Patch Tuesday June 2024

Patch Tuesday June 2024: blooming security updates and Apple product blossoms for all small businesses.

Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month, is the day when most tech vendors patch security holes. If you’re not sure what to patch or why, read Patch Primer for Small Business.

Adobe Creative Security

Adobe released patches for Creative Cloud Desktop application (this app only inflicted on Windows users), Photoshop, Acrobat for Android and some other products. More details from Adobe Security Bulletin.

In more Adobe news, public outcry has forced Adobe to update vague AI terms in its terms of service. Once again it looked like Adobe was claiming the right to use subscribers content for their AI training.

Adobe has been caught before clawing customer’s private data for AI training. I first covered this last year with Microsoft wedded Microsoft Edge to Adobe Acrobat. Always good to check your Adobe Privacy and Personal settings regularly.

Apple Blossoms

Apple released new product info this month but no security updates (so far). The new version iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 arrive next month. In order to use all the new nifty features you will need an iPhone 15 Pro and higher (no lower models need apply).

While there are some cool home screen customizations, Apple mainly offers AI tricks that most users won’t want. More details on the iOS 18 here. Apple hopes the AI will make folks want to fork over for a new phone. For analysis of the new Apple AI, read Paris Marx’s blog here.

Also coming soon the new version of Mac OS Sequoia (also wedded with unwanted AI baggage).

Microsoft Recalls One Update, releases many more

Microsoft patched several critical vulnerabilities affecting Windows, the Edge browser and Office products on Tuesday. There’s evidence that hackers may already exploit one of the vulnerabilities to install ransomware. Complete list of Microsoft June updates here.

One side effect of Windows Updates: Microsoft changes the default app to open certain file types. I’ve had to correct this for several clients. In past months Microsoft decided to reassociate photo type files to open in their program instead of Corel Paintshop for example. This week Microsoft decided to reassociate all WordPerfect files ending in .wpd with Word as part of Windows Updates. If your files are opening weird, looking weird, check Default Apps in settings.

The big news is that Microsoft recalled the Recall update scheduled for Windows 11 after uproar from security and privacy experts. The Recall feature for CoPilot AI computers records practically keystroke by a user complete with screenshots and was poorly secured in SQLite database on the local computer. And Microsoft was going to enable this by default without asking. More about Microsoft delays Recall here.

An ounce of patching is cheaper than a pound of hacking. Be sure to schedule some time to patch your devices.