Wednesday, June 12, 2013

If you use Internet Explorer, you need to update

June's Patch Tuesday includes a critical fix for IE that covers all versions of IE on all versions of Windows.  That's just the sort of broad-based vulnerability that the Bad Guys will look for - "write once, pwn everywhere":
The IE update (MS13-047) grapples with 19 vulnerabilities and covers all versions of IE, from IE6 to IE10, on all supported versions of Windows, from XP to RT. It's just the sort of thing that might be latched onto by hackers as part of drive-by-download attacks, based on malicious scripts on compromised websites, and therefore needs to be patched sooner rather than later.
Details are posted on Microsoft's web site.  Microsoft (and I) recommend that you have Windows Update enabled, which will download these automagically each month.

I also recommend (although Microsoft does not) that you look at using Firefox or Chrome browsers.  Internet Explorer's security is a lot better than it used to be, but there's still quite a lot of legacy security fail built into it (*cough* ActiveX *cough*) that isn't in the other browsers.  The Opera browser is also pretty good.

4 comments:

  1. I'd just go with "If you use Internet Explorer, you need to STOP".

    :)

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  2. Peter at "Bayou Renaissance Man" blog says his system has had problems since the update. Have you heard of such problems from others?

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  3. JD, I haven't heard anything about that other that from Peter.

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  4. Thanks, I really appreciate your updates and insights on computer problems and security issues.

    I was scarred forever by several incidents involving FORTRAN and punch cards back in the misty depths of time. It put me off delving into anything involving any type of actual coding, so I rely on experts like you who graciously share your knowledge.

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