Daily Archives: November 20, 2023

• SlickRun — A powerful way to launch anything

  Posted on November 20, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.47 • 2023-11-20

  Look for our BONUS issue on November 28!

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  We all have that handful of programs that get installed on every new computer. Now we have another.

  Eric Lawrence, a developer hailing from Texas, has created a very nifty, free program called SlickRun that is so intuitive and so, well, slick that you will be using it in no time. SlickRun is so powerful that once you get it customized to your liking, it will become second nature.

  Things like “intuitive,” “slick,” “nifty,” “powerful,” and “free” are the sort of descriptors that find themselves on Deanna’s list of always installed software

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.47.0, 2023-11-20).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Launcher, Newsletters, SlickRun

• Microsoft adopts passkeys in Windows 11 — death to passwords!

  Posted on November 20, 2023 at 02:44 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  When Microsoft enhanced Windows 11 in a September 2023 update to support “passkeys” — a more secure form of authentication — it signaled the beginning of the end for insecure and hard-to-remember passwords.

  To create a passkey, you simply use whatever method unlocks your devices: a character-based PIN, your face, a fingerprint, or what have you. You then visit any website or other remote service that’s passkey-compatible. The server exchanges with your device an “authentication token.” This uniquely identifies you and the device you are using to sign in.

  The token is a private/public key pair. Your PIN, photo, or fingerprint is never sent across the network, where it could be intercepted by man-in-the-middle attacks.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.47.0, 2023-11-20).

  Public Defender FIDO, FIDO2, Newsletters, Passkeys, Passwords, PINs, W3C, Windows Hello

• A serving of zero days

  Posted on November 20, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  In a lighter-than-usual November release, Microsoft is patching 63 vulnerabilities, including three already under targeted and limited attacks and three deemed critical.

  Even though you and I will see the same number of patch installs, the number of underlying vulnerabilities for the month is down compared to past years. But that doesn’t mean you should change how you install updates — wait to see what side effects may occur, my usual recommended practice.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.47.0, 2023-11-20).

  Patch Watch CVE-2023-23583, CVE-2023-36025, CVE-2023-36033, CVE-2023-36036, CVE-2023-38545, Exchange, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Remote Desktop Connection, VMWare, Windows 10 22H2, Windows 11 23H2