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MS-DEFCON 2:
Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it.
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Microsoft says NO to the F1 key
Posted on March 5th, 2010 at 07:21 2 commentsYou may have read about Microsoft advising people to avoid the F1 key. People who like to take jabs at MS have seized on the opportunity to point out that the Redmond Emperor Has No Clothes. Of course, you read this blog, so you knew that already.
As MS explains in Security Advisory 981169, if you’re running Windows XP and you use Internet Explorer, you’re vulnerable to getting infected if you press the F1 key to run help files offered up on the Internet.
You don’t have to worry about it. You’ve already upgraded to Windows 7. And you never, ever, ever use Internet Explorer. Right?
Forget the F1 key. Get Firefox or Chrome.
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MS-DEFCON 4: Get Patched
Posted on March 5th, 2010 at 07:15 22 commentsMicrosoft just fixed the really bad February patch. MS10-015 / KB 977165, which I wrote about two weeks ago, had a nasty habit of clobbering Windows XP machines. According to a Microsoft Security Response Center blog, MS10-015 is now offered “with new logic that prevents the security update from being installed on systems if certain abnormal conditions exist.”
In other words, if your WinXP PC is infected with the Alureon rootkit, MS10-015 won’t install itself, and you won’t be faced with an endless cycle of Blue Screens of Death.
With that big problem out of the way, it’s now time to apply the February Black Tuesday patches. Get yourself all patched up, then make sure Automatic Updates is turned off. The two March patches will be out next week, and you don’t want Microsoft to zap you. Again.
I’m moving us to MS-DEFCON 4: There are isolated problems with current patches, but they are well-known and documented here. Check this site to see if you’re affected and if things look OK, go ahead and patch.
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