Patch Tuesday September 2015: all the latest security updates for your business here.
Apple released several updates last month. Quicktime for Windows was updated. There were some major patches for iOS devices (includes iPhone 4S and later, iPod Touch 5th generation and later and iPad 2 and later). Also OS X updates and Safari.
Coming up for Apple: Apple Watch 2.0 will be released September 16 along with iOS9. The new OS X 10.11 code named “El Capitan” will be released September 30th.
Microsoft hits some rough patches
Microsoft released 12 patches yesterday for all current versions of Windows and Office. Two fix security holes that are actively being exploited by hackers and that require little interaction from the user (i.e. you just have to go to the wrong page and you are infected).
Some of the recent patches for Windows 10 are causing some problems (see my rant here) but I still recommend for security reasons to update as soon as possible. And yes you will have to reboot the computer.
Adobe Shocker
Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash didn’t get patched this Tuesday. But the Adobe security update shocker is the Shockwave player got a patch. This relic from years gone by is hardly used on web sites anymore. I recommend instead of patching, you just uninstall it.
More details here.
Java Jive
Oracle released a new version Java for all operating systems including Mac. I’m still torn about this how necessary Java is for most users. You can either uninstall it and see if it breaks any web sites you use. Or update it immediately as it is a favourite with hackers. Go to www.java.com for that update.
Other important updates
WordPress updated to version 4.3 on August 18th. Since then almost all the usual plugins have been updated as well. Definitely schedule some time with your web site to patch.
Firefox and Chrome also updated in the last few weeks. Most of the nasty infections come via web pages so having patched browsers is very important.
An ounce of patching is way better than a pound of hacking.
