Daily Archives: August 18, 2015

Internet Explorer, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Emergency patch for Internet Explorer

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Earlier today, Microsoft issued a special update (MS15-093) to address a critical vulnerability in all versions of Internet Explorer. The new Edge browser is not affected.

Normally, security updates for IE are provided on monthly Patch Tuesdays. Since Microsoft is making this update available outside the regular update cycle, we can assume that exploits for the vulnerability have been observed in the wild.

The vulnerability is a bad one. Merely visiting a specially-crafted web page with Internet Explorer can cause malicious code to execute, leading to the possibility of an attacker installing just about any kind of software or accessing any information on the affected Windows computer.

If you use Internet Explorer, please use Windows Update to install this patch as soon as possible.

Patches and updates, Security, WordPress and other CMS

WordPress 4.3 released

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There are big improvements to password handling in the newest version of WordPress:

You start out with a strong password by default and you are given the option to keep it or choose your own. A password strength meter is available as well as the option to hide your password from prying eyes. WordPress will no longer send passwords via email and the password reset links will expire in 24 hours. E-mail notifications will be sent out in the event that an e-mail or password is changed.

The release notes for WordPress 4.3 list other changes. There are no security vulnerability fixes in this version, so updating is not urgent, but the password-related changes alone are worth the trouble.