Microsoft to deliver patches by the dozen

Microsoft on Tuesday plans to release a dozen security bulletins, including a "critical" one for its own anti-spyware and other security products.

The bulletins, part of its monthly patch cycle, will provide fixes for an undisclosed number of security vulnerabilities, Microsoft said in a note on its Web site Thursday.

The software maker plans to offer fixes for Windows, Office, Visual Studio, Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC), and several of its security products, including its Windows Live OneCare package of antivirus, firewall and PC health tools and its Windows Defender anti-spyware.

At least four of the bulletins will be labeled "critical," Microsoft's highest severity rating. These type of security issues typically could allow an attacker to gain full control of an affected system with no or minimal action by the user.

Critical fixes are on tap for Windows, Office, MDAC and the security tools, Microsoft said. The company provided no further details on which problems it is fixing, other than that some of the updates may require a system restart.

There are 10 disclosed, but yet-to-be-patched security holes in various Microsoft products, according to eEye Security's zero-day flaw tracker. At least five flaws are known in Office and at least one in Visual Studio.

Last month, Microsoft pulled four planned security bulletins at the last moment. Those bulletins were slated to address bugs in Office.

[The_Dude7]

LOL!!!!!!!

Vista hasn't even been out for a month and already security holes??
thats sad

[nelzp0929]

Vista?

Can you tell me where in this article it says the patches are for Vista.

[nelzp0929]

Vista?

Can you tell me where in this article it says the patches are for Vista.

[DrakeLoneStar]

Patches are normal

Vista *has* been out since November, and the release candidate a month or two before that.

There are always going to be patches for OSes, not sure why peeps always jump all over it. There are more patches for Linux than there are for Windows... does that really mean anything? Nope.

Vista is a feature laden OS - you are going to see lots of patches for it - just as you do for Linux and the Mac and pretty much every other general purpose OS out there that contains as many lines of codes as these OSes.

Frankly speaking, MS has been a lot more responsive to its users lately - a good sign of things IMO.

I'm running Vista/IE7 now and feel very safe. I've found no glitches or troubles, and auto-update keeps me patches constantly, automatically.

Is Vista perfect? Nope. But it sure is nicer than XP - and it enables one to do more. In my book, it's definitely worth the upgrade price.

You pay at least 50 bux for a decent game, and most software applications costs a bundle these days... considering that you will only have to pay for Vista *once* in the next 5 years (or more) - it's a pretty damned good buy for what it offers.

Please note that I'm not putting Linux or OSX down - there are some things they do very well. But overall, speaking very generally, I think Vista offers by far the most bang for the buck.

Just my opinion after using it for a while now.

I'm loving it - it's sooooo hard to go back to XP now.

[Jschneeky]

Once again...

Where are the mac haters? I never see them on these pages...makes
one wonder...Oh well.

[rapier1]

Mac Haters

I don't hate Macs. I'm fond of the Macs that I won an its why I'm
going to buy another. What I do hate are Mac Fans like the type
that populate these pages.

"OH LOOK! Vista needs a patch! I'll make fun of it as soon as I've
applied the 2007-001 security update for OS X! and rebooted.
Again."

[nightstar]

MAC Users Brain Washed

Why would you even think of buying a PC that has only 25% of the software available for it? MAC's have their issues and most people just do not know about it. Trust me, once more people become brain washed and move over to these insane systems MAC's will be a huge target for security hole exposure. Why would hackers want to target a security hole where they will get 10,000 users vs 1,000,000 users. That would be a waste of time. Just remember MAC's are just as vulnerable if not even more vulnerable until the holes are exposed. I have a feeling MAC just keeps it hush and secretly updates your system while online so they can make those lame commercials.

[jesmac418]

Im a Mac user that's NOT brainwashed

I am a Mac user, and a windows user. I am NOT a computer user who thinks I cannot get malware. But I have been fortunate not to have had problems on my windows or Mac for a long time.Today malware is mostly a problem for those of us who tend to be careless in opening email and going to sites that trick a person into a malware download.
Mac user feel safer because they are safer.Not because the OS does not have potential holes in it. But because if a hole is compromised in most cases it cannot do anything unless the user allows it. Windows has had problems in the past because of this open policy of administrator being the default user. This allows for much of the malware to be installed even without so much as a prompt telling the user that a program has installed. This of course is being addressed in Vista and is one of the main reasons it should be safer. That is if the user does not start turning off some of these features.It is my belief that windows has been attacked much more not because of market share but because of the fact that hackers have a higher percentage of success infecting windows machines than Mac's.If hackers thought they could get 30% of Mac computers infected im sure they would look closer at Mac's.
I personally think security holes should be kept quiet until patches are issued. I do not think it is anybody's interest let this information out into the public to allow hackers to decipher.

[taoman1]

Yes

Finally a Mac user posts with a level head. I use both Mac and PC and I am sick of the way Mac users react on this forum. There really is a "reality distortion field."

[SandFarmer]

On this Forum? . . .

Everywhere!!!

And the zealots in the Apple Discussion areas are the worst. They'll gang up on you.