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Microsoft patch numbers reach record levels

By Derek Sooman

On August 9, 2006, 8:22 AM

Microsoft's latest "Patch Tuesday" involved a new all time high number of updates. Nine of these were critical, and in total there were twenty flaws patched in Windows and three in Office. Out of all of these, eleven were publicly known or exploited before Microsoft provided fixes for them.

Of specific interest is a remotely exploitable vulnerability in Windows, which Microsoft reports is already being used in attacks on PCs. The problem lies in a Windows service that provides support for networking features such as file sharing and printer sharing, the company said in security bulletin MS06-040.
The flaw that was fixed in MS06-040 could enable an anonymous attacker to remotely commandeer a Windows PC without any user interaction.

So far in 2006, Microsoft has issued more patches than in 2004 and 2005 combined. Some have speculated right now is a prime opportunity for hackers to exploit the backlog of unprotected vulnerabilities. Indeed, according to Alan Bentley, managing director, EMEA, of patch management specialist Patchlink, between the backlog of unpatched issues, and the chances of new vulnerabilities being discovered in adjacent areas, "Exploit Wednesday" may soon be on the horizon!

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5 comments

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  1. August 9, 2006 8:41 AM
    i_need_answers said:
    DO you mean 2004 and 2005 combined?
    Reply
  2. August 9, 2006 10:59 AM
    DragonMaster said:
    LOL!
    Reply
  3. August 9, 2006 2:59 PM
    ThomasNews said:
    Uggh, took me a good while to updated OS updates with all these
    Reply
  4. August 10, 2006 11:49 AM
    DragonMaster said:
    What was long for me was to go on Windows Update with a K6-2 400MHz CPU running Win2k. (7 minutes of 100% CPU use when the green bar showing "Checking for updates..." is running, same thing every time, I disabled auto-update on this computer)I had 15 updates to install and the last update was about a month ago.
    Reply
  5. August 11, 2006 8:06 PM
    Night Hacker said:
    I disabled auto-updates after Microsoft installed their spyware to check for illegal copies of windows. I did not enable auto-updates so Microsoft could snoop around my computer and report back to HQ what it found.I'll take my chances with the hackers, I trust them alot more than I do Microsoft.
    Reply

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