More security fixes for Adobe Flash

Released yesterday, version 11.4.402.287 addresses security, performance and stability issues in the previous versions of Flash. Users are encouraged to install the new Flash as soon as possible.

Note that at the time of this post, the Flash Player Update Announcement on Adobe’s site shows the wrong version in the first paragraph. It should show the new version as 11.4.402.287 but instead shows it as 11.4.402.278.

Updates for Internet Explorer 10 and Google Chrome, containing associated fixes for Adobe Flash, were also released yesterday.

October 2012 Patch Tuesday Advance Notice

Another month, another batch of updates from Microsoft. On October 9, starting at about 10 am PDT, Microsoft will release patches that address a total of twenty vulnerabilities in Windows and Office. Seven security bulletins will cover the defects being patched, one of which is a critical vulnerability in Word.

Also included in the upcoming updates will be Microsoft Security Advisory (2661254): Update For Minimum Certificate Key Length. This update is the final step in a series of actions taken by Microsoft to improve Internet-based security for its products. This update will force RSA-encrypted communications in Internet Explorer and Outlook to use keys that are 1024 bits in length or greater. If you access secure web sites with Internet Explorer or use encrypted email with Outlook, this update may cause those services to stop working. For further details, see:

Another Java vulnerability revealed

As if things weren’t bad enough for Java on the web, security researcher Adam Gowdiak of Security Explorations yesterday announced yet another critical security flaw.

The new flaw apparently affects all versions of Java, including the most recent updates of Java 5, 6 and 7.

How does this affect users? Nothing has really changed: users are strongly urged to disable Java in their web browsers, since web sites are the most likely vector for attacks based on Java vulnerabilities. If that isn’t possible or practical for you, then your best course of action is to be extremely cautious when deciding whether to click any kind of link, in email or anywhere else. Simply visiting a web site can be enough to infect your computer.

Oracle has not responded to this latest report, and they have yet to respond to the previous Java vulnerability reports.

Google Apps dropping support for Internet Explorer 8

Google recently announced that it will be dropping support for version 8 and earlier of Internet Explorer in Google Apps.

The change will occur shortly after the release of Internet Explorer 10, on November 15, 2012.

Internet Explorer 8 is the most recent version of the web browser that runs on Windows XP, so anyone who uses Internet Explorer on Windows XP to access Google Apps will need to switch to a different web browser, or upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 after November 15.

Rants and musings on topics of interest. Sometimes about Windows, Linux, security and cool software.