Tag Archives: Adminer

Updates 2021-06-08

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Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for June, 2021. There have been another couple dozen major security incidents, as well as some significant revelations impacting health, security and privacy. The latest Windows 10 release, v21H1, is out and it doesn’t change that much. Google has finally stopped their weekly security update cadence, though other vendors (including Microsoft Edge and Brave) have continued.

This Month in Technology

ABC affiliates, Apple AirTags, AXA, Biden’s Venmo account, Brenntag, CNA Financial, Colonial Pipeline (again), DigitalOcean, European biomolecular research institute, First Horizon Bank, U.S. Agency for Global Media, Guard.me, Herff Jones, Ireland’s Department of Health (HSE), JBS, Monday.com, Microsoft PatchGuard, NY MTA, OGUsers, One Treasure Island, Rapid7, Scripps Health and Whistler have been hacked.

A Qualcomm hardware vulnerability affects almost 40% of all mobile phones. Additionally, a dozen security vulnerabilities (called FragAttacks) have been discovered that apply to all Wi-Fi devices. (I’ll bet you miss that cable now, don’t you?)

Google released a “trial” feature to many Chrome users that effectively broke Chrome on their devices. Disabling the trial allowed Chrome to operate again. This is a perfect example of why you should never be forced into being in a beta program. iOS 14.6 is chewing through batteries. Microsoft released an update that broke compatibility with their own Office 365 services – Teams, Outlook and OneDrive. Google’s Nest thermostats are giving people the cold shoulder. Spectre is back again.

The antivirus that can’t protect you from crypto mining malware will now mine crypto on your device so they can use you to generate even more revenue for them. Better hope Norton 360 doesn’t get your home raided.

Amazon, the UK government, BBC, Bloomberg, CNN, The Guardian, NYT, and and many other major sites were taken offline today in a huge outage.

When your paranoid friend says the security app you’re using might be a government trojan, believe them.

Google & Apple are still making it impossible for users to keep their location private. Tor is being used to spy on “secure” user traffic. Again. A new privacy-compromising mechanism via cross-browser tracking installed apps can effectively identify your device. The TikTok App is collecting biometric data. The UK Test & Trace app does far worse.

GitHub has disabled FLoC. This is a good thing. Despite federal law, Chinese surveillance equipment is gaining US government customers. Taproot isn’t the privacy panacea it is perceived to be. On the topic of Snowden, he’s been vindicated (again).

Apple shares iCloud keys with CCP, Apple’s Find My can be used to leak secrets, has a “few” issues with notification reliability, and their techs regularly violate their users’ privacy. Due to so many arbitration cases Amazon is now allowing you to sue them…just in time, as they are now sharing your Wi-Fi with passersby. Dell lied about their Alienware laptop upgradeability. There’s a reason why so many people treat Microsoft Edge as malicious.

The Epic vs Apple lawsuit testimony is over, but Apple’s AppStore is still allowing malicious and fraudulent apps, while they pat themselves on the back for not taking even more money from their users.

Dr. Fauci lied about sponsoring gain of function research for biological warfare. He dismissed what he knew to be true, the lab-leak theory, and the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. He perjured himself. The MSM helped.

Biden shut down the last Wuhan lab investigation. What are the chances there will be a real investigation? Intelligence agencies claim otherwise and you know they have never lied. As is typical of the political elite, instead of broadcasting this everywhere, they’re targeting those that exposed it with death threats.

Governments and the MSM are concealing any true risk/benefit analysis, the miscarriages, Freudian slips, and VAERS spikes behind missing data, bad science, vastly overcounted cases, and propaganda. They’ve been caught red-handed manipulating the data.

The truth is the COVID death numbers are still dropping while post-vaccination infection – and death – are not rare. 5-10% suffer from severe adverse reactions in the hundreds of thousands. The CDC’s new rules acknowledge what many have known all along, vindicating those who opposed masks and vaccines and the vaccines are far from safe or effective.

The worst part is that there are still unsubstantiated and illegal mandates (that are supported by the low-information crowd…forever), and insane dogma that violates all reason. Such as yellow stars for the unvaxxed, forbidding the unvaccinated from  church, employment, University (sometimes even the vaccinated) and even West Point. The Red Cross won’t even accept blood from the vaccinated.

The UK government knows what’s coming, and most will be called “unrelated illnesses.” When life insurance companies see this as a non-event and politicians ignore their own agencies to fine the science it’s hard to take it seriously. There have been decades of vaccine research, and we know they’re designing vaccines that spread themselves – isn’t that the premise of most zombie films? mRNA rewrites the genetic code and enhances the illness. This is what it is designed to do. By the way, did you know that during mRNA trials all the mammals kept dying? They proceeded with the emergency use authorization anyway. The only immunity provided by vaccines is to the manufacturer. A second Nuremburg Tribunal is on the horizon.

The Supreme Court says the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is overbroad. Amazon is being sued over Antitrust law. The Ohio AG is trying to declare Google a public utility.

The government has repeatedly operated in concert with Big Tech to silence dissent, science, and discussion, in effect, laundering their censorship through third-parties. Governors and others are now going on the offense.

Now for the good news:

Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai is doing more to take down Big Tech than anyone else – by himself. Please help.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is huge. The typical computer should see roughly 3.0 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, Servicing Stack, Internet Explorer, and MSRT (~1.5 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for iOS 14.6 and iPadOS 14.6, macOS Big Sur 11.4, Security Update Mojave 2021-004, Security Update Catalina 2021-003, Safari 14.1.1, watchOS 7.5, tvOS 14.6, and Boot Camp 6.1.14. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 14.6 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 14.6 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 7.5 is a security update. Use your updated iPhone to install the most current version through the Watch app.

tvOS 14.6 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Updates to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 91.0.4472.81 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 Big Sur (11.x) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) 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 (v21H1) is very large, for the first time it’s actually smaller than the previous release, but it will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process 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. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

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.

Logitech Options for macOS 8.54.147 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/options

Nvidia 466.63 adds support for newer hardware, libraries and components, and resolves stability and performance bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Engine 3.22.0 now defaults to having Moments off, and resolves a crash bog. This is not a security update.
https://steelseries.com/engine

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.25.70 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 91.0.4472.77 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 91.0.864.41 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 89.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.11.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Thunderbird 78.11.0 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

AnyDesk 6.3.1 resolves several bugs and adds an adaptive resolution option. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

AnyDesk for macOS 6.2.0 resolves stability and display issues, adds tab, cursor follow, and window focus controls. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.77.0 is a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 123.4.4832 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog, so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.54.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

Minds 4.13.0 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.minds.com/mobile

Prosody 0.11.9 is a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

Technitium DNS Server 6.3 resolves several bugs and adds more than a half dozen new features, including failover and recursion ACLs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

WGet 1.21.1-1 updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://eternallybored.org/misc/wget/

Zoom 5.6.7.1016 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 2.0.15 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

Picard 2.6.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Plex Media Server 1.23.2.4656 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-media-server

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2021.06.07 resolves several bugs and improves cosmetics. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

PlayStation PS3 4.88 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps3/system-software/

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Audacity 3.0.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

LibreOffice Still 7.0.6 is the final release for the 7.0 branch. This version resolves 50 reliability, stability, and compatibility bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.2.2 resolves several bugs and updates libraries. This should be treated as a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Adobe Connect 11.2.2 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/connect/apsb21-36.html

Adobe Acrobat and Reader 2021.005.20148, 2020.004.30005 and 2017.011.30197 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-37.html

Adobe Photoshop 21.2.9 and 22.4.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb21-38.html

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.9.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb21-39.html

Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application 2.5 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/creative-cloud/apsb21-41.html

Adobe RoboHelp Server 2020.0.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/robohelp-server/apsb21-44.html

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.3 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop_elements/apsb21-46.html

Adobe Premiere Elements 5.3 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/premiere_elements/apsb21-47.html

Adobe After Effects 18.2.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb21-49.html

Adobe Animate 21.0.7 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb21-50.html

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

Tails 4.19 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

NSudo 8.2 removes ARM32 support, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/M2Team/NSudo/releases/latest

OnionShare 2.3.2 resolves several bugs and updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://onionshare.org/

VT-CLI 0.9.7 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://github.com/VirusTotal/vt-cli/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.31 provides cosmetic improvements, improves the updater and imgur compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

SnagIt 2021.4.1 is a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/enu/snagit.exe

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.8.5 adds archive support, sharing indicators, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 7.7.807 resolves several bugs, adds Windows Hello support, and adds archive support. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

Bitcoin 0.21.1 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitcoin.org/en/download

Bitwarden 1.26.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CCleaner 5.81.8895 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

Dell Command Update 4.2 improves download and logging. This is not a security update.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln311129/dell-command-update?lang=en

DesktopOK 8.88 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Everything 1.4.1.1009 improves NTFS detection. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Fido 1.19 adds support for Windows 10 21H1 and eliminate requirement for Internet Explorer. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

GoodSync 11.7.3 resolves several bugs and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

IsMyHdOK 3.21 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

NetworkTrafficView 2.40 adds several protocol controls and filters. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_traffic_view.html

NTLite 2.1.1.7917 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 9.2.1 improves selection interface, resolves several bugs with third-party apps and integrated elevation when required. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PointerStick 5.15 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

Process Monitor 3.82 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Process Explorer 16.42 switches default search behavior from find to filter and reports CET, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

PsExec 2.34 changes stderr output behavior. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec

RoboForm 9.1.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.roboform.com/

Samsung Data Migration 4.0 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

Sigcheck 2.81 resolves a signature validation bug. This should be treated as a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sigcheck

SimpleWMIView 1.45 improves sorting controls. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/simple_wmi_view.html

Sysmon 13.21 adds new filter conditions and resolves a crash bug. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TaskSchedulerView 1.68 resolves a pagination bug and improves sorting controls. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

TCPView 4.12 adds new filter conditions and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/tcpview

TraceRouteOK 2.52 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/TraceRouteOK

WifiInfoView 2.70 improves sorting options. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html

WinGet 1.0.11451 is the first release version of WinGet. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest

WinObj 3.10 extends search to include symbolic link targets.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/winobj

WinScan2PDF 7.11 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Android Studio 4.2.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

DB Browser for SQLite 3.12.2 updates the certificate for DBHub.io. This is not a security update.
https://sqlitebrowser.org/

Godot 3.3.2 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://godotengine.org/

Inno Setup 6.2.0 updates graphics and cosmetics, adds dark mode, improves logging, and adds several new scripting options and flags. This is not a security update.
https://www.jrsoftware.org/isdl.php

Node.js 16.3.0 upgrades libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.35.5 resolves several bugs and improves reliability and performance. This is a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Adminer 4.8.1 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.adminer.org/en/

Dada Mail 11.14.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
http://dadamailproject.com/

Drupal 9.1.10 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Joomla 3.9.27 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

Nextcloud Server 21.0.2 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

phpList 3.6.3 is a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

Piwigo 11.5.0 is a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

ScreenConnect 21.8.3558.7823 adds deep-linking support, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

WordPress 5.7.2 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

BuddyPress 8.0.0 improves the registration experience, xProfile fields, simplifies administration, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

Duplicator 1.4.1 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/#developers

Visual Composer 36.0 resolves dozens of bugs and improves consistency. This is not a security update.
https://visualcomposer.com/

W3 Total Cache 2.1.3 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/

WooCommerce 5.4.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

Show IDs 1.1.7 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wpsite-show-ids/

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/

Updates 2021-03-09

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Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for March, 2021.

This Month in Technology

Gab has been hacked at least a couple more times. (Would you trust the security of a Gab-owned bank?)

A new form of “supply-chain” attack demonstrating dependency vulnerabilities has been used against many major vendors, including Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, and dozens more.

32red, Accellion, Allergy Partners, Apple, Bombardier, CA DMV, Clubhouse Chats, Covenant HealthCare, CSX, D-Link devices, Ecuador’s Ministry of Finance and Banco Pichincha, the European Banking Authority, EXMO, Experian (again), France’s Ministry of Health, Georgetown County (SC), Hipcam (and other baby monitors), Humana, IBM, over a hundred Italian banks, KeepChange, Kia, Kroger, Lakehead University, Malaysia Airlines, Ness Digital Engineering, Ninja Forms, Ngrok, NurseryCam, Oxford University, RealPage, RIPE NCC accounts, Rockwell Automation PLCs, Maza, a Russian Cybercrime forum, Singtel, SITA (an airline service provider), SolarCity, PayPal, Qualys, Sendgrid accounts (to send spam – how could anyone tell the difference?!), Sequoia Capital, Signal, T-Mobile, TMS, 15 UK schools, Underwriters Laboratories, Universal Health Services, VMWare vCenter Server, Washington State Unemployment Department, Wawa, Apple’s WebKit, and Yandex have been hacked.

According to a study by Bridewell Consulting, 86% of UK critical national infrastructure organizations have experienced cyber-attacks. I think it would be more accurate to present these numbers as, “14% of UKs critical national infrastructure doesn’t have the technology in place to know they were hacked.”

Even more malware related to the SolarWinds hack has been discovered. Since AWS was used for the SolarWinds hack, shouldn’t Amazon shut AWS down, too?

Microsoft is now admitting that Azure and Exchange source code has been compromised by the SolarWinds attackers.

The big news this month is that a vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange (coincidence?) has resulted in over thirty thousand servers being hacked. This is huge. So what did Microsoft do? Microsoft has announced it has changed their policy to crack down on hosted email accounts that receive a lot of email. Sigh.

Another interesting new tactic, bitsquatting, has proved far more effective than one would think. The demonstration allowed them to hijack thousands of requests intended for Microsoft. Used maliciously, this method will cause serious damage.

Censorship has finally made it before the Supreme Court, but Dr. Suess is only the latest target, while Facebook allowed actual genocide, but forbade discussion about news articles, Google acknowledges their efforts to perform censorship “better,” and Firefox has released a new extension to aid in censorship, while Streamlabs waited for the payment to clear before censoring one paid user. The Beverly Hills Police Department is using the novel approach of playing copyrighted music to prevent their actions from being observed, and Congress is now violating federal law by demanding censorship of media.

It amazes me that people actually trust “fact checkers.” Censorship doesn’t work!

Poland isn’t taking it anymore. Italy is fining Facebook, too.

Tor was hacked years ago, but new implementations (like that in Brave) are still popping up with their own problems.

Another 21 million VPN users were taught the lesson about the difference between customers and products. If you’re not the customer, you’re the product.

Instagram (like parent Facebook) is sharing everything you do with law enforcement. So is Apple’s iCloud.

The Windows 10 implementation of web fonts can be used to hack you. Apple M1 chips (less than 6 months old) have been targeted with several pieces of malware, but we should trust the MORPHEUS chip, right? BTW, M1 Macs are eating their (soldered in) SSDs, too.

It’s not just Google. Apple can disable all of your accounts and services on a whim, too. Or for your name.

Amazon has been caught duplicating products, can they be trusted to sell your products or host your content?

Is half a billion dollars enough to get you to rethink a bad user interface?

The whole point of unified interfaces and consistent logins is to ensure a familiar experience so you know whether you’re visiting the real site. Attackers take advantage of this to build their own imagekits and forms, even using their own fake security measures to convince you you’re on the “real” site since they are forced to validate that *you* are really you.

The malicious Gootkit Trojan can help the SEO of your websites. Just not for you.

Never reuse passwords. Or hard-code them. And don’t use obvious passwords either. But if you do, don’t blame a fabricated intern.

Apple claims that a new (available since 2019, but only recently launched on iOS) application execution technique will make it more difficult for iPhones to be hacked,
while yet another iPhone bug has demonstrated to successfully jailbreak every active iOS/iPhone line.

North Dakota and Arizona may save the Internet by forbidding the ability for vendors to force the use of their own app stores.

While many treat Google’s lockdown of their data APIs in Chromium as a bad thing, I see it as getting Google further out of Chromium – which can only be a net positive.

AT&T and Frontier have consistently abandoned phone networks in California, but we knew that: AT&T said they were going to do this when Title II passed. Sometimes the only thing to make a company following through is enough bad press.

Deepfakes for everyone! While most focus on Deepfakes are about their potential for evil, they can be used for good.

On patents: Intel owes $2.2 billion for saving power, and Apple has violated several biometric patents.

Dr. Fauci has known all along that the PCR test was useless. The WHO has launched their own COVID-specific version of “we investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong.” The dystopian concept of vaccine passports has been struck down by the Council of Europe. Unfortunately their power is mostly cosmetic.

The CDC inflated “COVID deaths” over 1600% in violation of multiple federal laws. CDS is real though. COVID has been “really good for CNN ratings,” though. Thousands of people have died in the US from the experimental COVID “vaccines,” (and elsewhere) or suffered from other harm. Many more internationally. Quarantine internment camps are a real thing. People are being harmed from the tests (or forcefully vaccinated), too. You can do something about it. (They sure won’t.) BTW, the CDC has had to remove their claim that vaccines don’t cause Autism.

Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Texas have joined in on efforts to end lockdown insanity.

Don’t be selfish! Masks still don’t work, but masks can kill you. (At least they won’t rape you.)

Keep the pedophile, but ban the words.

Green Energy killed Texas. It shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.

Governors Cuomo and Whitmer are finally being taken to task on their “accidental” murder of thousands of nursing home residents. Don’t expect the President to get involved. Genocide is just “different norms” to him. Instead of those in “National Security” investigating this, they’re convinced their time is better used calling half the population terrorists.

Facebook has had more than 20 million child sex abuse incidents, more than 20x greater than any other website, including Google. Nevertheless, the masses aren’t calling for cancelling Facebook. It’s tolerance when “they” do it.

Speaker Pelosi (who is responsible for security at the House) refused National Guard assistance, supposedly over “optics“, before the staged January 6 “riot“. Chris Wray lied to Congress about Antifa dressing as Trump supporters. So did former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. They’ve knowingly falsified FISA warrants. So is it really any surprise there are calls to shut down the FBI?

Some states are finally allowing election audits, with evidence of 6% discrepancies in every single race, others as much as 78%, and other serious math problems, while others refuse to release ballots for inspection, purge election data, or allow the FBI to shred ballots without oversight or inspection. Then they poison the people they are forcing to guard them.

Is it any surprise that their Section 230 “reforms” are designed to completely silence online discourse? After all, the President doesn’t understand what “clandestine” means. (Quick tip: If you announce your intentions on the MSM, it’s not clandestine!)

The Babylon Bee is probably the best news site on the Internet, not because they actually have any news, but because they shine a light on the fraud that passes for news today.

Now for the good news:

California has finally been allowed to implement their own brand of Net Neutrality. I strongly oppose Net Neutrality, as getting government involved in something (even under the auspices of protection) always results in unintended consequences. This is, fortunately, no exception. CA Net Neutrality can now be used by myself and others to target Big Tech to penalize them for their continuous acts of censorship.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is huge. The typical computer should see roughly 3 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, Servicing Stack, Internet Explorer, and MSRT (~2 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for macOS Big Sur 11.2.3, watchOS 7.3.2, Safari 14.0.3, iOS 14.4.1 and iPadOS 14.4.1. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 14.4.1 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 14.4.1 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 7.3.2 is a security update. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 88.0.4324.186 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 Big Sur (11.0) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) 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 (v2009) is huge (about 18% larger than v2004, which was 25% larger than any prior build) so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process 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. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

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.

BullZip PDF Printer 12.2.0.2902 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php#download

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.3.7 improves cleanup and adds network path support. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

DirectX 9.29.1974.1 doesn’t provide a changelog, so should be treated as a security update.

nVidia 461.72 adds support for newer hardware and resolves several bugs. 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.

Brave 1.21.74 resolved several bugs. This is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 89.0.4389.82 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 89.0.774.48 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 86.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.8.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Vivaldi 3.6.2165.40 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Thunderbird 78.8.0 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Mumble 1.2.19 is a security update.
http://wiki.mumble.info/wiki/Main_Page

Prosody 0.11.8 is a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

Trillian 6.4.0.5 resolves a settings bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/

Dropbox 117.4.378 does not provide a changelog so should be treated like a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FreeFileSync 11.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Zoom 5.5.13142.0301 resolves several bugs, improves grid view, and better indicates when content is being shared. This is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 2.0.12 adds 3 new types of motion, show/hide shortcut, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

Flickr Downloadr 3.3.4.1 updates the Docker image. This is not a security update.
https://flickrdownloadr.com/downloads/

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Atom 1.55.0 allows git configuration without a repository. This is not a security update.
https://atom.io/

IcoFX 3.5.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://icofx.ro/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.1.1 resolves almost a hundred bugs. Remember that this is beta software, so should be avoided for the stable version whenever possible. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.1.3 is a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 7.9.3 adds new folder features that now prevent it working on Windows XP. If you are still running XP you should really consider switching to Linux, but if you must continue to use XP then use Notepad++ 7.9.2. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?npp32

VideoCleaner 5.8 improves Matrix, Sharpening and Mask features. This is not a security update.
https://videocleaner.com/download.html

Adobe Connect 11.2 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/connect/apsb21-19.html

Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application 5.4 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/creative-cloud/apsb21-18.html

Adobe Framemaker 2020.0.2 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/framemaker/apsb21-14.html

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

Tails 4.16 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

OpenSSL 1.1.1j is a security update.
https://www.openssl.org/source/

RogueKiller 14.8.5 updates core and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

Wireless Network Watcher 2.25 improved compatibility with high-DPI. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_network_watcher.html

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VideoCacheView 3.06 adds support for the new cache partitioning structure in chromium-based browsers. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/video_cache_view.html

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

MakeMKV 1.16.1 resolves several bugs and adds ARM support. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?makemkv

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.8 adds native M1 support and resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 7.6.793 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

CCleaner 5.77.8521 improves cleaning and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

ControlMyMonitor 1.28 improves compatibility with high DPI. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html

Coreinfo 3.52 adds reporting for CET (shadow stack). This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/coreinfo

Cygwin 3.1.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://cygwin.com/

Dell Command Update 4.1 is a security update.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln311129/dell-command-update?lang=en

DesktopOK 8.66 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Eraser 6.2.0.2992 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://eraser.heidi.ie/download/

Everything Toolbar 0.6.2 adds an installer, drag & drop support, elevation support, and more. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stnkl/EverythingToolbar/

Homedale 1.93 adds an option to set the gps baud rate from the command line. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

IsMyHdOK 3.01 resolves a bug in screenshot generation. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

NTLite 2.0.0.7820 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

OSFMount 3.1.1000 updates drivers and improves CLI support. This is not a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html

PointerStick 5.05 updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

QuickSetDNS 1.31 adds option to start hidden. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/quick_set_dns.html

TeamViewer 15.15.5 was released. The TeamViewer release notes have been unavailable for months now, so while it might be a security update, it would be safer to remove TeamViewer until these issues are resolved.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows/

TraceRouteOK 2.42 updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/TraceRouteOK

WinScan2PDF 6.91 adds support for multi-page TIF and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

WizTree 3.37 improves compatibility, refresh behavior, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wiztreefree.com/

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

AutoHotkey 1.1.33.05 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.autohotkey.com/download/

Node.js 12.21.0 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.16.0 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 15.11.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

TortoiseSVN 1.14.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tortoisesvn.net/downloads.html

Visual Studio Code 1.54 resolves an extension dependency bug. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PPSSPP 1.11.3 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.

Adminer 4.8.0 adds several new features and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.adminer.org/en/

Docker Desktop 3.2.1 updates the Docker Engine. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Drupal 9.1.5 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.8.0 adds a bunch of new features, improves permissions, brute force delays, style and administration improvements, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

Joomla 3.9.25 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

MailEnable 10.32 resolves several bugs and adds LDAP support. This is not a security update.
https://www.mailenable.com/

Nextcloud Server 21.0.0 improves performance (up to 10x!), collaboration, groupware and more. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

OpenPetra 2021.02 adds several new features, improvements, and resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.openpetra.org/

phpList 3.6.1 improves short URLs, PHP8 support, and security improvements. This is a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

phpMyAdmin 5.1.0 resolves several bugs, improves compatibility, and adds several new options. This is not a security update.
https://www.phpmyadmin.net/

ScreenConnect 21.3.2160.7699 resolves several bugs, renamed End to Delete, and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

YOURLS 1.8.1 improves IDN, UTF8, time zone, and PHP8 support, removes support for PHP 7.2, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://yourls.org/

WordPress 5.7 resolves several bugs and adds a few new features, improving accessibility, and (finally) adding a feature to update HTTP to HTTPS links throughout your site when you switch to HTTPS. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Akismet 4.1.9 improves handling of pingbacks in XML-RPC calls. This is not a security update.

BuddyPress 7.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Conditional Widgets 3 improves translation support. This is not a security update.

Contact Form 7 5.4 adds Sendinblue support, updates libraries and improves reliability and compatibility. This is not a security update.

Social Post Feed 2.19 improves error handling and reporting, cleanup, resolves several bugs and updates libraries. This is not a security update.

myStickymenu 2.5.1 improves instructions and compatibility. This is not a security update.

Postie 1.9.55 improves compatibility and removes legacy image sizing feature. This is not a security update.

Really Simple CAPTCHA 2.1 improves hash comparison. This is not a security update.

W3 Total Cache 2.1.1 resolves several bugs and adds information links and ogg caching support. This is not a security update.

WooCommerce 5.1.0 is a major update. This version improves compatibility, localization, and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.

WordPress Zero Spam 5.0.9 resolves several bugs and improves spam detection. 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/

Updates 2021-02-09

Posted on by

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for February, 2021.

This Month in Technology

Malware planted during the SolarWinds hack is still being discovered and SolarWinds is still vulnerable.

ADT (not just employee abuse), Amazon Kindle e-readers, Azure Functions, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Cisco DNA Center, Cyberpunk 2077, Excellus Health Plan, Inc., Experian, FiberHome routers, Forward Air, Golang, various Home Assistant integrations, iOS, libgcrypt, Linux (and macOS) SUDO, Malwarebytes, MeetMindful, Mimecast (also a SolarWinds victim), Nespresso smart cards, New Zealand Central Bank, NoxPlayer, Office 365, OpenWRT forum, Palo Alto Networks, the Pentagon, Perl[.]com, Pfizer, SonicWall, Stormshield, UK Research and Innovation, the UN, UScellular, USDA (again), Vermont Dept of Labor, VIPGames, Washington State Auditor’s Office, WestRock Co., WhatsApp, and Wind River Systems have been hacked.

The EU is fining (victims) of data breaches 39% more than two years ago. Grindr is exposing your information. SpamCop made a boo-boo by not renewing their domain on time, resulting in a huge amount of legitimate messages being treated as spam. The LogoKit phishing platform has been updated to “improve” effectiveness.

The UK Government is giving malware-infected laptops to students and the US federal government has repeatedly supported violation of the third and fourth amendments to plant recording devices on private property. There has been an increase of 93% of leaks and data breaches in 2020.

Whether you pay the ransom or restore from backups: PATCH the vulnerabilities!

I have always called for avoiding pirated software because it poses a unique security risk. Here’s an example. (avoid travelling by train in China)

Federally funded censorship and double-standards are being used to advance cancel culture in banks, coffee, journalism, patriotism, by mere association, while actually inciting violence with absurd rhetoric such as calling a kindly neighbor a terrorist for plowing your snow are being excused as acceptable. While censorship isn’t left or right only one side is willing to ban those most likely to join the military from joining.

Worse yet, they’re even targeting third-parties for cancellation for daring to support free speech. Heck, even Mike Rowe is being cancelled.

Some are actually upset that not enough censorship is taking place while ignoring actual calls for violence, funding terrorists, openly supporting child porn, hypocritically calling censorship a violation of election integrity, and arresting people for posting memes.

No matter how much the narrative is disproven – this was planned by others well in advance, and the capitol police were directly involved, which is probably why they refused assistance from the National Guard and DoD when offered multiple times. There’s plenty more.

At least there’s finally some pushback. Hopefully it’s not too little, too late.

Meanwhile, TIME acknowledges that they did, in fact, collude with big tech, large corporations and foreign governments in violation of state and federal laws in order to steal the election. (But don’t talk about it online!) By the way, is it just a coincidence that so many opponents of free speech are pedophiles?

Facebook will pay $300/ea to Illinois users for violating state biometric laws and yet, they have still violated Polish law and blocked & banned small investors while Zuckerberg bragged about how he censored Trump to prevent a free election. WhatsApp users are leaving in droves, while WhatsApp has shifted messaging to explain that user messages (notably not their “data”) can still be removed.

There’s been a surge in BSODs for some Windows devices after January updates. Microsoft has been beaten to the patch (again) by 0patch for a vulnerability in their installer system.

Google is above the law or at least, demands the ability to be excluded from it. They’ve also banned one app for supporting a popular open source file type and another for allowing access to content it doesn’t control (like Google’s own browsers), and violated their own terms to purge negative reviews in their App Store. YouTube is removing Senate testimony. It should come as no surprise then, that developers are realizing that “doing business with [Google] is a liability.” Do you really need more justification to de-Google?

Mozilla fixed a browser bug that could trigger physical damage to your SSD.

Amazon has been caught colluding, endangering privacy, hypocritically inciting violence, and stealing, all while pursuing the ability to run the Pentagon Defense Systems (in violation of their own Terms of Service).

Apple is throttling iPhones again, preventing sideloading on M1’s, and took five years to discover a widespread crypto miner in macOS.

Still trust your mobile security? Your operating systems have intentionally designed vulnerabilities/weaknesses.

Especially when it comes to science, sunlight remains the best disinfectant. It turns out “global warming” is worse when humans aren’t polluting the air. But sadly, facts don’t matter anymore, so months have passed and hundreds of thousands of lives were lost before political and social science caught up with actual science to acknowledge HCQ is, in fact, an effective treatment. And surely it’s just a coincidence that testing processes were changed immediately after inauguration?

Investigating and/or punishing people for refusing an experimental treatment (according to the FDA they’re not vaccines) is a violation of the Nuremberg Code, but that won’t prevent governments and corporations from doing it anyway, no matter how many times that is struck down as unconstitutional.

The CDC has illegally inflated COVID statistics, but is suppressing VAERS information about people dying like flies after injections.

Really though, can you trust any medical treatment created by people that struggle with math?

Now for the good news:

The Biden administration has dropped the federal lawsuit against the California Net Neutrality law. This will eventually be what breaks the Big Tech monopoly.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is huge. The typical computer should see roughly 3 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, Servicing Stack, and MSRT (~ 2 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, Security Update 2021-001 Mojave, iCloud for Windows 12.0 (off and on again), iOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.4, Safari 14.0.3, tvOS 14.4, watchOS 7.3, and Xcode 12.4. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 14.4 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 14.4 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 7.3 is a security update. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

tvOS 14.4 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 88.0.4324.109 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 Big Sur (11.0) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) 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 (v2009) is huge (about 18% larger than v2004, which was 25% larger than any prior build) so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process 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. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

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 18.0.3.6 improves cleanup. This is a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

nVidia 461.40 resolves a dozen bugs. 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.

Brave 1.19.92 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 88.0.4324.150 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 88.0.705.63 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 85.0.2 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.7.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

SeaMonkey 2.53.6 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 3.6.2165.36 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Mailspring 1.8.0 adds account colors, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://getmailspring.com/

Thunderbird 78.7.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

BrowsingHistoryView 2.46 adds support for Brave. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/browsing_history_view.html

curl 7.75.0 resolves dozens of bugs and adds several new features. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 115.4.601 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.52.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

Pocketnet-Core 0.18.18 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://pocketnet.app/

WinSCP 5.17.10 is a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.5.12494.0204 resolves a couple minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Java 8u281 is a security update.
https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 2.0.10 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

darktable 3.4.1 resolves about 20 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/install/

VLC Media Player 3.0.12 is a security update.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2021.02.05 resolves several bugs, improves compatibility, and improves cosmetics. This is not a security update.

PlayStation PS5 20.02-02.50.00 resolves a PS4 installation compatibility issue, improves editing video clips and improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Atom 1.54.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://atom.io/

Blender 2.91.2 doesn’t have a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

IcoFX 3.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://icofx.ro/

Krita 4.4.2 adds mesh gradients, mesh transform, gradient editor and halftone filter, new brushes, and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.1.0 resolves hundreds of bugs and improves reliability, stability, and compatibility. This is not a security update. This is beta software and should be avoided by most users.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Lightworks NLE 2021.1 adds dozens of new features and improvements, and resolves many bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.lwks.com/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.1.2 adds several new features: SVG client branding, push notifications for file changes, conflict resolution trigger and more. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

OpenOffice 4.1.9 improves stability and compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Paint.net 4.2.15 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/

FrameMaker 2019 Update 8 64bit (2019.0.8) doesn’t provide a changelog, so should be treated as a security update.
64-bit: https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/detail.jsp?ftpID=7063
32-bit: https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/detail.jsp?ftpID=7065

Adobe Acrobat and Reader 2021.001.20135, 2020.001.30020, and 2017.011.30190 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-09.html

Adobe Animate 21.0.3 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb21-11.html

Adobe Dreamweaver 20.2.1 and 21.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/dreamweaver/apsb21-13.html

Adobe Illustrator 25.2 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb21-12.html

Adobe Photoshop 21.2.5 and 22.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb21-10.html

Magento 2.4.2, 2.4.1-p1, and 2.3.6-p1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/magento/apsb21-08.html

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

Tails 4.15.1 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

RogueKiller 14.8.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

uBlock Origin 1.33.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

VT-CLI 0.9.0 resolves a bug with URL parsing. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/VirusTotal/vt-cli/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

SnagIt 2021.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?snagit

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Windows 7.6.791 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

Bitcoin 0.21.0 resolves over a dozen bugs and improves networking. This is not a security update.
https://bitcoin.org/en/download

Bitwarden 1.24.6 improves biometrics, search, and usability. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

Carbonite 6.3.8 resolves a bug with NAS backups. This is not a security update.
https://account.carbonite.com/

CCleaner 5.76.8269 improves cleaning and accessibility, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

CPU-Z 1.95 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

DesktopOK 8.44 improves toolset. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

DriveImage XML 2.60 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

Etcher 1.5.116 updates libraries and improves cleanup of temp files. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything 1.4.1.1005 is a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Fido 1.18 adds support for the latest 20H2 refresh. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

GoodSync 11.5.6 improves stability, reliability and sync, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?goodsync

Homedale 1.92 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

IsMyHdOK 2.81 adds automatic update and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

LessMSI 1.8.1 resolves a display bug. This is not a security update.
https://lessmsi.activescott.com/

NTLite 2.0.0.7784 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

ProduKey 1.95 adds option to extract partial key from WMI. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

PSAppDeploy 3.8.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://psappdeploytoolkit.com/

RAMDisk 4.4.0.RC36 resolves several bugs and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
http://memory.dataram.com/products-and-services/software/ramdisk

RoboForm 9.1.1 updates credit card storage data, resolves several bugs, and now uses secure transmission for automatic updates. This is a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?rf

SimpleWMIView 1.42 adds an option to start hidden. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/simple_wmi_view.html

TaskSchedulerView 1.66 adds pagination to the properties widow and adds Task Filename column. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

TeamViewer 15.14.5 was released. The TeamViewer release notes have been unavailable for over a month, so while it might be a security update, it would be safer to remove TeamViewer until these issues are resolved.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows/

USB Oblivion 1.16.0.0 adds ability to preserve desktop settings and clean UserAssist keys. This is not a security update.
http://www.cherubicsoft.com/en/projects/usboblivion

WinScan2PDF 6.55 resolves several bugs and improves scanner compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Android Studio 4.1.2.0 resolves a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

MySQL ConnectorNet 8.0.23 is a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/

Node.js 15.8.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.15.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.34.1 adds new features and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

StrawberryPerl 5.32.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://strawberryperl.com/

Visual Studio Code 1.53 resolves several bugs and adds several features and controls. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

WinMerge 2.16.10 resolves several bugs and adds new command-line switches and features. This is not a security update.
https://winmerge.org/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PPSSPP 1.11 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://ppsspp.org/downloads.html

VirtualBox 6.1.18-142142 resolves several stability and reliability bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Adminer 4.7.9 is a security update.
https://www.adminer.org/en/

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.10 improves compatibility with PHP 8.01. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Docker Desktop 3.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Drupal 9.0.11 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Drupal 9.1.4 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.7.2 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

Nextcloud Server 20.0.7 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

OpenCart 3.0.3.7 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.opencart.com/

Piwigo 11.3.0 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

ScreenConnect 21.2.2159.7699 adds a security tile to configure security options and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

SMF 2.0.18 is a security update.
https://www.simplemachines.org/

WordPress 5.6.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Social Post Feed 2.18.2 improves GDPR compatibility and resolves a deletion bug. This is not a security update.

Multisite Enhancements 1.6.1 resolves a path bug. This is not a security update.

Redirection 5.0.1 adds support for PHP 8 and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster 4.3.20 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Sucuri Security 1.8.25 updates the password reset process. This is not a security update.

W3 Total Cache 2.1.0 resolves several bugs and adds cache groups. This is not a security update.

WooCommerce 4.9.2 improves compatibility and disables untested plugins from status and plugin pages. This is not a security update.

WP Mail SMTP 2.6.0 improves compatibility. 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/

 

 

Updates 2020-12-08

Posted on by

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for December, 2020. It’s a big one and huge updates are available for over a hundred applications. A new OpenSSL released today means that there will be even more updates released in the near future, so this is only the first of at least two update series’ to top off December.

This Month in Technology

Apple (and others) are trying to make slavery legal, Apple’s cloud services choked this month as a result of their new on-demand certification and telemetry collection nightmare, Big Sur even bricks some MacBook Pro models, but they’re admitting that they intentionally throttled their older hardware, and Apple had a major security issue that allowed total control of their iPhones over Wi-Fi. While Apple has fixed that bug, their hardware is vulnerable to new forensic tools used by foreign (and likely US) governments to clone all the data from your device. This is “Epic.” Apple is cutting their App Store fees to 15% for small developers.

K12 Inc, Foxconn electronics, the City of Long Beach, TransLink (Vancouver public transit), Embraer, Kopter, Shirbit, Randstad NV, Advantech, Bowie and Miller Counties (TX), and Baltimore County Public Schools have all been hit with ransomware. If you leave your backup drives connected (tethered or networked) then there’s growing evidence that the backups will be targeted by ransomware before your active data. And some ransomware gangs are cold-calling if you try to restore from backups.

Millions of IoT devices are vulnerable to a newly discovered vulnerability, thousands of PickPoint lockers, LSU Health New Orleans, AspenPointe, and PlutoTV have been hacked. Dell was hacked years ago which resulted in their data being abused for scam calls to Dell customers. Class action happening now.

Walmart routers and many TCL TVs have backdoors, Gionee implanted malware in 21 million phones, and battery backups are used to infect mobile devices. Google Services are still being used to distribute malware, Google ads are being used to steal MetaMask. A year after the US Army’s Stryker armored vehicles were hacked the Army is finally building security defenses, and in other US military news, the military violates your privacy through third-party apps.

Social media icons are being used to inject web skimmers that are now using WebSockets to exfiltrate data using secure CloudFlare services.

If you trust your choice of password simply because a poorly designed study says that it would take thousands or millions of years to brute force a password then you should take a look at how a single quantum computer process the equivalent of 2.6 billion (with a “b”) years of computation in only 4 minutes, but using the latest quantum hardware isn’t even necessary for the vast majority of passwords since humans are so predictable.

In a random collection of news: MBAM is disabling Windows Printers. HMRC (the UKs equivalent of the IRS) has been abused to send phishing and malware messages (I warned them about this months ago). There is no end to PayPal’s hypocrisy, nor their censorship. GitHub reversed it’s decision about YouTube-dl. Twitch has failed basic English. Comcast is capping data in 12-ish more states next year, but giving service away for free to many others. The running joke about how social censorship would be similar to your phone company preventing you from talking about certain subjects has proven to be more prescient than humorous. Cannibalism is coming to a grocery store near you. A few years ago I found that a number of IT and HVAC services in the SF bay area had their Google listings hijacked and reassigned as Korean Restaurants. It was only the beginning.

The “science” behind masks has never been scientific, but that won’t stop petty tyrants from mandating their use even while actively eating or drinking, or censoring dissenting voices. False positive tests are still leading the charge, but lockdown-related homicides are still exceeding “COVID” deaths. Censors will always target studies that demonstrate overreaching government intervention.

California is pushing out the Orwellian exposure tracking and notifications across the state.

Now for the good news:

When this election is finally resolved it’s unlikely to get to this point again any time in the near future.

As a perfect example of what 2020 has brought us – the South African lottery drew 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, which is insane enough, but the real story is that 20 people had actually selected those numbers.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is huge. The typical computer should see roughly 2.5 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, and Servicing Stack (~ 1.5 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for iCloud for Windows 11.5, and iOS 14.2.1. Expect an update to iTunes, too, in the next few days. These are security updates.

iOS 14.2.1 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current version.

Adobe Flash Player 32.0.0.465 is a security update. Since Flash is going the way of the dodo along with the Year from Hell, this could very well be the last time you may have to install a Flash update. You’re still better off removing it yourself instead of updating. 🙂
Win: https://12pd.com/click?flash
Win: https://12pd.com/click?flashie
Mac: https://12pd.com/click?flashmac

Google Chrome OS 87.0.4280.88 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 Big Sur (11.0) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) 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 (v2009) is huge (about 18% larger than v2004, which was 25% larger than any prior build) so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process 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.

BullZip PDF Printer 12.0.0.2872 adds several new features, including improved email support, compatibility, and concurrent printing. This is not a security update.
https://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php#download

Crucial Storage Executive 6.09 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.crucial.com/support/storage-executive

Logitech Options 8.36.86 allows changing function keys, customizing mouse buttons, and adds on-screen battery notifications. This is not a security update.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/options

Logitech Options for macOS 8.36.76 adds Big Sur support, allows changing function keys, customizing mouse buttons, gesture controls, and adds on-screen battery notifications. This is not a security update.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/options

nVidia 457.51 adds support for new hardware, updates SLI profiles, and resolves several bugs. 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.

Brave 1.17.75 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 87.0.4280.88 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 87.0.664.57 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 83.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.5.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

SeaMonkey 2.53.5.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 3.5.2115.73 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Thunderbird 78.5.1 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Dropbox 111.4.472 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update. This version is not reliable on Windows 8.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FreeFileSync 11.4 resolves several bugs, and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

iCloud for Windows 11.5 is a security update.
https://apple.com/icloud

Technitium DNS Server 5.5 adds support for SRV records and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

WinSCP 5.17.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.4.59296.1207 adds meeting reminders, warnings for meetings that are only partially encrypted, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 2.0.8 updates libraries, improves sync and face tracking, adds ability to call shortcuts, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

iTunes 12.11 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Picard 2.5.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2020.12.07 is a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

PlayStation PS4 8.01 improves reliability. This is not a security update. Note that Sony changed the URLs without adding redirects, so the new location to download updates has changed:
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps4/system-software/

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Blender 2.91.0 adds several new features and controls. This is not a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

Adobe Acrobat (version yet to be announced) is a security update. Use Help, Check for updates to get the most current version…when it’s released.

Adobe Reader (version yet to be announced) is a security update. Use Help, Check for updates to get the most current version…when it’s released.

Adobe Lightroom 10.1 is a security update.
https://creativecloud.adobe.com/apps/all/desktop

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.7.0 and 6.4.8.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb20-72.html

Adobe Prelude 9.0.2 is a security update.
https://creativecloud.adobe.com/apps/all/desktop

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

Gpg4win 3.1.14 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html

Nmap 7.90 adds 1,200 new fingerprints, resolves over 70 bugs, and provides several new features. It also removes silent install. 🙁 This is a security update.
https://nmap.org/download.html

Npcap 1.00 is the first stable release of Npcap. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

RogueKiller 14.8.0 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

uBlock Origin 1.31.2 resolves reliability in Chromium. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Tails 4.13 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

OpenSSL 1.1.1i is a security update. Releases of OpenSSL always trigger updates for every other platform that uses networking in any way, so expect a series of updates for every other web platform you use in the near future.
https://www.openssl.org/

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

SnagIt 2021.0.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/enu/snagit.exe

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.0.9 adds support for new encodings, resolves several bugs, and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.7 adds Privacy integration, unlock with Apple Watch, MDM integration, improved password generator, and resolves over 100 bugs. This is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

Agent Ransack 2019.2951 improves performance at idle and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/

Bitwarden 1.23.1 resolves bugs with SSO and improves GDPR compliance. This should be treated as a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

DesktopOK 8.08 resolves several bugs and updates language support. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.5.112 updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything 1.4.1.1000 resolves a bug with silent installation, wide-character comparison, name munging and other bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

FileLocator Pro 8.5.2951 improves performance when idle and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorpro/download

GoodSync 11.4.9 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?goodsync

Homedale 1.90 adds support to load access points from CSV and improves frequency usage chart. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

HWMonitor 1.43 adds support for new hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

MS ISO Downloader 8.44 adds support for new media (including Win10 20H2v2) and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-download-tool

NTLite 2.0.0.7726 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 9.0 adds shred files support. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PointerStick 4.88 updates language support. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

Rufus 3.13 adds support for a 20H2v2, adds support to cheat certain disk images, improves error handling, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rufus.ie/en_IE.html

Sysmon 12.03 fixes reporting and a possible crash condition for certain rules. This should be treated as a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

SDelete 2.04 provides a new switch to avoid file/directory ambiguity. This should be treated as a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

WinObj 2.23 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

TaskSchedulerView 1.60 adds support for exporting tasks to JSON, and updates HTML export to HTML5. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

TeamViewer 15.12.4 resolves several bugs, improves performance, and adds support for more web cameras. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows/

WinScan2PDF 6.33 improves detection and operation with some hardware, updates language support, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DB Browser for SQLite 3.12.1 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://sqlitebrowser.org/

Inno Setup 6.1.2 adds Print support and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.jrsoftware.org/isdl.php

Node.js 12.20.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.15.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 15.3.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.34.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Adminer 4.7.8 adds support for PHP 8 and disallows connecting to privileged ports. This is not a security update.
https://www.adminer.org/en/

Drupal 9.0.10 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Drupal 9.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.7.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

Joomla 3.9.23 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

Nextcloud Server 20.0.2 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

phpList 3.5.8 adds new functionality to AJAX form and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

ScreenConnect 20.12.1734.7640 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

WordPress 5.6 updates libraries, adds several new features and blocks, a new theme, and more. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/download/

BuddyPress 6.4.0 is a security update.

Contact Form 7 5.3.1 now passes last_contacted based on submission timestamp. This is not a security update.

Multisite Enhancements 1.5.4 fixes favicon. This is not a security update.

Theme My Login 7.1.2 improves stability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

WooCommerce 4.8.0 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/

Updates 2020-05-12

Posted on by

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for May 2020.

The next build of Windows 10 will be released in only two weeks. If you don’t want to be the guinea pig I strongly suggest you update to v1909 as soon as possible if you’re running an older build. This will grant you a reprieve from the new version for a couple months. Let everyone else beta test and you can upgrade when they’ve worked out the bugs.

Furthermore, yesterday was the last day of support for commercial versions of Windows 10 prior to v1809 (build 17763). If you’re running an older version upgrade to v1909 ASAP to maintain security updates for your device.

This Month in Technology

Send a text, get root.

Even more bad news for Apple devices, as Google’s Project Zero has discovered “numerous new vulnerabilities” on all Apple hardware, and all Apple devices with Thunderbolt ports are vulnerable to an unpatchable security exploit.

But it’s not just Apple. Samsung is patching recent devices from their Galaxy line, though every Galaxy device they produced over the last 7 years is vulnerable to a similar “perfect 10” vulnerability in image parsing.

Ghost and LineageOS were hacked using known vulnerabilities in SaltStack that were left unaddressed. Fortunately it doesn’t look like any serious damage was done.

Pitney Bowes has been hacked again.

Watering holes (places that aggregate data from many accounts and services) will always be prime targets. If you’re not increasing your defense-in-depth posture at your watering hole, expect to be repeatedly violated. Ask LabCorp.

Government-approved monopolies are far too frequently granted exceptions others are not. PG&E, despite causing the fires that killed over a hundred people and destroyed over 25,000 homes and triggering the current insurance crisis in California, has had their $200 million fine waived.

Racists take aim at technology, banning the use of names of colors in the UK.

If you support the lockdown, is it because you hate science or just math? Face masks increase your risk, not the other way around. There’s no such thing as perfect safety.

I won’t try to make a distinction between the junk science you worship and actual science. You’re too far gone for that.

The lockdown is proving more lethal than the coronavirus as suicides exceed COVID-19 deaths in Australia.

Now for the good news:

A massive 10,000+ device botnet is dying out. Sadly, this isn’t one of the truly evil ones that was used for severe malicious actions, but rather just for downloading Anime.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Thanks to the unstopping barrage of updates pushed during “weekly update quarantine”, Patch Tuesday this month is not that bad. The typical computer should see roughly 1.2 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, .NET, Internet Explorer, Servicing Stack, and MSRT (~800 MB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Adobe Flash Player 32.0.0.371 is a security update.
Win: https://12pd.com/click?flash
Win: https://12pd.com/click?flashie
Mac: https://12pd.com/click?flashmac

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) and older are 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 (1909) is a pretty small update so will install quickly. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process 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

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.8.95 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 81.0.4044.138 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

Microsoft Edge 81.0.416.72 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 76.0.1 follows shortly after 76.0 which is a security update. 76.0.1 resolves several compatibility issues. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

Firefox ESR 68.8.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

SeaMonkey 2.53.2 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/

Vivaldi 3.0.1874.38 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Thunderbird 68.8.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Trillian 6.3.0.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/

Npcap 0.9991 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

Zoom 5.0.24046.0510 improves local privacy. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Picard 2.3.2 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Nintendo Switch 10.0.2 resolves a pairing bug and improves stability. This is not a security update.

Tekkit Server 1.2.9i disables mod update checks resolving a crash bug. This is not a security update.
http://www.technicpack.net/modpack/tekkitmain

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Adobe Reader DC 20.009.20063 is a security update. Use Help, Check for updates to install the most current version.

Adobe Acrobat 2020.009.20063, 2017.011.30171, and 2015.006.30523 are security updates. Use Help, Check for updates to install the most current version.

Atom 1.46.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://atom.io/

Adobe DNG Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.5.1 is a security update.
Win: https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/product.jsp?product=120&platform=Windows
Mac: https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/product.jsp?product=120&platform=Macintosh

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

RogueKiller 14.4.2 resolves a crash bug and updates service. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

TinyWall 3.0.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.24 resolves several bugs and adds two-pass FFmpeg option. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

SnagIt 2020.1.2 resolves several crash bugs and improves compatibility. This is a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/enu/snagit.exe

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

MKVToolnix 46.0.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.fosshub.com/MKVToolNix.html

HandBrake 1.3.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.5 adds password sharing by link, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

DesktopOK 7.17 adds silent install support, resolves several bugs, and updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.5.87 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

GoodSync 11.1.8 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?goodsync

IsMyHdOK 2.15 improves drive type detection. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

MS ISO Downloader 8.36 updates libraries and adds new disk images. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-download-tool

OSFMount 3.0.1006 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html

PointerStick 4.01 updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

PowerToys 0.17.0 adds native automatic update and updates FancyZones behavior. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

PSAppDeploy 3.8.2 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://psappdeploytoolkit.com/

WifiChannelMonitor 1.60 updates the internal MAC addresses file. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_channel_monitor.html

WinScan2PDF 5.33 improves WIA compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Android Studio 3.6.3.0 resolves a caching bug. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

Node.js 14.2.0 improves error handling and monitoring with assertions, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Visual Studio Code 1.45 improves accessibility, color, syntax, and semantic highlighting, performance, and GitHub integration. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

OpenCart 3.0.3.3 replaces all PayPal extensions with PayPal Commerce platform. This is not a security update.
https://www.opencart.com/

Adminer 4.7.7 is a security update.
https://www.adminer.org/en/

OpenPetra 2020.04 resolves several bugs, adds Sponsorship module, improves initial setup and updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://www.openpetra.org/

Autoptimize 2.7.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Social Post Feed 2.14.1 resolves a bug in notices. This is not a security update.

Postie 1.9.51 removes functions from logon screen. This is not a security update.

Redirection 4.7.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster 4.3.15 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.

Top Commentators Widget 1.6 removes deprecated functions. This is not a security update.

WooCommerce 4.1.0 updates dependencies, resolves several bugs. This is a security update.

WP Mail SMTP 2.0.1 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.

Show IDs 1.1.4 improves compatibility with WordPress 5.4.1.

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/