Patch Tuesday July 2015: lots of security sunscreen required by all this month.
Flashback
No, you’re not hallucinating: there were three different security patches released for Flash in the past few weeks. You should have been prompted, on both Mac and Windows, to update Adobe Flash several times. Do it now. These updates are protecting you from web nasties that are being actively exploited by hackers on both Mac and Windows.
These vulnerabilities are so bad that Firefox was blocking Flash content for a day until Adobe released a fix.
The best way to update is to go here , and run the update.
Java Jive
Oracle released an update for Java last week. This patch protects against a flaw that is being used by hackers on web sites and definitely affects Windows users. No word on whether it is being used against Macs yet.
The safest way to get this update is to go to www.java.com . Be sure to uncheck the latest annoying “feature” which wants to change your home page and search engine to Yahoo.
Skype
Hackers are calling all Skype users with malicious links. Microsoft advises all Skype users to change their passwords immediately while they figure out what is going on. More details here.
Windows Updates
Microsoft released 14 updates for all versions of Windows on Tuesday. All require restarting your computer. Most notable was a security patch for Internet Explorer.
Apple Pie
Tons of updates for Macs in the last few weeks.
First Apple released security updates for all recent versions of OS X, iOS devices (iPhones, iPads, iPods) and iTunes. Be sure to update all your iThingys as soon as possible.
Second, Microsoft released Office 2016 for Mac last week. This is a free update if you’re on Office 365. Besides adding new features, this version of Office has improved security.
An ounce of security prevention is cheaper than a pound of malware.
