Monthly Archives: August 2023

• Vulnerabilities everywhere

  Posted on August 14, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.33 • 2023-08-14

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Another month, another series of updates for seemingly everything on the Windows platform.

  But this isn’t just any month. Patch Tuesday once again coincided with the week of the annual security conference, Black Hat. The Windows-based topics range from “Hacking Bing.com (and much much more) with Azure Active Directory” to a briefing titled “Defender-Pretender: When Windows Defender Updates Become a Security Risk.”

  In addition, there is a talk called “Single Instruction Multiple Data Leaks in Cutting edge CPUs aka Downfall.” Better known as CVE-2022-40982, the flaw is a transient execution side-channel issue and impacts all processors based on Intel microarchitectures from Skylake through Ice Lake. Not to be left out, Apple and Android bugs have their own talks.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.33.0, 2023-08-14).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Patch Watch Canon, CVE-2022-40982, CVE-2023-21709, HVEC, Linux, Mint, Newsletters, Office 2013, outlook, Patch Lady Posts, Ubuntu

• Sadly, Windows 11 still isn’t great at multiple monitors

  Posted on August 14, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Josh Hendrickson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS

  

  By Josh Hendrickson

  Microsoft promised that Windows 11 would finally make using multiple monitors a better experience. But for every improvement, there are still too many glitches.

  In fairness, I’ll admit up front that I’m an extreme case. My multi-monitor setup may not be the most extravagant in the world; but as you can see, I have a pretty fantastic setup.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.33.0, 2023-08-14).

  Windows Aero, Display Scaling, Multiple Monitors, Newsletters, Snap, Windows 11

• More Microsoft Rewards tips and tricks

  Posted on August 14, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  You can earn points by playing games on Xbox — even if you don’t have a Game Pass subscription — or even by learning about new games!

  Last week, I looked at all the ways you can earn daily and weekly Microsoft Rewards points by using the Bing search engine and the Edge browser. But if you have access to an Xbox, you can earn significantly more points, even if you’re not a regular gamer.

  The number of apps involved depends on where you live and how much you travel, because the Rewards program has become attractive enough to exploit.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.33.0, 2023-08-14).

  Microsoft Bing, Edge, Loyalty Programs, Microsoft, Newsletters, Rewards, Travel, Windows, Xbox

• Folder Size Analyzer — What’s using up your hard drive?

  Posted on August 14, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  You know what hardware-focused people don’t do? They don’t keep their computer’s software cleaned up. My husband is no exception. I’m going to show him where that hard-drive space is going.

  Folder Size Analyzer by TweakNow is a great tool for finding out where the huge files and folders are hiding on your computer. As I use it on Hubby’s computer, you can follow along to find out where your own large files are.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.33.0, 2023-08-14).

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, File Size, Folder Size, Newsletters, Windows

• Are you gettng more spam in your inbox?

  Posted on August 12, 2023 at 21:07 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Recently at the office I had to go in and edit the spam settings because I got tired of all sorts of spam and email threats coming into the office.

  If you are on Microsoft 365 you can edit the spam levels by following this.

  If you using Desktop Outlook you can also adjust the spam filters inside the Outlook application.

  I’ve always been convinced that unsubscribing from something doesn’t work it just showcases to the firm that you exist.

  We’re also seeing emails that clearly are doing investigation and background checking – for example an email was sent supposedly from one employee of the firm to another. So clearly they harvested information from the web site and the email information posted there.

  So what about you?  Are you seeing more spam?

  Tech Help Patch Lady Posts

• Master Patch List for August 8, 2023

  Posted on August 10, 2023 at 07:22 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  I’ve updated the Master Patch list for the August updates.  Remember to always review the known issues we are tracking on the Master Patch List page. I will keep the latest info there.

  So far trending issues are:

  8/8/2023:  Still in the process of testing and evaluating updates but be aware that I am seeing failures to install the Exchange server updates for Microsoft’s mail server see this post. Microsoft has pulled the update at this time.

  Consumer tip:  If you are on Windows 11 and have any sort of third party menu or file explorer program, ensure that it’s up to date. If the start menu won’t launch be prepared to remove it. While I haven’t seen issues in my testing, it’s still too soon to be installing updates.

  Business tip: On August 8, 2023, Windows Updates for Server 2022 will add options for administrators to audit client machines that cannot utilize LDAP channel binding tokens via events on Active Directory domain controllers.  (more info in the master patch list)

  I am recommending at this time that you install Apple updates, I’m not recommending Windows updates at this time. I’ll have more details in the newsletter on Monday.

  • Windows 11 22H2: Recommended
  • Windows 11 21H2: If you have a Windows 11 PC and are a gamer, recommended
  • Windows 10 22H2: Recommended
  • Apple Ventura – Recommended for newer hardware – as always check with the applications you rely on if they recommend this release.

  As always, thank you all for supporting the cause! Remember a donation will give you access and if you donate $50 or more you’ll get a special code to enable text messages sent to your phone each time the Master Patch List gets updated and when I change the MS-DEFCON level.

  Windows Patches/Security Master Patch List

• Exchange patchers – August heads up

  Posted on August 8, 2023 at 23:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Still in the process of testing and evaluating updates but be aware that I am seeing failures to install the Exchange updates potentially on German language servers — unsure if it’s other languages see the comments in this post.

  Normally I would be urging you to patch Exchange mail server (Microsoft’s email server) updates as soon as possible but I’m seeing patching admins indicate that on some  machines it’s failing to install the patch. Note that when Exchange fails to properly install it will often turn the services off completely and then fail to turn them back on. Bottom line don’t panic, just go into your Exchange server and turn the services manually back on. Chances are it will recover.  Note it MAY be that this just impacts German language servers. Note that it is impacting all non English versions of Exchange. Seeing indications in the blog that it may be that locale only?  But given the time zones they may be the ones patching and those of us in North America are still testing. Bottom line, be aware of potential installation issues.  You may want to hold back a bit and see what happens.

  More on this in the Newsletter on Monday. I will also keep the Master Patch List page up to date on the latest.  In the meantime I would keep an eye on the Exchange blog site.

  Updates Master Patch List, Patch Lady Posts

• What’s up with the August office updates

  Posted on August 8, 2023 at 15:29 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Did I miss a month in the calendar?

  I thought Office 2013 was no longer under support as of April.  Not August but A-P-R-I-L.

  OH I see what they are doing…. it’s a “defense in depth” patch which is shorthand for saying that we clearly still see that a lot of you are using Office 2013 so we’d better fix it so it’s not used in more attacks.

  Proving once again that bugs will always be with us.  Once again more full analysis of what the risks are coming in the newsletter.

  Microsoft Office 2013

  Product	Knowledge Base article title and number
  Excel 2013	Description of the security update for Excel 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002451)
  Office 2013	Description of the security update for Office 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002439)
  OneNote 2013	Description of the security update for OneNote 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB4022167)
  Outlook 2013	Description of the security update for Outlook 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002449)
  PowerPoint 2013	Description of the security update for PowerPoint 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002399)
  Project 2013	Description of the security update for Project 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB4484489)
  Publisher 2013	Description of the security update for Publisher 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002391)
  Visio 2013	Description of the security update for Visio 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002417)
  Word 2013	Description of the security update for Word 2013: August 8, 2023 (KB5002445)

  Office Patches/Security August 2023 Black Tuesday, Patch Lady Posts

• August 2023 updates are out

  Posted on August 8, 2023 at 12:44 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  For Apple devices, while 16.6 was released back on July 24, your device may not have received them yet – or will be installing it shortly. As always, if you see any weirdness try turning the device off and then back on again.

  August is BlackHat and Defcon – the big security conferences held in Las Vegas and this month is a BIG release for security patches as well.

  We STILL do not have a patch for all affected version of Office/wordpad for last month’s security vulnerability in Office/html (if you remember it was patched in the M365 versions but not all) instead we have an advisory.

  Exchange mail servers have a patch.

  .NET’s have security updates.

  More in next weeks newsletters.  For now I start testing on my canary machines and you – you just hang tight and defer those updates.

  Windows Patches/Security August 2023 Black Tuesday, Patch Lady Posts

• Make the most of Microsoft Rewards

  Posted on August 7, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.32 • 2023-08-07

  MICROSOFT

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  Microsoft will give you points for using Bing, and more!

  Welcome to this first of a two-part series on how to earn rewards points, where to spend or donate them, and how to maximize your earnings.

  You can view the Rewards program as a bit of a bribe to use Microsoft’s search engine and browser, or you can see it as getting your share of the advertising money Microsoft earns on Bing and MSN. Every search engine makes money, but only Microsoft shares it with users through what’s now called Microsoft Rewards.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.32.0, 2023-08-07).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Microsoft Bing, Edge, Loyalty Programs, Microsoft, Newsletters, Rewards, Windows

• How can an e-cigarette know the age of its user?

  Posted on August 7, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The dominant e-cigarette manufacturer Juul filed in the US last month an application to sell a new technology that requires age verification and prevents the use of third-party, candy-flavored vaping cartridges.

  Juul nearly went bankrupt in November 2022 after agreeing to a $439 million settlement with several US states. The attorneys general of those states successfully argued that the company had marketed fruity flavors specifically to appeal to minors.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.32.0, 2023-08-07).

  Public Defender Age Verification, Bluetooth, health, Newsletters, Pod ID, Regulation, safety

• What the &$@!*& is Microsoft Loop?

  Posted on August 7, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Should you care?

  Microsoft Loop is a new way to collaborate online. A Loop component could pop up in an email, chat, or Word document. I’ll explain what they are and how to work with one, so you’ll know what to do when Loop appears on your screen.

  As usual, there’s a lot of Microsoft hype about Loop.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.32.0, 2023-08-07).

  Microsoft 365 Loop components, Microsoft Loop, Newsletters, Office 365
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