Newsletter – June 2004
Security: Is your desktop secure?
Software applications need a stable platform on which to run. This is one of the reasons why UNIX is good for mission critical tasks. If you use Microsoft Windows, you are probably well aware of some problems. The intelligence and flexibility built into the Windows operating system makes it vulnerable to evil miscreants. For example, a feature which was supposed to make it easy for us to view our email turns out to be a security hole through which can wriggle all manner of worms, Trojans and other nasty viruses.
But there is something you can do. Now, its not often that we praise someone for their skill in fixing a problem that they actually created. But we have to say that Microsoft has come up with a pretty neat interim solution for dealing with the massive security holes they have opened up in desktop software.
Microsoft issues a constant stream of fixes aimed at patching these irritating vulnerabilities. It is very important to apply these fixes and patches. The stuff on your computer is probably confidential and valuable to you, and time lost recovering from disasters is no joke. However, unless you have a tame techie on hand to look after your computer, it can be hard to keep pace with what’s going wrong with your box.
The good news is that there is a painless way keep up to date with basic system patching for Windows. On Internet Explorer’s menu, select Tools, Windows Update (or point your web browser at http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp) and, in the page that opens, click on the little green arrow by "scan for updates". Then go and have a cup of coffee or check your email. When you come back to your browser, there will be a comprehensive report on what needs updating.
Moreover, run down the list, select the most important items, and then click Install Now, and the patches will be automatically downloaded and implemented. It’s easy and painless.
Two warnings. Before making any system changes, always make sure that you have backed up your data. And be aware some of the patches are quite large. You can still work while the patching is going on, but do it when you have plenty of Internet bandwidth available.
We recommend that you check for updates very regularly – and especially when you hear about a new Windows vulnerability. We plan to cover some other basic software security issues in future issues of this newsletter. If you are interested, look out for next month’s short article.
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