Patch Thursday?
By Davey Winder in Editorial
Posted in Blog, Windows, Security, Microsoft on
We all know that Microsoft issues security updates and fixes on the second Tuesday of the month. That is why it is called Patch Tuesday. So why the heck is Microsoft issuing a security patch today, a Thursday, in-between Patch Tuesday runs?
The twee answer is ‘who cares’ as long as Microsoft is fixing a hole? The slightly longer and serious answer is that we simply do not know. All we do know is that it is that rarest of beasts for a company that has built a reputation for taking a slowly, slowly, catchee monkey approach to bug fixing and security hole filling: the emergency security patch.
Indeed, this will be the first time since April 2007 that Microsoft has made such a move. Back then it was to cover the corporate arse as a well known vulnerability with .ani files was being exploited in the wild and getting a huge amount of publicity.
But this time it is different, this time there is no great media outcry and no great insider whispering campaign either. Which all points to a serious vulnerability that has not yet been made public, which does not mean that the bad guys are unaware of it of course. The very fact that an emergency patch is being rushed out suggests that there is either a real and imminent danger of it being exploited, that it is already being exploited or that if it were exploited it would have wide-ranging and harmful implications for Windows users.
All we know, all the IT security grapevine knows, is that the update will be rated as critical for Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003 and is scheduled to appear at 5pm this afternoon.
Rated: 60% (4 votes)
Loading ...Comment by - October 9, 2009 on 8:06 am
It was a very nice idea! Just wanna say thank you for the information you have shared. Just continue writing this kind of post. I will be your loyal reader. Thanks again.
Make a comment
Tag cloud
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
Most commented posts
- Has Microsoft gone mental?
80 comments
- Cuil frozen out: market share drops to next to nothing
- Xbox 360 FAIL
- 80 percent of viruses love Windows 7
- The 24GB RAM Desktop is born
- Use old version of Windows instead of Linux, says teacher
- Microsoft reveals time-based licensing model
- Google to buy Twitter?
- Has the US Army declared war on Windows 7?
- Windows XP: the invincible OS
Highest Rated Blog Posts
- Why ecommerce fails (100%)
- Google Chrome stands alone at PWN2OWN (100%)
- Betting on Hubdub technology (100%)
- Has Google gone insane as GMail goes back to beta? (100%)
- Chinese whispers as government implicated in UK hack attacks (100%)
- Crimeware toolkit targets 10,000 trusted sites (100%)
- Black Hat risk to migrating VMs (100%)
- Tough on cyber crime, tough on the causes of cyber crime (100%)
- Firefox 3, Beta 4, Enhancements 900, Tested 5 (100%)
- Has the US Army declared war on Windows 7? (100%)