Hi, Folks!
Today is Patch Tuesday for October 2019 and it’s pretty mild for anyone not using Apple products.
The next build of Windows 10, version 1909, will be released any time. This version will be minor compared to other Windows 10 upgrades and should be nearly indistinguishable from 1903. If you’re running 1903 now installing 1909 should have no negative impact. If you’re running an older version I recommend upgrading to 1903 before switching to 1909.
Windows 7 will fall completely out of support in only 3 months. Don’t run out the clock. If you are running a licensed version of Windows 7 you can still upgrade to Windows 10 and have a supported version of Windows for the foreseeable future. Get it done before it’s too late. Don’t want to do it yourself? Call me!
https://saferpc.info/contact/
This month we learned that sometimes the weakest link is support. ZenDesk, central to support for more than 120,000 companies from Airbnb to MailChimp to Vimeo, was hacked in 2016 and discovered it only last week. They’re doing things right: public exposure, contacting customers, describing the chain of events, getting outside help to research and resolve their issues. Unfortunately, this doesn’t eliminate the problems for the approximately 25% of their customers that were exposed in this breach.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program. The typical computer should see roughly 2 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.
Microsoft released updates for Windows, .NET, Edge, Internet Explorer, and MSRT (~ 1.1 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.
Apple released updates for macOS Catalina 10.15, macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update 2, Security Update 2019-005 High Sierra, Security Update 2019-005 Sierra, iCloud for Windows 10.7, iCloud for Windows 7.14, iTunes for Windows 12.10.1, iOS 12.4.2, iOS 13.1.2, iPadOS 13.1.2, Safari 13.0.1, Xcode 11.0, tvOS 13, and watchOS 6.0.1. These are security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install the most current versions.
macOS Catalina (10.15) is available! This is a large download and will take between 2 and 4 hours to install on most hardware. The release of macOS Catalina (10.15) means that macOS Sierra (10.12) is now no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS High Sierra (10.13) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.
iOS 12.4.2 and 13.1.2 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.
watchOS 6.0.1 is a security update. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.
tvOS 13.0 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.
Google Chrome OS 77.0.3865.105 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.
Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.
Important Notes
Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.
The release of macOS Catalina (10.15) means that macOS Sierra (10.12) is now no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS High Sierra (10.13) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.
The now-current release of the Windows 10 (1903) will cause your computer to feel unusually slow until it is installed. This is a side-effect of the Windows 10 upgrade cycle, which pushes out 3-6 GB through Windows update to get you to the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, it will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.
Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.
It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface.
Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.
Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com
Driver Updates
If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.
Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.1.9 improves cleanup, system restore, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu
Intel Driver and Support Assistant 19.9.38 improves device detection. This is not a security update.
https://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect
nVidia 436.48 adds support for newer hardware and improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
Browser Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.
Google Chrome 77.0.3865.90 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
Firefox 69.0.2 resolves several bugs, but follows shortly on the heels of 69.0.1, which was a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
Vivaldi 2.8.1664.40 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/
Email Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.
Thunderbird 68.1.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
Internet Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.
Prosody 0.11.3 resolves several bugs and improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start
Trillian 6.2.0.12 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/
aria2 1.35.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://aria2.github.io/
BrowsingHistoryView 2.25 adds support for Waterfox. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/browsing_history_view.html
DNSDataView 1.60 adds TTL. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/dns_records_viewer.html
FileZilla Client 3.45.1 resolves several bugs and adds stale version detection. This should be treated as a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/
MaxMind GeoIP2 201910 is a data refresh.
http://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/
PuTTY 0.73 is a security update.
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
WinSCP 5.15.4 is a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php
Media Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
MusicBrainz Picard 2.2.2 resolves dozens of bugs and adds several new features. This is not a security update.
Flickr Downloadr 3.2.3.1 resolves a JSON length bug. This is not a security update.
iTunes 12.10.1 is a security update. Use Apple Software Update to install the most current version.
Game Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
Steam 2019.09.19 resolves a beta bug. This is not a security update. Use Steam to update Steam.
PlayStation PS4 7.00 is a major update that doubles the size limit of parties to 16, improves networking, adds chat transcription, improves voice audio, adds Remote Play to more devices, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/system-updates/ps4/
Office Updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.
Artweaver 7.0.2 improves online update and error reporting, resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
http://www.artweaver.de/
Krita 4.2.7.1 resolves several bugs, improves color selector, layer controls, and adds new brushes. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/
LibreOffice Fresh 6.3.2 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update. (“Fresh” is the Beta version so stick with “Still” unless you don’t mind stability issues.)
https://www.libreoffice.org/
OpenOffice 4.1.7 resolves several bugs and adds support for OpenJDK. This is not a security update.
http://www.openoffice.org/download/
Paint.net 4.2.5 adds support for WebP format and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/
Adobe DNG Converter 11.4.1 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
macOS: https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/detail.jsp?ftpID=6743
Windows: https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/detail.jsp?ftpID=6741
Security Software Updates
One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.
OpenSSL 1.0.2t is a security update.
https://indy.fulgan.com/SSL/
RogueKiller 13.5.2 resolves several bugs, improves performance for large files, and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/softwares/roguekiller/
Wireless Network Watcher 2.21 updates the internal MAC database. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_network_watcher.html
PureOS 9.0 is a new major release of PureOS, updates libraries, dependencies and forging the way for the final release of the Librem 5. This is a security update.
https://pureos.net/download/
Converter Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
MKVToolnix 38.0.0 resolves several bugs, improves immutability, adds new default output (console) to mkvextract. This is not a security update.
https://www.fosshub.com/MKVToolNix.html
DVDFab 11.0.5.3 adds support for new encodings, updates libraries, resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm
Education updates
One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.
e-Sword 12.1 updates the downloader to support eStudySource. This is not a security update.
https://www.e-sword.net/
Utility Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
1Password for Windows 7.3.712 resolves several bugs, adds support for new features. This is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/
Agent Ransack 2019.2929 is a major update that adds high-DPI support, improves performance, improves PDF search, resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/
BgInfo 4.28 doesn’t provide a changelog, so should be treated as a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/
Sysmon 10.41 resolves a configuration parsing bug. This is not a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/
DesktopOK 6.59 resolves several bugs and improves color detection. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK
Etcher 1.5.57 resolves a startup bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/
FolderChangesView 2.30 adds “*.” support to include/exclude files without filenames. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/folder_changes_view.html
GoodSync 10.10.9 resolves several bugs and updates cipher list. This is a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?goodsync
NTLite 1.8.0.7165 adds new features, updates translations, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/
OSForensics 7.0.1004 adds clipboard viewer, AmCache viewer, auto triage, VM improvements, improved indexing, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/download.html
Password Security Scanner 1.46 improves reliability and adds support for Waterfox. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/password_security_scanner.html
Recover Keys 11.0.4.233 adds support for over 1,000 new applications. This is not a security update.
https://recover-keys.com/en/download.html
RoboForm 8.6.1 impose periodic Master Password check, add difference check to Backup/Restore, add import from Sticky Password, resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?rf
Rufus 3.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rufus.ie/en_IE.html
SearchMyFiles 3.05 adds support to specify time range in GMT. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html
WakeMeOnLan 1.85 updates the internal MAC database. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wake_on_lan.html
WifiInfoView 2.47 updates the internal MAC database. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html
WinScan2PDF 5.01 improves drag and drop page re-order feature, multiformat output, adds support for multiple scan operations. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF
WSUS Offline 11.8.1 improves detection of updates and resolves supersedence issues. This is not a security update.
http://download.wsusoffline.net/
Developer Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
AutoHotkey 1.1.31.00 adds Switch and InputHook, improves support for long paths, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.autohotkey.com/download/
Android Studio 3.5.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html
Node.js 12.11.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/
SQLite 3.30.0 adds support for aggregate filters, NULLS FIRST/NULLS LAST in order by, improves index, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html
Virtual Machine Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.
PPSSPP 1.9.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://ppsspp.org/downloads.html
Web Package Updates
These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.
YOURLS 1.7.4 is a security update.
https://yourls.org/
Drupal 8.7.8 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download
Joomla 3.9.12 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/
Nextcloud Server 17.0.0 adds remote wipe, improved 2FA, secure view, one-time login tokens, secure mailbox Outlook Add-in, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/
Adobe ColdFusion 2018.5 and 2016.12 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb19-47.html
phpList 3.4.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
http://www.phplist.com/download
phpMyAdmin 4.9.1 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/news.php
BuddyPress 5.0.0 adds BP REST API, group invites, group membership requests, improved WP integration, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed 2.11 (was Custom Facebook Feed) adds several new options, restores FB group access, and updates FB API to v4.0. This is not a security update.
myStickymenu 2.2.3 updates Pro features. This is not a security update.
Redirection 4.4.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
W3 Total Cache 0.10.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉
Regards,
Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/