Patch Tuesday November 2019: all the security news you need this month for your small business computing.
iPhone Updates
After iOS 13 was released, some iPhone users experienced problems with their Mail app not showing conversations, or attachments or other weirdness. Apple released an update November 18th to address this problem.
Besides fixing the Mail weirdness, iOS 13.2.3 also fixes the problem with apps weren’t able to download new data in the background and the ability to search in some apps.
There’s also an update for iPads as well.
Other Apple Updates
Yes, Apple has been busy fixing problems with their software. iTunes for Windows was updated October 30th as was iCloud for Windows.
MacOS Catalina 10.15, macOS Mojave 10.14.6, and macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 were updated on October 29th.
And Safari and iWatch also received some update love on October 28th.
For the latest info on all Apple updates go here.
Google and Samsung Android
Google and Samsung fixed a security hole in Android phones that allowed rogue apps to record video and audio without your knowledge and then upload it to the web. More on the security hole patched by Google and Samsung here.
If you have a Google Pixel or Samsung Android you need to update your phones as soon as possible.
If you have an Android phone from any other manufacturer, keep an eye out for updates.
Google also patched a vulnerability where someone standing next to you could infect your phone with malware.
Google is being very proactive these days about security (including cleaning up their Play Store) but if the manufacturer of your device doesn’t test and release the patches quickly you are stuck with an insecure device.
Microsoft Updates
Microsoft released their monthly patches Tuesday November 12th.
Most important vulnerability that was patched was a security hole in Internet Explorer that also affected Microsoft Office. Even if you don’t use Internet Explorer, you still need to patch it as Microsoft has woven that thing into so much of it’s Windows and Office programming.
There were more patches for Office including one that affects Excel. And patches for the Edge browser.
Microsoft also released an update that’s supposed to make updating Windows 10 less painful and time consuming. We’ll see. At this point I would be thrilled if Microsoft spent more time testing their updates before releasing them to the world. Their haste isn’t helping.
Intel joins the Patch Tuesday Party
Intel, the chip maker, joined the Patch Tuesday Party officially this month. Intel released patches for their ethernet cards, Intel Management Engine software and CPUs. Watch for notifications on your desktop for Intel updates.
Adobe Agony
No Hot Flash this month. But Adobe released updates for parts of the Creative Suite, most notably security updates for Adobe Illustrator.
An ounce of patching is cheaper than a pound of hacking.