10 machines, you need to learn more about statistics, AdDuplex style. Ed Bott has an excellent takedown on ZDNet.)

  I’m moving us to MS-DEFCON 3:  Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.

  Full step-by-step instructions in the Computerworld article.

  Windows Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3

• Microsoft Patch Alert: Lots of bugs introduced, most fixed, but Win7 is still tied up in NIC knots, and Microsoft hasn’t increased the pay for its 1803 beta testers

  Posted on May 30, 2018 at 02:28 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Lots of activity this month in the wonderful world of wacky Windows patches.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday

• May 2018 Patch Tuesday has arrived

  Posted on May 8, 2018 at 13:24 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  The May Security Updates have been released for all versions of Windows. Today, Windows 10 v1803 becomes officially available.

  As usual, Martin Brinkman has his amazing overview available on the ghacks site. The updates according to operating system:

  • Windows 7: 11 vulnerabilities of which 2 are rated critical, 7 important, and 1 low.
  • Windows 8.1: 11 vulnerabilities of which 2 are rated critical, 7 important, and 1 low
  • Windows 10 version 1607: 18 vulnerabilities of which 3 are rated critical, 14 important and 1 low.
  • Windows 10 version 1703: 19 vulnerabilities of which 3 are rated critical, 15 important and 1 low.
  • Windows 10 version 1709: 20 vulnerabilities of which 3 are rated critical, 16 important and 1 low.
  • Windows 10 version 1803: 16 vulnerabilities of which 3 are rated critical, 12 important and 1 low.

  Windows Server products

  • Windows Server 2008 R2: 11 vulnerabilities which 2 are rated critical, 8 important, and 1 low.
  • Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2: 11 vulnerabilities which 2 are rated critical, 8 important, and 1 low.
  • Windows Server 2016: 18 vulnerabilities of which 3 are rated critical, 14 important, and 1 low.

  Other Microsoft Products

  • Internet Explorer 11: 9 vulnerabilities, 6 critical, 3 important
  • Microsoft Edge: 18 vulnerabilities, 13 critical, 5 important

  Security Updates for Microsoft Office are available, including Office 2010, 2013 and 2016.

  There are also .NET Rollups and Security-only patches for Win7/8.1 this month.

  Unless you have a specific reason to install updates, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) has had time to evaluate them and/or Woody gives the DEFCON go-ahead. Patch reliability is unknown at this time.

  Office Patches/Security, Windows Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday, May 2018 Office security updates, May 2018 Patch Tuesday, May 2018 security updates

• Time to block automatic updates UNLESS you’re on Win10 version 1803

  Posted on May 7, 2018 at 10:31 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I can’t recall the last time I recommended that folks allow Windows to install updates automatically, but if you got stuck with Win10 1803 — and you want to keep it — you’d better get the Patch Tuesday patch as soon as you can.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday

• Turning the ratchet up to MS-DEFCON 2

  Posted on May 4, 2018 at 16:35 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’ll have full instructions on Monday, but most of you know the drill.

  I’m changing it now because I suddenly realized that some of you may be running Win10 1709 and clicking on “Check for updates.” (Thx, JL!)

  If you did get pushed onto 1803, real quick, roll back to 1709 — Start > Settings > Update & security, on the left choose Recovery, on the right click to Roll back to previous version.

  We’re at MS-DEFCON 2: Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don’t do it.

  Windows Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 2

• May 2018 Office non-Security updates have been released

  Posted on May 1, 2018 at 12:41 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  The May 2018 Office non-Security updates are now available.
  Just a reminder – these updates are NOT covered under the April DEFCON-3 umbrella. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

  Office 2010

  Update for Microsoft Outlook 2010 (KB4022144)

  Office 2013

  Update for Microsoft Office 2013 (KB4018389)
  Update for Microsoft OneNote 2013 (KB4011281)
  Update for Microsoft Outlook 2013 (KB4018376)
  Update for Microsoft Project 2013 (KB4018379)
  Update for Skype for Business 2015 (KB4018377)

  Office 2016

  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB3203479)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4011634)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4018318)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4018369)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4022133)
  Update for Microsoft OneNote 2016 (KB4018321)
  Update for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (KB4018372)
  Update for Microsoft Project 2016 (KB4018373)
  Update for Skype for Business 2016 (KB4018367)

  There were no non-security listings this month for Office 2007, which is out of support.
  Office 365 and C2R are not included.
  Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

  Office News, Office Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday, May 2018 Office updates, Office 2010, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office non-security updates, Office updates