Jeff Rivett has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s. His first computer was an Apple II+, built by his father and heavily customized. Jeff's writing appeared in Computist Magazine in the 1980s, and he created and sold a game utility (Ultimaker 2, reviewed in the December 1983 Washington Apple Pi Journal) to international markets during the same period. Proceeds from writing, software sales, and contract programming gigs paid his way through university, earning him a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree at UWO. Jeff went on to work as a programmer, sysadmin, and manager in various industries. There's more on the About page, and on the Jeff Rivett Consulting site.
A new version of Chrome fixes eleven security issues and adds some enhancements, including indicators that tell you which tab is generating audio, better blocking of malware files, and stability and performance improvements. The version of Flash embedded in Chrome was updated to the latest version (12.0.0.41) as well.
Included in a massive set of updates released yesterday by Oracle was a new version of Java. Version 7 Update 51 fixes a whopping thirty-four security vulnerabilities in previous versions.
If you use a web browser in which Java is enabled, you should install the new version as soon as possible.
A new version of Adobe’s Reader software was made available yesterday. Version 11.0.06 includes fixes for several security vulnerabilities. All the details are available in the new version’s release notes.
It’s a light month for Microsoft patches, with only four bulletins, none of which are flagged as Critical. The updates fix vulnerabilities in Office, Windows, and Server software.
This month’s Ouch! newsletter (PDF) from SANS covers the basics of securing your home wireless network. There’s not much here for experienced professionals, but if you’re not sure whether your home wireless network is secure, this is a good place to start.
Oracle will issue another massive batch of updates for its products in its next Critical Patch Update, on January 14. From the pre-release announcement:
This Critical Patch Update contains 36 new security fixes for Oracle Java SE. 34 of these vulnerabilities may be remotely exploitable without authentication, i.e., may be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password.
Microsoft has confirmed that they will stop issuing updates for its anti-malware software Security Essentials on Windows XP systems after support for Windows XP expires on April 8, 2014.
While I’m sure this comes as no surprise to anyone, since Microsoft will no longer be issuing any patches for Windows XP past April 8, it’s an important consideration for anyone who plans to run Windows XP after that date. Anyone doing so should also stop using Security Essentials and install anti-malware software that will continue to receive updates.