Executive Summary
- The US Treasury Department released an interesting advisory earlier this month suggesting they were prepared to file civil charges against the victims of ransomware who pay the ransom and anyone offering material support.
- Microsoft released patches for 87 vulnerabilities this month, making it the first month in 8 with less than 100 (and the first in 5 with less than 120).
- Twelve of this months patches address vulnerabilities considered by Microsoft to be critical.
- Adobe released a patch for a critical vulnerability in Flash Player that affects Windows, Apple / Mac, Linux and ChromeOS.
Microsoft patched 87 vulnerabilities this month, at least 12 were classified [by Microsoft] as CRITICAL with the remaining rated important, moderate or low.
Microsoft releases regular updates the second Tuesday of each month, often referred to as ‘Patch Tuesday’. These updates are categorized as Low, Moderate, Important or Critical. Details on the categories are available here. The updates can include any supported Microsoft product from Windows to Office to Internet Explorer and server products like Exchange and SQL Server. If you have one or more of these products installed, especially if the update is listed as Important or Critcial, it’s important that the updates are installed
Additional details on this month’s Patch Tuesday are available on the sites below:
Adobe has so far released 2 patches this month. A patch to a Flash Player vulnerability that’s cross platform (Windows,Apple / Mac, Linux and ChromeOS) and is rated Critical. The second is an update to Magento that’s also rated as critical.
Like Microsoft, Adobe now releases updates to their products on the second Tuesday of each month. Adobe will also release ‘out of band’ updates if necessary to address critical vulnerabilities in their products. Adobe products include Adobe Reader (for viewing PDF files), Adobe Flash Player (often used to watch videos, for interactive content like games, etc.), Adobe Shockwave and the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Lightroom, etc.).
Additional details are available from Adobe Here and Here including links to download the update(s) and instructions for installation.
Are you a small to medium sized business looking to leverage technology and enable your business and workforce to work smarter and more efficiently? Do you already have computers, servers, firewalls, VPNs or other technology that you’re not taking full advantage of? Are you looking for an IT Service Provider who understands small to medium sized businesses needs and the challenges that we face that can work with you to grow your business rather than just sell you time?
Cyber Tech Cafe an IT Service Company with a focus on helping small to medium business get the most out of their technology investment. As a small business ourselves, we understand the challenges you face and have designed our service offerings to help you get the most out of your technology dollar. We offer on-call, as needed support if you just need a quick fix or extra set of hands right now. We also offer maintenance plans that we call “MyIT” that are designed to address the most common concerns (patch management, disaster recovery / backup, log review, etc.) that are based on the number of workstations and servers that you have and have no term contract. We believe that, if you find value in what we’re doing, you’ll find a way to keep us around without contract saying that you have to.
If you have questions about the MyIT plans or have an IT need that you need addressed right now, let us know. We look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.