Critical Adobe and Adobe Acrobat Update

Adobe has taken to using the same "patch Tuesday" as Microsoft. If you use Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat, it is strongly advised that you update as soon as possible. Personally, for home use, I have replaced Adobe Reader with an alternate PDF reader. There are a number of open source readers available from http://pdfreaders.org/.

From the Adobe Security Bulletin:

Summary

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Reader 9.3.1 (and earlier versions) for Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX, Adobe Acrobat 9.3.1 (and earlier versions) for Windows and Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 8.2.1 (and earlier versions) and Adobe Acrobat 8.2.1 (and earlier versions) for Windows and Macintosh. These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader 9.3.1 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX update to Adobe Reader 9.3.2. (For Adobe Reader users on Windows and Macintosh, who cannot update to Adobe Reader 9.3.2, Adobe has provided the Adobe Reader 8.2.2 update.) Adobe recommends users of Adobe Acrobat 9.3.1 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Acrobat 9.3.2. Adobe recommends users of Acrobat 8.2.1 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Acrobat 8.2.2.

Affected software versions

Adobe Reader 9.3.1 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX
Adobe Acrobat 9.3.1 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh

Solution

Adobe Reader
Users can utilize the product's automatic update feature. The default installation configuration runs automatic updates on a regular schedule and can be manually activated by choosing Help > Check for Updates.

Additional update information is available in the Security Bulletin.

Reference:

Adobe - Security Bulletins: APSB10-09 - Security update available for Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Microsoft, Windows, Security, Updates, Vulnerabilities, Information,

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Microsoft Security Bulletin Release, April 2010

Microsoft released 11 security bulletins to address 25 vulnerabilities: five rated Critical, five rated Important and one rated Moderate. The release affects Windows, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Exchange.

Also note that the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) was updated to include Win32/Magania.

The table from the Security Research & Defense blog, referenced below, clarifies the importance of the updates. Note further that Windows 7 is not affected in several of the updates.


References:

• MSRC: The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) : April 2010 Security Bulletin Release
• MSR&D: Assessing the risk of the April Security Bulletins
• TechNet: Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for April 2010

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Microsoft, Windows, Security, Updates, Vulnerabilities, Information,

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Fake Security Programs -- Rogues

Malware disguised as security programs; that is, rogues, have been plaguing internet surfers for the past five years. As time passes, the rogues have become more sophisticated, having the ability to disable Windows Update, firewall, antivirus and anti-malware software, cause web search re-directs and change file associations.

I follow a number of resources to stay up-to-date on the latest rogues. Often times two or three new rogues can be reported in any given day. These sources include sites such as Malwarebytes blog, updates by S!Ri on his blog, Bleeping Computer reports such as "Script kiddies making rogues for fame and not profit", SunbeltBLOG and others.

Security Garden readers may not have much interest in following those sites. However, it is important that you understand what a rogue is and what it can do. Even more importantly, understand how to check for and remove a rogue if your computer becomes infected. Just like the realistic phishing e-mails you may occasionally receive in your mailbox, the rogues are very realistic appearing.

The brief videos linked below were created by Microsoft to provide general information and help about rogue software. Take a few minutes now to add to your personal knowledge base so you will know not only what to do but, most importantly, how to prevent your computer from being infected.

What is rogue software?




How to check for rogue software?



How to defend your computer against rogue software?



Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Microsoft, Windows, Security, Safety, Information,



Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...