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| Microsoft has described eight of the
vulnerabilities as critical. |
Experts at Sophos have urged companies and home users to act
quickly as Microsoft has released information about a dozen new
security holes in their products. Eight of the advisories are
labelled "critical", Microsoft's highest severity level, and could
leave users' computers vulnerable to attack.
"All businesses who use Microsoft software need to adopt a
regime of applying Microsoft security patches regular as clockwork,
or they will be leaving themselves open to potential attack," said
Graham Cluley,
senior technology consultant for Sophos. "In the past hackers and
virus writers have exploited vulnerabilities to break into
internet-connected computers, so people should strongly consider
patching now rather than waiting."
Microsoft has posted details of the vulnerabilities and made
available updates which are reported to fix the issues on its
website.
"The constant stream of security fixes from Microsoft is a
double-edged sword for the software company. On one side it sends a
message that Microsoft is acting positively to combat security
issues by issuing fixes and informing customers about the problems
with their software. On the other, it underlines the impression
that many people have that Microsoft's software has serious
security problems, which hackers and virus writers often attempt to
exploit."
Home users of Microsoft Windows can visit windowsupdate.microsoft.com to have their systems
scanned for critical Microsoft security vulnerabilities.
"Home users are particularly open to attack, because they have
often not downloaded the latest security patches from Microsoft,
and may not be running up-to-date anti-virus software or a personal
firewall," continued Cluley. "It's essential that all computer
users ensure their systems are properly defended."
Sophos recommends that every IT manager responsible for security
should consider subscribing to vulnerability mailing lists such as
that operated by Microsoft at www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/notify.mspx.
Sophos continues to recommend computer users practise safe computing as well as running
up-to-date anti-virus software.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.