Apply most patches – but avoid two

To recap my recent recommendations…

I recommend that you install all currently available Windows and Office security patches, except these two:

The KB 960715 killbit patch, which seems to zap some programs, and
The Autorun patch, KB article 953252 for Vista and KB article 967715 for WinXP, 2000, and Server 2003.

Other than that, patch away.

MS-DEFCON 3: Apply all outstanding patches except the 960715 killbit patch

The February Security Bulletin patches seem to be holding up pretty well. I haven’t heard any loud screams of pain. There are also exploits starting to circulate in the wild that take advantage of the patches security holes.

So I recommend that you install all outstanding Windows and Office patches, except for the KB 960715 Killbit patch. (What’s a killbit? Yuhong Bao has a great synopsis posted in response to my earlier blog.)

I’m tremulously upgrading us to MS-DEFCON 3, with the warning that you should avoid KB 960715: Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.