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Computerworld - Microsoft today said it would deliver seven security updates nextweek, three critical, to patch 28 bugs in Windows, InternetExplorer, Office and other programs in its portfolio. But Microsoft's promise to start pushing an update to WindowsUpdate this week -- part of its response to the Flame espionage malware -- could disrupt this month's patching, one expert warned. The number of updates was right on the average so far this year ofseven per month, yet another indication that although Microsoftonce used an even-odd schedule, patching more vulnerabilities inthe even months, it has discarded the model. "It's totally flat-lined," said Andrew Storms, director of securityoperations at nCircle Security. "The up-and-down is totally gone." This month's Patch Tuesday will fix the largest number ofvulnerabilities -- 28 all told -- this year. In May, Microsoftfixed 23 security flaws. Of the seven updates, Microsoft tagged three as "critical," thehighest threat ranking in its four-step scoring, and the other fouras "important," the next-most serious rating. One update will address all supported versions of IE, ranging fromthe 11-year-old IE6 to last year's IE9; four will affect Windows;and the remaining pair will tackle vulnerabilities in all versionsof Office on Windows and Dynamics AX 2012, an enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) product. Storms singled out the IE update, identified in the advance notification as one of the three critical bulletins, as most likely to climb tothe top of users' to-do lists. "That's going to be the obvious one to deploy first," Storms said,using the long-established logic of security professionals to patchthe browser with haste because of its widespread use and its broadattack surface. Marcus Carey, a security researcher at Rapid7, agreed. "Browserexploits provide the most bang for the buck," Carey said in anemail Thursday. Storms suspected that the IE update will include a patch for one ormore of the bugs used by a French security company to hack thebrowser at the 2012 version of Pwn2Own, an annual contest that pitsresearchers against software for cash prizes. At Pwn2Own, Vupen Security exploited a pair of "zero-day" vulnerabilities to bypass Windows 7's defensive technologies and escape from IE9's"Protected Mode," the browser's limited-rights anti-exploit system. For its work, which included hacks of IE9 and Google's Chrome,Vupen took home $60,000 in prize money. Last year, Microsoft patched the three IE bugs exploited in 2011'sPwn2Own with three separate bulletins shipped in April , June and August. From Storm's perspective, this month is really Microsoft's firstopportunity to patch any of the Vupen zero-days. "April was toosoon," he argued, after the early-March contest. Microsoft's patchdevelopment, as well as the testing of those patches, usually takesmore than 30 days. I am an expert from hotelbathamenities.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Toiletries Travel Bag Manufacturer , China Hotel Soap, Hotel Slippers,and more.
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