It’s snowing security patches this January 2024.

Patch Tuesday January 2024

Why patch? Interesting story this week about how hackers could infect internet connected drills. In the scenario hackers, having gained access to the network, could install ransomware on the drills or change the template settings for drill/torque strength. More drilldown on this story here.

The moral of the story is you need to patch every device on your network. Check out the Small Business Patch Primer.

Microsoft security snowflakes

Microsoft sure has been slinging out flaky updates in the past 6 months. I am still seeing Windows computers with the HP Smart App installed via Windows updates (even though the computer is not connected to an HP printer).

Microsoft released only 49 updates on Tuesday, fixing two critical bugs plus four severe flaws in the Microsoft Edge browser.

Before you update make sure you have a good backup of your files and programs. While your computer updates (you will see reboot notification in the task tray) you will lose access to network resources like printers and some file shares. Reboot your computer to finish updating and network resources will work again.

I found after the Microsoft Edge updates this week, Edge was very unresponsive and slow. Only a second reboot seems to fix the update problems to Edge.

Android Antifreeze

Google addressed numerous Android vulnerabilities this month including several that don’t require the user to authorize or even click on dodgy links. More details on the Android updates here.

If you’re not sure if your Android phone needs an update, click here to check and update your Android version.

Adobe alpenglow

Adobe released no security updates for Acrobat or Reader this month. No updates for other Creative Cloud software (example Photoshop) either.

Patch Tuesday January 2024: avoid icy security problems and security salt your business devices.

Apple Updates January 22nd

Apple released updates for all their products January 22nd.

The iOS 17.3 update adds the new stolen protection feature which secures data. Apple also patched the privacy holes and arbitrary code problems.

Apple updated the Mac OS version Sonoma, Ventura and Monterey to protect from similar privacy holes and arbitrary code problems.

More details on the Apple Security releases here.