Patch Tuesday for August 2016

It’s update time again. This month Microsoft is making available nine updates, affecting Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Office. Five of the updates are flagged as Critical. A total 38 vulnerabilities are addressed with these updates.

The associated bulletin from Microsoft has additional details.

There’s also one new security advisory: Update for Kernel Mode Blacklist.

Potentially massive breach of Oracle POS software

The details are still not clear, but there is strong evidence of a breach of Oracle’s MICROS Point Of Sale (POS) software.

This software is used by many popular companies, and could affect as many as 200,000 food and beverage outlets, 100,000 retail sites, and 30,000 hotels. The primary danger to customers of these companies is theft of credit card information.

Affected companies include Starbucks, Sonic, IHOP, Hard Rock Cafe, and Burger King.

Update 2016Aug21: Brian Krebs’ ongoing analysis reveals that the breach may be much larger than originally thought, possibly even affecting Oracle’s corporate network. Oracle remains largely silent on the issue, which is prompting a lot of backlash from MICROS users.