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"Patch Tuesday" Recap...
"Patch Tuesday" is the day each month that Microsoft releases their newest security updates, typically the second Tuesday of the month (January 13). This month there were one "critical" and seven "important" security patches affecting Microsoft Office and Windows. Remember that security patch updates are required for the MA Data Security Law and other industry security compliance standards.
For a full breakdown, check out the Microsoft Security Bulletin posted on line. Note that in the days leading up to Patch Tuesday, there is always an advance notification, which gets replaced by the actual bulletin on the release date.
A "critical" patch is defined by Microsoft as "a vulnerability whose exploitation could allow the propagation of an Internet worm without user action". As a general rule, all critical patches should be installed as soon as possible. Also, if you have a managed service support plan with us, all patches are tested before installation, and we are tracking the updates for you. Note that there are many other types of updates, and if we are doing managed updates, the blind updates through automated updates will be disabled.
Heads up for Planning - The last day for support for Windows Server 2003 is July 14, 2015. Any servers running this operating system will be out of compliance for security on that date. Security patches for Windows XP were discontinued last April and you should not be running any of these systems on your network at this time.
...and remember to reboot at least weekly!
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