The Great Pumpkin Patch Tuesday

The Great Pumpkin Patch Tuesday: lots of security tricks and treats for all the small business kids this month.

Microsoft Security Tricks

Microsoft released security patches for a scary 176 hacker holes. The trick? The Windows 11 update broke USB devices in recovery mode. This means if you try to repair the computer using recovery mode your keyboard and mouse won’t work. Microsoft is working on patch to fix the patch that broke USB devices.

One of the scary scenarios Microsoft patched against applies to the preview feature in Microsoft Office. Hackers can use malignant office document attachments which infect the computer when you preview them. If you have M365, you get patched automatically in the background (usually while you are trying to get something important done). More on Microsoft’s Great Pumpkin Patch Tuesday here.

This was also the last round of security patches for Windows 10. Don’t let the ghost of Windows past haunt you, upgrade any remaining Windows 10 computers you have around the office. I imagine hackers are salivating over Windows 10 computers as easy targets.

Lenovo Firmware Frights

Lenovo released a firmware update for most of the their laptops and desktops this month. What is firmware? Basically firmware helps the operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux) send commands to the actual hardware.

Lenovo frequently releases new firmware after bad Microsoft patches that break the hardware. Classic example from a few years ago: Microsoft patch disabled laptop webcams, Lenovo firmware update fixed the problem.

If you have a Lenovo computer, check the Lenovo Vantage software for device updates.

Firmware updates usually require the device to be plugged in and a lengthy reboot.

Apple Agony

Apple released patches to fix all their new software launched in September. You should be running Tahoe 26.1 on your Mac and iThingy software 26.1. More patches expected before Halloween.

Details on all Apple security updates and install info here.

With the release of iThingy 26, Apple will no longer release security updates for iPhones 11 and earlier. As most folks use their phone for authenticating business apps and other business uses, you should upgrade your phone.