Windows Security

Today we published the June 2014 Security Bulletin webcast questions and answers page along with the webcast replay. We answered six questions on air, with the majority focusing on the updates for TCP and Internet Explorer. The transcript also includes a question we did not have time to answer on the air.View the full article

As security professionals, we are trained to think in worst-case scenarios. We run through the land of the theoretical, chasing “what if” scenarios as though they are lightning bugs to be gathered and stashed in a glass jar. Most of time, this type of thinking is absolutely the correct thing for security professionals to do.View the full article

Today we provide advance notification for the release of seven Bulletins, two rated Critical and five rated Important in severity. These Updates are for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. The Update for Internet Explorer addresses CVE-2014-1770, which we have not seen used in any active attacks. Also, in case you missed it, last month we released Security Advisory 2871997 to further enhance credentials management and protections on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012.View the full article

Microsoft is committed to promoting a safer, more trusted Internet and providing monthly security updates is one of the ways our customers keep their devices and connections to the Internet more secure. Packaging updates together into a monthly bulletin cycle stems from customer feedback and offers a predictable way to help protect them against newly discovered threats.View the full article

Today we published the May 2014 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered 17 questions in total, with the majority focusing on the update for SharePoint (MS14-022), Group Policy (MS14-025) and Internet Explorer (MS14-029). Here is the video replay: We invite you to join us for the next scheduled webcast on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at 11 a.View the full article

Today, we released eight security bulletins – two rated Critical and six rated Important – to address 13 Common Vulnerability & Exposures (CVEs) in .NET Framework, Office, SharePoint, Internet Explorer, and Windows. We encourage you to apply all of these updates, but for those who need to prioritize their deployment planning, we recommend focusing on MS14-024, MS14-025 and MS14-029.View the full article

Today we provide Advance Notification Service (ANS) for the release of eight bulletins, two rated Critical and six rated Important in severity. These updates will address vulnerabilities for .NET Framework, Office, Internet Explorer, and Windows. As we do every month, we’ve scheduled the security bulletin release for the second Tuesday of the month, May 13, 2014, at approximately 10:00 a.View the full article

Today, we released a security update to address the Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerability first described in Security Advisory 2963983. This security update addresses every version of Internet Explorer. While we’ve seen only a limited number of targeted attacks, customers are advised to install this update promptly. The majority of our customers have automatic updates enabled and so will not need to take any action as protections will be downloaded and installed automatically.View the full article

At approximately 10 a.m. PDT, we will release an out-of-band security update to address the issue affecting Internet Explorer (IE) that was first discussed in Security Advisory 2963983. This update is fully tested and ready for release for all affected versions of the browser. The majority of customers have automatic updates enabled and will not need to take any action because protections will be downloaded and installed automatically.View the full article

Today, we released Security Advisory 2963983 regarding an issue that impacts Internet Explorer. At this time, we are only aware of limited, targeted attacks. This issue allows remote code execution if users visit a malicious website with an affected browser. This would typically occur by an attacker convincing someone to click a link in an email or instant message.View the full article

Today we published the April 2013 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered 13 questions in total, with the majority focusing on the update for Internet Explorer (MS14-018) and the Windows 8.1 Update (KB2919355). Two questions that were not answered on air have been included on the Q&A page.View the full article

T. S. Elliot once said, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” So as we put one season to bed, let’s start another by looking at the April security updates. Today, we release four bulletins to address 11 CVEs in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office.View the full article

Today we provide advance notification for the release of four bulletins, two rated Critical and two rated Important in severity. These updates address issues in Microsoft Windows, Office and Internet Explorer. The update provided through MS14-017 fully addresses the Microsoft Word issue first described in Security Advisory 2953095. This advisory also included a Fix it to disable opening rich-text format (RTF) files within Microsoft Word.View the full article

It is often said that attackers have an advantage, because the defenders have to protect every part of their systems all the time, while the attacker only has to find one way in. This argument oversimplifies the security landscape and the real strength that defenders can achieve if they work together.View the full article

Today we released Security Advisory 2953095 to notify customers of a vulnerability in Microsoft Word. At this time, we are aware of limited, targeted attacks directed at Microsoft Word 2010. An attacker could cause remote code execution if someone was convinced to open a specially crafted Rich Text Format (RTF) file or a specially crafted mail in Microsoft Outlook while using Microsoft Word as the email viewer.View the full article

Today we published the March 2014 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered eight questions in total, with the majority focusing on the updates for Windows (MS14-016) and Internet Explorer (MS14-012). One question that was not answered on air has been included on the Q&A page. Here is the video replay.View the full article

This month we release five bulletins to address 23 unique CVEs in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer and Silverlight. If you need to prioritize, the update for Internet Explorer addresses the issue first described in Security Advisory 2934088, so it should be at the top of your list. While that update does warrant your attention, I want to also call out another impactful update.View the full article

Today we provide advance notification for the release of five bulletins for March 2014, two rated Critical and thee rated Important in severity. These updates address issues in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer and Silverlight. The update provided in MS14-012 fully addresses the issue first described in Security Advisory 2934088. While we have seen a limited number of attacks using this issue, they have only targeted Internet Explorer 10.View the full article

I’m here at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, attending the annual RSA Conference USA 2014. There’s a great crowd here and many valuable discussions. Our Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) engineering teams have been working hard on the next version of EMET, which helps customers increase the effort attackers must make to compromise a computer system.View the full article

Today, we released Security Advisory 2934088 regarding an issue that impacts Internet Explorer 9 and 10. Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 and 11 are not affected. At this time, we are only aware of limited, targeted attacks against Internet Explorer 10. This issue allows remote code execution if users browse to a malicious website with an affected browser.View the full article

Today we published the February 2014 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered seven questions on air, with the majority of questions focusing on the MSXML bulletin (MS14-005) and the revision to Security Advisory 2915720. One question that was not answered on air has been included on the Q&A page.View the full article

In addition to today being the security update release, February 11 is officially Safer Internet Day for 2014. This year, we’re asking folks to Do 1 Thing to stay safer online. While you may expect my “Do 1 Thing” recommendation would be to apply security updates, I’m guessing that for readers of this blog, that request would be redundant.View the full article

Update as of February 10, 2014 We are adding two updates to the February release. There will be Critical-rated updates for Internet Explorer and VBScript in addition to the previously announced updates scheduled for release on February 11, 2014. These updates have completed testing and will be included in tomorrow’s release.View the full article

Today we’re publishing the January 2014 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered 16 questions in total, with the majority of questions focusing on the Dynamics AX bulletin (MS14-004), the update for Microsoft Word (MS14-001) and the re-release of the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 updates provided through MS13-081.View the full article

In January, there are those who like to make predictions about the upcoming year. I am not one of those people. Instead, I like to quote Niels Bohr who said, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” However, I can say without a doubt that change is afoot in 2014.View the full article