Last week Microsoft issued and out of band emergency update. That was done in preparation for this weeks updates. Even just after today’s release, there has been an announcement of another vulnerability from Microsoft not fixed in these patches. Additionally, there are updates for Java with Apple updating Java for it’s OS in a timely manner this time too. Other important updates include an update for iTunes. Finally, I going to stop regular Patch Tuesday posts here – more about that at the bottom of the post.

A quick review of Microsoft’s updates for this Patch Tuesday.

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

The most important in Microsoft’s patches this month is an Internet Explorer update. It fixes a security bug that Microsoft is currently seeing exploits against. That means every Windows computer needs this patch right away. There several other updates making this an average Patch Tuesday in update number. I am seeing about 10 on XP machines not using Microsoft Office. Restarts were needed.

After releasing today’s patches, Microsoft gave a warning on a new security problem not covered in today release.

There is a security problem with xml files in all version of Windows, Office 2003, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer. It is already being used to infect computers. All you have to do is visit an infected website with Internet Explorer.

This attack is currently in use.

Again, all you have to do is visit a malicious website using Internet Explorer and your computer will get infected. There is no patch yet. Microsoft has issued a Fixit (a temporary fix till a regular patch can be distributed) but I am not linking to it as there can be problems with it and people much better then me seem to be unsure about it.

The best way to avoid this attack is not to use Internet Explorer till a full patch is issued. Use Google Chrome (my favorite) or Firefox.

A Java update was released today too.

Oracle released an update for Java. I don’t know if there are any current attacks against the old versions but why wait to find out? This time Apple has also released an update for Java on the Mac OS. I guess they learned the hard way about waiting to update Java last time.

Apple released an update for iTunes.

There is a issue where a malicious m3u playlist can infect your computer. There is also a problem with Webkit being infected by visiting a malicious website.

Finally, this will be the last time I regularly cover Patch Tuesday at Online IT Guide.

My goal was to encourage people to keep their computers updated each month an let them know how important it is. Unfortunately, I find I am either confusing my target audience (my mom) or they don’t really care enough to pay attention anyways to read it. I get the same calls two weeks later about what the orange icon means. At the same time, more advanced users think I am an idiot for explaining things.

I’ll be trying to focus more on blogging and developing a website. And, if I see something important, I’ll let you know if there is something you need to update. I’ll be looking for Microsoft’s fix for the XML file problem announced today and let you know.

Lots of news for this month’s Patch Tuesday.

News of the Apple malware that does not seem to go away. Adobe has a free update and three you have to pay for. Not to be outdone on it’s own release day, Microsoft has an amazing amount of updates this month.

Let’s start with the Apple malware just to be different.

The Apple Safari Browser

While there is an update from Apple that prevents the current malware infection, it does not seem to be going away as fast as one would expect. It may be denial (that is not a river in Egypt) or complacency about Mac malware but people are simply not updating computers. Those computers are getting infected.

Apple also just released an update for IOS which is the operating system for the iPhone and iPad. This fixes some vulnerabilities in those devices. The iPhone and iPad have had some extra degree of safety as most users can only install apps that have passed through Apple; however, updating is still important.

Adobe is next this month.

Adobe Flash Player

Adobe has announced security issues with Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash Professional (this is not the Flash player you use on your computer) and the Shockwave player. The Shockwave player is the only free download. Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash Professional will require a paid upgrade for safety.

Adobe also released an unplanned update for the Adobe Flash player last week. If you are not sure you have the latest Adobe Flash player and Shockwave, you should to the the Adobe.com website and make sure you have the latest version.

Here is a video on updating Adobe Flash and Shockwave:

And finally, what does Microsoft have for us this month.

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

A lot. In fact, I was shocked by the number of updates. I had 23 updates on an XP computer with Microsoft Office installed. Even without MS Office, you are going to see a lot of updates. Not only that, but I found I still had a critical Silverlight update that needed a second trip to Microsoft Update after a restart in order to get all of them. It’s a big long bunch of updates (I’ve seen the download at about 175 MB).

Why so many updates? It seem that Microsoft fixed some code that was being targeted by malware in one area of Windows. They have discovered that same code was used in several products and places and this bunch of updates fixes all those other instances of the same code. At least, I hope so.

Here is a video on updating Windows XP manually:

Just a note:

I’ve seen a huge increase in the amount of email spam over the past few weeks. Have you? It’s gotten so bad I’ve considered deleting an email address for a few weeks to see if it clears out of whatever list it’s on. I’ve never seen it as bad. I am now winning about 10 lotteries a day and about 20000 employees and the Bank of Hong Kong have some defunct account worth millions they want to share with me. I am even getting email claiming to be refunds for people who have been scammed (I really hope no one falls for that one – I’d hate to see someone get taken twice).

Don’t fall for these scams. If they aren’t just outright scams, possibly just as bad they will lead you to a website that will infect your computer with malware. And Mac users, you are no longer immune, just like the rest of us.

Well, maybe not. In fact, with some in the computer field, it’s right up there with April 15th – tax day. This months updates includes some from Microsoft and Adobe. Also, we’ve had some very concerning news in the last week for Mac users. So, what’s up this month?

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

The good, the bad, the ugly of this month’s Microsoft Windows updates.

The good new is that there are not too many updates. I’ve been seeing six for Windows XP and just five on a Windows 7 machine. The bad news is Microsoft Office added six more on one computer. The ugly part is there are some .NET updates in there and they take forever to install. A restart is also going to be required.

How to Update Windows

Microsoft notes that it has seem some limited attacks using one of the vulnerabities that this patch fixes. The others have yet to be used. While all Windows updates are important and needed eventually, you can probably surf tonight and let it update when you go to bed.

Adobe releases updates for Adobe Reader and Acrobat.

Adobe Reader X

Nearly all computers have some PDF file reader. For Windows computers and Mac’s, that is probably Adobe Reader. First, you need to be using Adobe Reader X. Then you need to make sure you have the latest update of Reader X.  You can update Reader X by choosing “update” in the help menu. You can check the “about’ section in the help reader to make sure you’re running Reader X.

If you’re not running Reader X, you should go to the Adobe website and download and install from there.

Video: How to Install Adobe Reader X

Adobe Acrobat also need to be updated. Acrobat 9 and Acrobat 10 can be updated. If you are using an earlier version of Acrobat, I will you will need to pay to upgrade to a newer version. The older versions are unsafe to use in viewing PDF files.

Bad news for Mac users.

Recently, a large botnet made of Mac computers was discovered. Researchers initially had doubts about the claim but after checks it was confirmed. The botnet consists of over half a million Mac computers that have been overtaken by malware and are no longer under their owners control and the owners are most likely not aware. This move Mac malware and botnets into the same scope as Windows computers.

Apple did release an update recently. Did you patch your Mac yet?

Just one added note:

Tax day is coming up. Usually there are plenty of phishing attempts to get people to release information when they think they are responding to the IRS. The IRS will not contact you by email. They know where you live, you will get a letter. Beware of phone numbers in emails too. Scammers have actually started to use phone numbers to steal information as well.

Remember, keeping your computer and software up to date is the first step to keeping malware off it and keeping your computer safe.

This update is both bad news and it comes with some good news.

First the bad news.

There is a critical vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player.

Adobe Flash Player

The Adobe Flash software is installed on most computers and many mobile devices. Flash is available on just about any computing device except the iPhone and iPad. Even Apple computers still have Flash available to them. It is used for all sorts of things online and allows something to be written once and used on nearly any device that has Flash available for it. Facebook games and apps, website audio players,  and many website games use Flash. You Tube is mainly Flash although they are trying to switch to other technology. Some websites use flash extensively for interaction and animations on the page.

In this case, it looks like a memory corruption can be caused. This corruption causes Flash to crash. When it crashes, the attacker can slip in his own code and this allows them to gain control over your computer. They can then steal any information on you computer and/or use it for their own purposes like attacking other computers. This patch fixes the problem.

Vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash have been a big problem for a couple years now.

It seems like every other month or so we see a new problem with Flash and need to update it. In fact, some of the problems with Adobe Reader were really problems with the way Flash worked inside the PDF file in Adobe Reader. Part of the problem is the huge increase in Flash’s abilities from when it was first introduced. There weren’t the same security issues and Flash did not so nearly as much as it does now when it was first introduced. As more and more features have been added, there has been more possibility for problems to occur.

Click on this button on the Adobe.com webpage to update Flash Player

So, we’ve had to keep updating Flash whenever a new vulnerability is found.

Some problems Adobe doesn’t find out till someone starts to use it to install malware on the Internet. Others, Adobe finds out and releases a patch before it can be used. It’s been a hassle. There hasn’t been a good or easy way to update Flash on your computer. I’ve found even notification to be kind of unreliable. There has even been malware that pretends to tell you a Flash update is available and lead you to install malware. That’s one reason I try to encourage people to update Flash when ever there is an update so they don’t fall for fake update.

Now the good news!

This Adobe Flash Player update includes an auto update feature. When you update Adobe Flash this time you will see a screen that gives you the option for automatic or silent updates (it’s the first choice on the window that pops up). I suggest that you choose the auto update option.

It is unclear right now if all Flash updates will use this auto updater. I’ve read that there may still be times you need to agree to do the update. Even if it just does some updates in the background automatically, it saves you a lot of time and confusion every time it does. That makes your computer safer.

Here’s a video on updating Adobe Flash (make sure you read below for the special instructions).

To do this update you will need to go to the Adobe Website and download Flash once more.

Make sure you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer for the Adobe Website. At least, now we won’t have to do this as often and there is the chance you won’t have to do it very much again at all. I’ve included the video on updating Adobe Flash I’ve done before. The new update is nearly the same, there is just a new window during installation where you can check the auto update option. Make sure you choose it. I suggest going to Adobe.com as soon as possible.

Currently this silent or automatic update option is only for Windows computers. Like I said, you should do the Adobe updates using Internet Explorer. Other browsers like Google Chrome have their own version of Flash and the update may not work with them. My understanding is that an update for Mac OS is still being worked on so Mac users are stuck updating manually for now.

This Patch Tuesday brings a fairly small number of updates from Microsoft and some updates from Apple.

As I wrote this post, the Internet Storm Center issued a Yellow Alert! This is rare and was done to stress the importance of this Windows Update. It is important that you update now and make sure your Windows computer is updated for the RDP vulnerability below.

While Microsoft’s release is fairly small it has one very important update. The Apple updates affect any users of Safari which might or might not include you even if you don’t have an Apple computer.

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday release first.

Like I said, not too many updates to download. I had just 4 updates listed as critical to download and install on many XP systems. There are a few other that are considered optional that won’t be automatically updated if you only do automatic updates. There is one update that is very important.

One of the Microsoft updates is for the Remote Desktop Protocol known as RDP. RDP allows a Windows computer to be operated remotely from another computer using a network. With RDP, you can connect from another computer using that computer’s screen, keyboard, and mouse and it is just like sitting in front of the remote computer. This can even be done over the Internet. Addressing issues make this a bit complicated use over the Internet for an average person but it can still be done.

The Remote Desktop Protocol vulnerability this patch fixes could be very bad.

It has a hole that allows someone to connect to a remote computer without the correct credentials and gain full access to the computer. They can bypass not knowing the passwords for the computer and gain administrative (complete) rights on the computer.

This RDP problem Microsoft believes could even be wormable. That means attackers can simply connect and spread from one computer to another without the victims actually doing anything. With a virus, the victim must do something like visit a website, download a file, or receive and email. A worm sends itself to the next computer and all that computer needs for it to be attacked is connected to a network. Not even just turning it off is totally safe as a computer can be set up to be turned on by a network signal (don’t worry, you’re computer is probably not set up for this but it is conceivable). Again, any computer without this patch and connected to a network, virus software and firewall or not, could be attacked and taken over.

The good news is that there is no know use of the RDP vulnerability yet. However, Microsoft expects that this could change even within the next 30 days. Just moments after I wrote that, I discovered that a proof of concept attack was announced on the the Internet. This means active use of the vulnerability in attacks could start anytime now. So, make sure your computer is fully patched now.

Video: How to update Windows XP manually.

Just a note: there have been a lot of “fake” RDP exploits released in relation to this but the fear is there will be a real one coming very soon.

With Apple’s new iPad, they released a number of software updates.

There were updates to the IOS that runs on the iPad and iPhone. The updates that will affect the largest number of people though, are the Safari updates. The Safaro updates fix a large number of vulnerabilities and issues in Safari and the Webkit software it’s based on. Other browsers that use Webkit were updated this some time ago and there are some exploits this fixes. The update was overdue and you should make sure you’ve got Safari updated.

Who needs this Apple software update?

Well, if you have a Mac you obviously are a primary candidate. If you have an Apple device like an iPad, iPhone, or iPod you may need it even if you have a Windows computer. With iTunes, Safari is also often installed. That means you need the update. It’s possible you may have it even if you just let a friend connect his device to your computer for some reason. Also, many computers have Apple’s Quicktime multimedia viewer installed and may have installed Safari also.

Update your IOS device software if you have one. If you don’t have an Apple device, check to see if you have Quicktime, iTunes, or Safari on your computer (check the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel). You should be able to update the software from it’s menu system or you could remove it if you don’t need it.

Also, at a recent hacking contest, Google’s Chrome browser was finally hacked.

For the first time, someone managed to crack Google Chrome’s security. They earned a fairly large reward from Google (who pays anyone who finds exploits in Chrome and lets them know). The next day, Google updated Chrome to fix the problem. If you use Google Chrome, it’s already been automatically updated and you are still using the safest browser available.

Once again, make sure your Windows computer gets this month’s update as soon as possible!

In just the 2 days since the Microsoft Patch Tuesday release the concern over a coming RDP exploit has increase. Especially in the last few hours. This may be a very big problem very soon. Hopefully, it won’t prove to be such a big problem. There is serious concern that it could spread quickly and it will allow a complete take over of the computer with little defense. If you computer is simply on and connected to any kind of network when the exploit hits, it could be attacked. Patch now!

Microsoft had some important updates (they are all important but some are a bit more critical than others) but they were not alone. Adobe has an update. Java has an update. Finally, some important news if you have a smartphone or an iPad – which it seems nearly everyone does nowadays. *Update – while writing this post I discovered Adobe has release an update for Adobe Flash. This may be more important to update than the Windows update.

Let go check Microsoft’s updates for this month first.

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

The most important updates from Microsoft for most of us are the Silverlight update and the Internet Explorer update. These fix some potential areas where an attacker can run code on your computer to break into it.

Silverlight is used for online video and media. Not everyone has Silverlight installed though. Netflix is just one place that uses Silverlight to stream video to computers but I have seen others like network television websites that use it too. There were some problems reported with the Silverlight update originally. It never hurts to do a Microsoft Update manually to make sure everything is up to date.

There is also a .net update. I find the .net updates to be among the slowest of updates to install. They are often optional and not install as critical updates automatically. Many .net updates need to install separate from other updates too. If you’ve kept them updated, there’s just one this month.

You will need to restart the computer with these updates. I’m seeing about 7-9 updates on Windows XP systems. One or two more if you have Microsoft Office installed. The downloads are not too big the installation does take time.

On to the very important Adobe update.

This just as I was writing this post!

Adobe just released an update for Adobe Flash!

Adobe Flash Player

This is very important. This update has been needed for months now and there have been attacks against the vulnerabilities in use for weeks on the internet. Go to Adobe.com now in Internet Explorer and update Adobe Flash right away.

Adobe has two other updates this month. The first and most important of these two is for Adobe Shockwave. The best way to update Shockwave is to go to the Adobe website and install from there just like Adobe Flash. I usually do the Flash update and then the Shockwave update whenever I visit the Adobe site.

The other Adobe update this month is for Robohelp for Word. While not as widely used as other Adobe software it has an important update. I would think that you should know if you have Robohelp installed. If you’re not familiar with it, you probably don’t have it installed.

Next update is Oracle’s Java.

Java has an update too. I’ve found that many computers do not check for Java updates very often automatically. If Java is installed on your computer there is an icon in the control panel. Click the update tab and then update. You’ll need to close your browser and any other program using Java while you do the update (this strangely will include the Java control program too).

Now for the Smartphone and iPad security news.

Android malware and a botnet.

A security company recently released a report that they have discovered a huge botnet of Android phones. These phones have had malware installed on them. This allows the attacker not only to gain access to any user data on the phone but use the phone to send spam and to launch attacks on other computer systems. The botnet is made up of thousand of phones. The good news, depending where you live, is that this is mostly limited to Android phones in China. With Android, there is more freedom to get apps from different sources but this can also mean more risk.

Google also announced a new system designed to find apps that contain malware in their app store. Named Bouncer, it checks apps uploaded to the Android App store and eliminates those with malware.

iPhone and iPad privacy concerns.

It was discovered that Path, a social networking app for the iPhone was downloading users complete contact lists. Path fixed this problem and apologized to users. I think they handled it well.

This has led to the realization that any app on IOS (the iPhone or iPad) apparently also has access to any information on the device also. The app for your favorite website or game may be doing a lot more than you thought. There really is no default protection or warning telling users an app is accessing this data. Path is probably not the only app that has done this by a long shot.

That’s all for this month.

Make sure you have the Adobe Flash and Microsoft Updates as soon as you can. Make sure you get the other updates too. Be careful what apps you install on your phone and where you get them (for Android users).

I have lots of news for this month’s Patch Tuesday.

Microsoft has patches today and also released some out of band about a week ago. Did you get them? Adobe is releasing patches today also. Finally, I also will have a bit of an update coming right here at Online IT Guide.

First the Microsoft update news.

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

The update release for this Patch Tuesday is not too big in number of patches. Just six critical patches for XP (7 counting Microsoft’s monthly malicious tool remover). There is also an optional patch. You will need to restart your computer after updating. The patches are for all Windows operating systems. I don’t have a count for you on the number of patches for Windows 7 but it should be about the same.

One interesting update is for Windows computers that are Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. There is an Internet Explorer patch to fix a problem that allows information disclosure using the encryption meant to encode the information between you and a web server (SSL). The last one is seeing use already online and the patch may also help secure other browsers and not just IE. The problem is with the operating system.  Exploits are expected soon on most of the problems these patches fix for the ones that are not already exploited. You need to update very soon!

Microsoft also released an out of band patch about a week ago.

At the time the .net problem it fixed was not yet being actively exploited online. There has been an exploit released and from what I understand it is pretty easy to accomplish. Make sure your computer is updated or your going to be seeing some problems soon.

Adobe released updates for Adobe Reader X and Acrobat today too.

Adobe Reader X

Adobe release an update last month for those still running Adobe Reader 9. Adobe Reader X was left for Adobe’s normal release schedule as the sandbox technology in Reader X was believed to be good enough to keep it same till the full release. So, it is time to make sure Adobe Reader is updated on your computer too. If you are using Reader X you’ll probably get the notification icon on the lower right of your screen. Click it to start the update or update manually. I see these icons on computers weeks after these patches are released. It is there to tell you to do it now!

Maybe the icon should say something like “Update now or someone will steal all the money out of your bank account!”

A bit extreme maybe, but I just don’t understand why people don’t do these updates when they are so important to their own online safety.

I have yet to see an update for Adobe Flash.

I mentioned last time there were some new (bad) problems with Adobe Flash. I will be looking for it and let you know as soon as I know it is out.

Now for the last update news.

Within the next week, Online IT Guide will be getting a new theme and update. You can expect it to look a bit mangled for a few days during the process. When done, I hope it will offer some great features to my readers.

One new feature I am looking forward to is nested comments. Replies to  a comment will appear below the original comment.

The new theme and software will take me some time to figure out.

I had been using the old theme since I started blogging years ago. It was second theme I tried on a WordPress blog and was so effective, I have used it on all the WordPress sites I have had since. It was flexible and easily customized (so none of my sites resembled each other even though they all had the same framework underneath).

I am missing some of the ease of use the old theme had as I have been installing the new framework and them on some of my other sites. Should I see support improve for the old theme again, I’ll be able to recommend it highly. However, I’ve decided it’s time to make a change. I’ll be sharing some of the things I’m learning here.

Because of the impending theme update, I am not posting the videos on updating Windows or Reader I usually post. I am not sure what’s going to happen to the videos in previous posts either. I may be spending a lot of time adding them back to the posts over the next month.  So, happy January everyone.

This month’s updates are important if you use Windows. 

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

More specifically, it’s important if you view text on web pages or on emails. This Patch Tuesday is important if you use any Chinese language on your computer. It is important if you use Internet Explorer. It is important if you use Microsoft Office. It is important if you have an Apple computer and have Microsoft Office on it.

What? Microsoft Patch Tuesday important if you have a Mac? Yep.

There’s more too.

The most important patches this month are for TrueType fonts.

There is a security hole in the way Microsoft uses fonts. Just viewing a webpage where the bad guys have hacked it to send a font to your computer can allow them to install malware on your computer. This has been actively used recently and everyone needs this patch right away. Language related, the Microsoft IME which allows you to type Chinese on a Windows computer also has a security problem.

Here is a video on manually updating Windows XP

[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2coTJHY8O-8" type="youtube"]How To Update Windows XP Manually[/mc]

There are lots of fixes for Microsoft Office.

If your running Microsoft Office on your computer, there are lots of different fixes for MS Office this month. This includes Microsoft Office for OS X so you Apple fans need to make sure you update Office also.

There are some other updates too, these were just the most notable to me.

There have been and will be some non-Microsoft updates.

Google Chrome was recently updated to version 16. Chrome update automatically so you don’t have to do anything (most likely at least). There was a recent Java update so you should make sure your Java has been updated.

Here is a video on updating Java

[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2coTJHY8O-8" type="youtube"]How To Update Java[/mc]

Finally, the bad guys are picking on Adobe products again.

Adobe Reader X

Adobe release an update for Reader and Acrobat last week, make sure you have updated it (most later versions now check automatically and give you a warning). That’s the good news. The bad news is last weekend another Adobe Flash security hole was publicized. This one is in active use by the bad guys and there is no fix for it yet. I would expect a fix from Adobe on this fairly soon. Make sure you’re subscribed to this site, I’ll announce here as soon as I can after Adobe releases an update.

Here is a video on updating Adobe Reader

[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9mIyKUlMak" type="youtube"]How To Update Adobe Reader[/mc]

Lots to download and update this month.

My experience is the Microsoft Update this month has taken quite a while as it is fairly big. Don’t worry, unless your using a dial-up modem, it won’t take you the whole month to update. It just seems like it.

So, something for nearly everyone to update this November. Also, there is a major vulnerability that is not yet patched – I’ll save that for last.

First Microsoft’s monthly update.

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

Like I said, this month there are not too many updates from Microsoft. I’m only seeing 2-4 patches on well updated Windows XP and Windows 7 systems. Some needed restarts while at least one did not, so plan on a restart after the update.

Also, Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Office seems to have been released somewhat recently. You may see this if you choose the custom option in a manual Windows Update. It is a bit larger than a regular patch so maybe leave that one to run when you don’t need to use the computer. That’s all for Microsoft updates at the moment.

[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2coTJHY8O-8&feature=youtu.be" type="youtube"]How To Update Windows XP Manually[/mc]

Adobe also announce a critical update for Shockwave.

Shockwave is an animation plugin a bit similar to Flash. I am really not sure why both are still in use (any Shockwave experts out there that can explain this to me?). There is a chance you don’t have it installed (it’s not as widely used as Flash). The best way to see if you have it installed is to check the Add/Remove Programs in Windows Control Panel. If you have it installed (or still are not sure if it is or not) go the the Adobe website adobe.com and update it by downloading and installing it. It is very similar to installing the Adobe Flash Player and I usually do both when I go to the Adobe site (and then I check Reader to be safe). If you are sure you do not have Shockwave installed, you may not need it. Just remember never follow any link to install it if you are on a website that says you need Shockwave. Always type in the Adobe.com site and then install it yourself.

Here’s a video for updating Adobe Flash and Shockwave

[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL2mmSSfKks" type="youtube"]How To Install or Update Adobe Flash Player[/mc]

Apple released some updates for Mac OS today too.

My understanding is the update is primarily to update Java (the rest of the world updated Java several weeks ago). There were several bulletins by Apple on it so this does fix several problems. Do whatever you do to make sure your Mac OS is updated.

Also, I’m hearing of malware targeting the Mac OS more and more. It’s time to make sure you have some form of anti-virus software on your Mac.

Finally, I’ll end this post with something for you to worry about – the Malware Duku.

Sounding like something that could be fixed by a Jedi, Duku is an information gathering trojan. Initially, it seemed to be targeting specific organizations. This malware is installed in your computer simply by viewing an html document with an embedded infected True-Type font. Yep, a font. This could infect your computer just by viewing a web page with the font embedded in it. It may be possible just viewing an html email with an embedded font could infect a computer.

At the time of this post, there is no patch to fix this. Microsoft does have a work-around Fix-It but the accounts I have read find it is not very good and tends to mess up things on the computer. I will post here as soon as I hear of a patch from Microsoft for Duku. If you not subscribed to this site yet, you may want to sign up for the free email newsletter or subscribe to the RSS feed so you’ll know when there is an update. I expect there will be an out of band update for this one. It is in use on the Internet and infecting computers right now.

That’s all for now. Don’t just surf the Internet, dive.

There’s also been quite a lot of updates over the last month that were released out of schedule. So, what’s up for this month? Again, Apple users will have some downloading too.

Kind of an average number of patches from Microsoft this Patch Tuesday.

I’ve been seeing roughly ten on both Windows 7 and Windows XP systems. One of the more serious patches is for Windows 7 and Vista systems. Updates this month are seen for Silverlight, .NET, and media center with the . NET possible being the most important. Also included in this months patches is an update for Internet Explorer (all versions). I needed to restart the computer on both XP and Windows 7.

Here’s a video on updating Windows if you want to check if your computer is updated.

[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2coTJHY8O-8&feature=related" type="youtube"]How To Update Windows XP Manually[/mc]

Apple users are going to see some updates soon too!

iTunes will be updating. Very likely due to the new iPhone coming out. Also, Mac OS Lion will be seeing an update or two soon. One of the updates is security related.

Over the last month, Microsoft released a couple out of band updates.

Both involved the bad certificates issued as I mention in a previous post. Apparently, not all the bad domains in the bad certificate were revoked in the first try.

Adobe had updates last month too.

Adobe Flash Player

It’s never a bad idea to check Adobe Reader (you can check for updates in the help menu of Reader) for updates. I also suggest checking the Adobe website to check your flash installation too. Linux users got a 64 bit Flash player update (and there was much rejoicing).

Remember, remember the 5th of November?

The hacking group Anonymous did promise to hack Facebook on November 5th. With all the privacy screw ups (including a current one which Facebook denied and apparently did so falsely) and security problems Facebook has, I suspect they will not have too much problem. I am questioning the safely of having an account on Facebook on November 5th. It could be a wise choice to delete a Facebook account unless you want your email and phone and any other personal info shared with the world instead of your friends. I’m not sure if I will or not. Not yet anyways.

That’s all for this month’s Patch Tuesday.