Knowing that updates might cause a problem, please back up your computer first. You are backing up all the time already, right? Time Machine is a wonderful tool and is built in. If you want to supplement Time Machine with an additional backup, Carbon Copy Cloner from Bombich dot com is very popular and clients experience great results. You’ll need a couple of external USB drives, but the investment is worth it.

In case you are not familiar with how to apply patches, here are instructions:

On your Apple computer, even if your computer is set for automatic updates, it is good to verify that you have the most recent patches. Click on the image of the apple in the top left corner, and choose App Store. If not already selected, choose Updates inside the title bar that already contains the words: Featured, Top Charts, Categories, Purchased, and Updates. You may see many updates for your applications, and those are fine to apply, but the urgent one is the update called macOS Sierra Update and the version is 10.12.5. If you’ve not updated in a while, you may see other macOS updates too.

iPhone and iPad users, press on the Settings icon that looks like a gear. In the left-hand column, select General, and you’ll see Software Update on the right-hand column near the top. The most recent patch is for iOS 10.3.2.

If you want to configure automatic updates for your Apple computers, find instructions by searching for this phrase in Google: Automatic security updates os x site:apple.com

If you want to configure automatic updates for the iPhone and iPad, find instructions by searching for this phrase in Google: Automatic security downloads iOS site:apple.com

Please forward this to everyone you know who uses Apple devices and you want to help be more secure…

The post Get Apple’s Urgent Patches that Fix Dozens of Security Holes appeared first on Foster Institute.

Patching VMware, which is often used as a platform for many of your other servers, can be frustrating. If the patch causes a problem, there is a risk that all your servers hosted on that machine will go down.

This is one of those risk vs. benefit decisions that is so important, business executives must be involved.

On the one hand, the patch could interrupt business, but not applying the patch could be considered reckless.

Test the patch prior to deployment, when possible. Having a pre-planned, if not pre-tested, roll-back plan is crucial in case the patch causes a problem.

Preferably patch one server at a time so that, if the patch does cause a problem, at least the interruption is limited to that server.

Without the patch, someone could run programs on your computer, potentially taking control of the server.

The patch fixes a vulnerability in the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program, even if a customer is not participating in the program.

Please emphasize the last phrase to your IT pros.

Ask your IT pros to look at VMware’s information by searching for VMSA-2017-0007.

Please forward this to everyone who may be using VMware, so that they can alert their IT pros just in case they don’t know already.

The post Alert Your IT Team – Urgent Patch for Network Servers appeared first on Foster Institute.

Microsoft has released a series of patches related to the Windows Graphics Component. As IT professionals, we are tempted to think that, since it only applies to graphics, the patch isn’t that important.

Actually, the patch is very important. An attacker can execute code on your computers, perhaps even ransomware, if the patch is not installed.

We are seeing a trend during audits, of these patches being missing.

If you are a home user, be sure you are applying patches too. Chances are that you have your computer configured to auto-update.

And at your organization, be sure to alert your IT team that these patches to the graphics component are important too.

As long as your IT team is provided enough time to keep your system backed up, and to test the patches, then their applying your patches isn’t as ominous as hackers hope they feel it is.

And, as executives, you can help a lot by providing them time to focus on testing and deploying the patches. They are very busy already.

Please forward this to everyone you know whose systems may be missing these seemingly unnecessary patches. It will help stop the attackers!

The post Alert IT to Graphics Component Patches appeared first on Foster Institute.

A big problem is that security patches that protect against these kinds of breaches never reach users’ Android devices because of something known as Android fragmentation. When Google releases security patches, the patches are sent to device manufacturers, who are then responsible for releasing the patches for their different models. Some do not release the patches, or do so after a long delay.

Google is taking steps to help mitigate the problem, such as scanning phones and apps to look for Gooligan code and forcing resets of credentials to Google accounts. But so far that hasn’t been enough to protect those million users that have had their accounts hacked.

So, what can you do? Always stay up to date with the latest Android versions and patches. Choose a brand that has a track record for releasing patches every 30 days. Blackberry is one of those brands, but few people use those devices. If 30 days is too long to wait, consider using the Google Pixel line of Android phones since, because Google makes the devices, patches and upgrades should be available for download immediately upon release. Note: Brand names are mentioned to provide value to you. We do not receive any kind of compensation for mentioning brands. Another strategy is to install as few apps as possible on your device. Each app is a potential security issue and many people have installed apps that they realize are not essential, and some apps are rarely, if ever used.

Please forward this to anyone you know that uses Android devices and would like to be more secure.

The post 1 Million Android User Accounts Reported Hacked appeared first on Foster Institute.

A benefit of knowing when to expect patches is that patch time could be planned in advance. Now your IT Pros will have to be vigilant about applying Microsoft patches any time of the month. That’s the way it is with Adobe Flash, Java, PDF Reader, and browser patches.

And, patches do you no good until they are installed on your systems.

Applying patches is one of the best things you can do to protect against hacker attacks.

3 Cardinal rules for patches:

First, test the patches. Patches sometimes cause problems, especially Java patches, so they have to be tested. Test them ASAP so you can deploy them ASAP.

Second, use a staged deployment. Patches need to be deployed first to a few machines, then more, then to the rest of your network. That way, if a patch causes a problem, not everyone is down at the same time.

Third, always have a plan on how to “roll back” the patches if they do cause a problem. That’s just another reason to always have good backups and test your ability to restore.

Microsoft says the new “ASAP” patch release proactive will start when Windows 10 is released. That will probably be in July 2015.

Please post your comments below…

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