Updates 2023-03-14

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Shawn K. Hall

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for March, 2023.

This month brings a (mere) 104 major hacks and over 169 application updates. It’s the lightest month we’ve seen in a while with about 2 GB of updates for most users.

This Month in Technology

AASP, Acer, Activision, Albanian Government, Algodex, Aloha Nursing Rehab Centre, Andrade Gutierrez, AT&T, Atlassian, Bahrain International Airport, Booking.com, Boost Mobile, Burton Snowboards, California Northstate University, Cardiovascular Associates, CentraState, Cerebral Inc, Chick-fil-A, Codman Square Health Center, Coinbase, Community Health Systems, Convex, Danish Hospital websites, Dental Health Management Solutions, Denver Public Schools, Dish Network, Dole, Edgepark Medical Supplies, eMDs, Inc, Essendant, Euler Finance, Eye4Fraud, Fasecolda, the FBI, Flutterwave, Fonasa, Fortinet FortiOS, GDS Holdings, GoDaddy, GSC Game World, GunAuction.com, Hatch Bank, Hawai’i Department of Health, HDB Financial Services, HDFC Bank, Health Link, Henrico Doctors Hospital, Hope Finance, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Hutchinson Clinic, Hyundai and Kia, iD Tech, Integrative Dentistry, Jump Crypto, LastPass, Lawrence General Hospital, LBB, Lehigh Valley Health Network, LimeVPN, Long Son Petrochemicals, Los Angeles Unified School District, Minneapolis Public Schools, News Corporation, Northeast Surgical Group, PC, Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crimes, Oakland, CA, PayPal, PetroVietnam, Pierce Transit, Platypus, POSCO Engineering & Construction, RealDudesInc, Reventics, LLC, Ring, Rosarito, San Juan Regional Medical Center, Scandinavian Airlines, Sentara Healthcare, Sharp Healthcare, Shopper+, Southeastern Louisiana University, SpaceX, ST Telemedia Global Data Centers, Stanford University, Technion, TELUS, Tender.fi, Tennessee State University, The Good Guys, Tusla, U.S. Marshals Service, Uranium Finance, Veeam, VGTRK, over 2,800 VMware hosts, Weee, West Cecil Health Center, WH Smith, White Bird Clinic, Wichita Urology Group, PA, Zoll Medical Corp, ZOLL Medical, and Zurcal have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

Twitter (twice), Russian state media, Microsoft Exchange Online, and Gmail IMAP have had major outages this month.

Two of the three largest bank failures in US history happened this week. Silicon Valley Bank was (briefly) shut down by regulators after mishandling billions of dollars.
Only days after Silvergate Capital Corp‘s collapse, and Signature Bank followed days later. Roku, for example, was set to lose over 99.9% of their deposits at SVB, almost 26% of their total cash. AcuityAds Holding, BlockFi, Rocket Lab, Roblox, and others were also at risk of major losses. Unfortunately, the federal government is going to bail them out, allowing bad business decisions to avoid any negative repercussions and giving way to cheap investments by larger banks to effectively stack the dominoes higher.

Last months updates broke IIS for Alliance.

Now for the good news:

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday is small this month. The typical computer should see roughly 2 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates to address 98 vulnerabilities in Azure, Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Microsoft Bluetooth Driver, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver, Microsoft Printer Drivers, Microsoft Windows Codecs Library, Office for Android, Remote Access Service Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Role: DNS Server, Role: Windows Hyper-V, Service Fabric, Visual Studio, Windows Accounts Control, Windows Bluetooth Service, Windows Central Resource Manager, Windows Cryptographic Services, Windows Defender, Windows HTTP Protocol Stack, Windows HTTP.sys, Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol, Windows Kernel, Windows Partition Management Driver, Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), Windows Remote Procedure Call, Windows Remote Procedure Call Runtime, Windows Resilient File System (ReFS), Windows Secure Channel, Windows SmartScreen, Windows TPM, Windows Win32K and MSRT (~ 1 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for GarageBand for macOS 10.4.8, tvOS 16.3.3, and macOS Big Sur 11.7.4. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

tvOS 16.3.3 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

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 Ventura (13.x) means that macOS Catalina (10.15) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Big Sur (11) 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 (v22H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 12 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 will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

The now-current release of the Windows 11 (v22H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 11 pushes you to get the latest Windows 11 release every 12 months and only supports any consumer builds for 24 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Windows 11 is still very young so I encourage you to wait a few more months before you consider switching to it.

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.

AMD Adrenalin 23.3.1 improves performance and reliability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.amd.com/en/support

BullZip PDF Printer 14.2.0.2955 resolves the PrintToPrinter bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php#download

Crucial Storage Executive 9.01 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.crucial.com/support/storage-executive

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.6.1 introduces a new installer, improves Intel cleanup and improves user interface. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

DS4Windows 3.2.9 adds DualSense Edge support and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security udpate.
https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/releases/latest

Garmin Express 7.16.3 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/express/

Samsung DeX 2.4.1.11 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/dex/

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.49.120 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Firefox 111.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Google Chrome 111.0.5563.64 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Google Chrome 109.0.5414.129 is a security update. Chrome v109 is being maintained until October 2023 to support Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 110.0.1587.69 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Vivaldi 5.7.2921.63 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

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

ProtonMail (Android) 3.0.12 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://proton.me/mail/download

Spark 3.3.4.44396 resolves several bugs and adds zoom and message dragging. This is not a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Spark (macOS) 3.3.4.44394 resolves several bugs and adds zoom and message dragging. This is not a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Thunderbird 102.8.0 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.

curl 7.88.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 169.4.5684 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Facebook Messenger 182.0.0.9.73 is a security update.
https://www.messenger.com/download

FileZilla Client 3.63.2.1 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FileZilla Server 1.6.7 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 12.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Microsoft Teams 1.6.00.4472 improves caption and rich call support. This is not a security update.
https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads

Nextcloud Server 25.0.4 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Omada Software Controller 5.9.9 resolves a couple bugs and adds several new features. This is not a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Pocketnet-GUI 0.8.41 adds audio upload and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://pocketnet.app/

Prosody 0.12.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

Rclone 1.62.0 adds several new features and fixes dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Signal 6.9.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Signal (Android) 6.13.7 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://signal.org/android/apk/

Skype 8.94.0.428 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.skype.com/

Syncthing 1.23.2 updates libraries and resolves a relay bug. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Technitium DNS Server 11.0.3 is a security update. This version is no longer compatible with operating systems older than Windows 10.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Telegram 4.6.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Zoom 5.13.11.13434 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Bitwig Studio 4.4.8 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.bitwig.com/download/

darktable 4.2.1 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/

Kodi 20.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://kodi.tv/

Plex Desktop 1.65.1.3596 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.35.1.3614 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.31.2.6810 resolves several bugs including crash 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.

GameMaker Studio 2023.2.0.71 resolves dozeens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.yoyogames.com/en/gamemaker

GDevelop 5.1.158 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://gdevelop.io/download

Lego Studio 2.23.2.1 now displays the color of bricks in the tooltip. This is not a security update.
https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd

Nintendo Switch 16.0.0 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22525/kw/system%20updates/p/989

PlayStation PS3 4.90 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps3/system-software/

PlayStation PS4 10.50 provides several cosmetic updates. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps4/system-software/

PlayStation PS5 23.01-07.01.00 improves stability and adds several cosmetic and voice features. 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.

Adobe Reader DC 23.001.20064 is a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe Commerce 2.4.6, 2.4.5-p2, and 2.4.4-p3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/magento/apsb23-17.html

Adobe Experience Manager 2023.1 and 6.5.16.0 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb23-18.html

Adobe Illustrator 27.3.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb23-19.html

Adobe Dimension 3.4.8 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/dimension/apsb23-20.html

Adobe Creative Cloud 5.10 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/creative-cloud/apsb23-21.html

Adobe Substance 3D Stager 2.0.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/substance3d_stager/apsb23-22.html

Adobe Photoshop 23.5.4 and 24.2.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb23-23.html

Adobe ColdFusion 2018.16 and 2021.6 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb23-25.html

Audacity 3.2.5 resolves a reliability bug with third-party auth. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Calibre 6.14.0 improves metadata controls and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

GIMP 2.10.34 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.gimp.org/

ImageMagick 7.1.1-3 adds support for HEIC and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://imagemagick.org/

Kindle for PC 1.40.65535 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.amazon.com/kindleforpc

LibreOffice 7.4.6 resolves over 70 bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.5.1 resolves 90 bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.7.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.5 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

OpenOffice 4.1.14 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Paint.net 5.0.2 adds ability to invert Alpha channel, performance improvements, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/

PDF-XChange Editor 9.5.367.0 is a security update.
https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

Security Software Updates

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

Chainsaw 2.5.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/countercept/chainsaw

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware 4.5.23 is a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

OpenSSL 3.1.0 is a security update.
https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html

ProtonVPN 3.0.14 improves user interface. This is not a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

RogueKiller 15.8.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

SanDisk PrivateAccess 6.3.12 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/48025

Tails 5.10 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd/index.en.html

TinyWall 3.3.1 resolves a couple bugs and releases it open source. This is not a security update.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/

uBlock Origin 1.47.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

VT-CLI 0.13.0 adds a couple new features. 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.

Camtasia 22.5.1 resolves a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

SnagIt 23.1.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.1.0.1 adds support for new encodings. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

StreamFab 6.1.1.2 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/downloader-new.htm

UniFab 1.0.1.5 adds conversion sampling and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/unifab.htm

Education updates

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

Zotero 6.0.23 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.zotero.org/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 8.10.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 8.10.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

Agent Ransack 2022.3367 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/

AOMEI Partition Assistant 9.15.0 adds ability to reset Windows password and recover data. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

Beyond Compare 4.4.6.27483 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=dl4

Bitwarden 2023.2.0 adds several new security and feature controls, adds new encryption options and adds desktop validation for new devices. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CPU-Z Installer 2.05 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

CurrPorts 2.70 adds dark mode and several new sort options. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html

DesktopOK 10.71 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

dnGrep 3.2.279.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

Etcher 1.18.5 updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything Toolbar 1.0.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stnkl/EverythingToolbar/

Fido 1.44 now prevents operation on non-Windows platforms. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

FileLocator Pro 2022.3367 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorpro/download

Git SCM 2.40.0 is a security update.
https://git-scm.com/

Go 1.20.2 is a security update.
https://go.dev/

GoodSync 12.1.9 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

HWMonitor 1.50 adds support for new hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

NetworkInterfacesView 1.27 adds a new column for Metric. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_interfaces.html

NTLite 2023.3.9160 adds support for new features and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

OSForensics 10.0.1009 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/download.html

osquery 5.8.1 is a security update.
https://osquery.io/downloads

PowerToys 0.68.1 adds Paste as Plain Text, Mouse Jump, new GPO policies, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

ProcessMonitor 3.93 resolves several user interface and log file bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

RoboForm 9.4.4 is a security update.
https://www.roboform.com/

Seagate DiscWizard 25.0.1.39868 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/discwizard-master-dl/

SimpleWMIView 1.53 adds Sort By option to the toolbar. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/simple_wmi_view.html

TcpLogView 1.37 adds several sorting options and resolves a bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/tcp_log_view.html

TeamViewer 15.39.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

Unity 2022.2.10 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

Ventoy 1.0.89 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

WifiInfoView 2.78 adds new sorting options and updates the internal MAC address database. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html

WinRAR 6.21 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.rarlab.com/

WizFile 3.09 adds support for RegExp search, DrivePool, Storage Spaces, virtual drives, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://antibody-software.com/wizfile/

ZoomText 2023 2023.2302.8.400 improves stability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/ZoomText

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ADB 34.0.1 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools

Android Studio 2022.1.1.21 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

GitHub Desktop 3.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

Inno Setup 6.2.2 is a security update.
https://www.jrsoftware.org/isdl.php

Node.js 19.7.0 updates dependencies and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.21.3 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.19.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.15.0 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.41.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Visual Studio Code 1.76.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Web Package Updates

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

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.22 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Drupal 9.5.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Joomla 4.2.9 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

jQuery 3.6.4 adds selector forgiveness. This is not a security update.
https://code.jquery.com/

MailEnable Enterprise 10.45 is a security update.
https://www.mailenable.com/

MailEnable Enterprise 9.87 is a security update.
https://www.mailenable.com/

OpenPetra 2023.02 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.openpetra.org/

ownCloud Client 3.2.1.10355 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://owncloud.com/desktop-app/

Piwigo 13.6.0 is a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

YOURLS 1.9.2 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://yourls.org/

BuddyPress 11.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

Contact Form 7 5.7.4 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/

Social Post Feed 4.1.8 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-facebook-feed/

Sucuri Security 1.8.37 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sucuri-scanner/

WooCommerce 7.5.0 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WP Cerber Security 9.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wpcerber.com/

WPtouch 4.3.51 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wptouch/

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

Regards,

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

Updates 2022-05-10

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Shawn K. Hall

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for May, 2022. There’s a lot of news this month, and sunlight is proving to be the best disinfectant. It’s a big one.

This Month in Technology

AA Traveller, Adaptive Health Integrations, AGCO, Aimware, Amazon Web Services, American Dental Association, Android, Apple, ARcare, Aruba and Avaya network switches, Austin Peay State University, Avvo, Bank of Israel, Beanstalk, Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, Central Florida Cardiology Group, Cisco Umbrella Virtual Appliances, Coca-Cola, Costa Rica government, County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, Dedalus Biology, Deus, Devil-Torrents, Discord, District 518 in Minnesota, Docker servers, DVR devices, EGAIS, F5 BIG-IP, Facebook, Fairfield County Implants and Periodontics, LLC, Fei protocol, Ferrari, Funky Pigeon, GHT Coeur Grand Est. Hospitals and Health Care group, Good Samaritan in West Palm Beach, Google, HealthActions, P.A., Healthplex, Inc, Heroku, Hetzner Online GmbH, IKEA Canada, Illinois Gastroenterology Group, PLLC, Illuminate Education, Kellogg Community College, Kenosha Community Health Center, King County Public Hospital District No. 2, La Casa de Salud, Lakeview Loan Servicing, Lincoln College, Linux, Lutheran Services Carolinas, Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, MetroHealth System, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Exchange servers, Nauru Police Force, New Creation Counseling Center, Newman Regional Health, Nordex, Nordic Hotels & Resorts, NPM, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, Onleihe, OpenSea, Optima Dermatology Holdings, LLC, PayHere, QIWI, QNAP, RainLoop, Rarible NFT, Romania, Ronin Network, RuTube, Scott County, Iowa, Select Benefits Group, LLC dba Dental Select, Sixt, Smile Brands, Snapchat, Southern Ohio Medical Center, Spanish football federation, St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, State Bar of Georgia, SUMMIT EYE ASSOCIATES P.C., Sunwing Airlines, Synology, T-Mobile, The Energy Cooperative Group Benefits Plan, The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, Twitter, U.S. DoD, UK Ministry of Defense, UK NHS, Ukrainian government, Urgent Team Holdings, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (with permission), US Health and Human Services, VMware Workspace ONE Access, Wayne Family Practice Associates, PC, WellDyneRx, LLC, Windows Event Logs, and WSO2 have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

Atlassian, Google Docs, WhatsApp, and Xbox have suffered from widespread outages.

A software bug in Harris County Jail has caused problems with hundreds of cases, preventing access to arrest and hearing information, resulting in major issues for law enforcement and the DA.

Google has added a feature to fight doxxing by removing supplied personal information from search results. This would, of course, not be so ridiculous if they hadn’t recently shared victim information with scammers so they could be scammed or abused all over again.

Science is still a joke. So is the news. And yes, the vaccines are shedding. Yet, governments are still penalizing those who refuse to participate in the experiments. VAERS is being purged in violation of federal law. Search warrants are passé. Did you know that the USPS is a spying agency? Facebook’s Meta is a bunch of hypocrites.

The US federal government has announced a new Disinformation Governance Board under the Department of Homeland Security to combat “disinformation,” staffed by the same people that have promulgated lies and deceit for years, complicit in the very deception they claim to want to prevent. It’s different when they do it, though.

There is a very dark side of electric vehicles, including child slavery, and they still produce CO2 directly, too.

Various open source projects, node-ipc, which wiped the drives of Russian users, and event-source-polyfill “protest” by changing their behavior based on the user, or who they perceive the user to be. Projects like this destroy the trust of all of their users, even if they agree with their agenda. You never know what signal they’ll choose to use against you in the future. Others, including Avast, Coinbase, even CAs (certificate authorities), Dell, DuckDuckGo, GitHub, hacked WordPress sites, Google Play, Google News, Mozilla Firefox, and many others, are projecting their own politics on the world. Disagree and be censored.

iOS and iPadOS updates, security updates, are now being delayed by up to four weeks after release for those who have automatic updates enabled. Just how defective does your release quality testing have to be to postpone security updates for a month?

There’s yet another speculative execution vulnerability in pretty much every CPU. UPS (uninterruptible power supplies/battery backups) demonstrate the significance of a default password vulnerability. The Smart Meters that were promised to never be used to collect personal information are now being used with AI to profile individuals and households.

In an effort to make everyone want to abandon Windows, Microsoft is now pushing ads within the new File Explorer on Windows 11.

Cloud service providers can disappear on a whim. The recent disappearance of the entire Insteon service from under the feet of those that, in some cases, paid thousands of dollars for hardware to work with this home automation provider, demonstrates the insanity of reliance on external services.

Nigeria has blocked 73 million mobile phones (more than half of the Internet-connected population!) for failing to sign up for their digital identity/social credit ecosystem. Most people in Nigeria, like the vast majority of people in nations across the planet, only have access to the Internet through their mobile phones, so this digital identity implementation is intentionally cutting many users in that tiny nation from the Internet.

There is growing evidence that the entire national food supply is at risk, as well as dozens of food processing facilities (much more than in previous years). In response, California is paying farmers not to grow food.

Now for the good news:

When you think about how similar search results have become, this video will blow your mind: Where did the rest of the Internet go? Consider Swisscows for better variety, privacy and breadth of search.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

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

Microsoft released updates to address 77 vulnerabilities in .NET and Visual Studio, .NET Framework, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Local Security Authority Server, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft Windows ALPC, Remote Desktop Client, Servicing Stack Update, Servicing Stack Updates, Tablet Windows User Interface, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Windows Active Directory, Windows Address Book, Windows Authentication Methods, Windows BitLocker, Windows Cluster Shared Volume (CSV), Windows Failover Cluster Automation Server, Windows Fax Service, Windows Hyper-V, Windows Kerberos, Windows Kernel, Windows LDAP – Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, Windows Media, Windows Network File System, Windows NTFS, Windows Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Windows PowerShell, Windows Print Spooler Components, Windows Push Notifications, Windows Remote Access Connection Manager, Windows Remote Desktop, Windows Remote Procedure Call Runtime, Windows Server Service, Windows Storage Spaces Controller, Windows WLAN Auto Config Service, and MSRT (~2 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Google Chrome OS 101.0.4951.59 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Fedora 36-1.5 is a major update, including library and dependency updates. This is not a security update.
https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/download/

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

The release of macOS Monterey (12.x) means that macOS Mojave (10.14) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Catalina (10.15) 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 (v21H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 12 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 will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

The now-current release of the Windows 11 (v21H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 11 pushes you to get the latest Windows 11 release every 12 months and only supports any consumer builds for 24 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Windows 11 is still very young so I encourage you to wait a few more months before you consider switching to it.

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.5.0 improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

HP M281cdw Firmware 20220414 is a security update.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-color-laserjet-pro-m280-m281-multifunction-printer-series/14142489/model/16748237

Logitech Unify 2.52.33 is a security update.
https://support.logitech.com/en_us/software/unifying

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.38.111 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 101.0.4951.54 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 101.0.1210.39 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 100.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 91.9.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

SeaMonkey 2.53.12 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 5.2.2623.41 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

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

Mailspring 1.10.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://getmailspring.com/

NK2Edit 3.44 adds column sorting from menus. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_nk2_edit.html

Thunderbird 91.9.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get 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.

AnyDesk 7.0.8 improves compatibility with Windows 11 and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

AnyDesk (macOS) 6.5.1 resolves several bugs and adds option to remove all stored session profiles. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.83.0 adds several new features and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 147.4.4800 adds backup settings and sync configuration, right-click menu capabilities, and taskbar icon changes. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Server 1.4.1 resolves several bugs and improves upgrade converter. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.20 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 57.0 improves notifications and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Omada Software Controller 5.3.1 adds over 20 new features and a dozen fixes. This is not a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Java 8u333 is a security update. This is the second update in two weeks, and one of the rare out-of-cycle updates from Oracle. If you have Java installed, update as soon as possible.
https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Nextcloud Server 23.0.4 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Rclone 1.58.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Syncthing 1.20.1 resolves a stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Signal 5.42.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Technitium DNS Server 8.1 resolves several bugs and improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Telegram 3.7.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Zoom 5.10.4.5035 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Plex Desktop 1.44.0.2981 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.15.1.2976 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.26.0.5715 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-media-server

VLC Media Player 3.0.17.4 should be treated as a security update.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Battle.net Client 2.9.0.13279 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://us.battle.net/en/app/

Epic Games 14.0.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.epicgames.com/

Nintendo Switch 14.1.1 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22525/kw/system%20updates/p/989

PlayStation PS3 4.89 reduces on-device features (such as account creation and management) to improve device security.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps3/system-software/

PlayStation PS5 22.01-05.02.00 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.

Artweaver 7.0.12 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.artweaver.de/

Krita 5.0.6 resolves two crash bugs, and follows shortly after the 5.0.5 release which resolves dozens of outstanding bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.3.3 resolves nearly 100 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.5.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.4 updates the Scintilla library. Be aware that some plugins may not work after this update until they’re made compatible with the new release. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

OpenOffice 4.1.12 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update. I recommend using LibreOffice instead of OpenOffice. It’s much better maintained and does not rely on an external 32-bit Java dependency.
http://www.openoffice.org/download/

PDF-XChange Editor 9.3.361.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

Calibre 5.42.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

Kindle for PC 1.36.65107 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.amazon.com/kindleforpc

Adobe Reader DC 22.001.20117 is a security update. Use Help, Check for Updates to get the most current version.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe Reader DC (Mac) 22.001.20112 is a security update. Use Help, Check for Updates to get the most current version.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Security Software Updates

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

Tails 5.0 is a major update with updates to several libraries, newer hardware support, and resolving several bugs. This is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd/index.en.html

Gpg4win 4.0.2 resolves dozens of bugs and updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html

KeePass 2.51.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://keepass.info/

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware 4.5.8 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Mac 4.15 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

OpenSSL 3.0.3 is a security update.
https://curl.se/windows/

RogueKiller 15.5.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

uBlock Origin 1.41.0 adds dark mode, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

VT-CLI 0.10.2 improves collection management. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/VirusTotal/vt-cli/releases/latest

YARA 4.2.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/countercept/chainsaw

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.37 updates libraries, resolves several bugs, and adds AV1 export. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

SnagIt 22.0.2 is a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/releases/snagit.msi

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.7.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

Education updates

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

Zotero 6.0.7 adds new features and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.zotero.org/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Bitwarden 1.33.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CPU-Z Installer 2.01 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

DesktopOK 9.85 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.7.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Git SCM 2.36.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://git-scm.com/

GoodSync 11.10.9 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

HWMonitor 1.46 adds support for new hardware and new sensors. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

NTLite 2.3.4.8675 cleans up leftovers from previous updates. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

OpenToonz 1.6.0 adds several new features, bug fixes and performance improvements. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/opentoonz/opentoonz/

osquery 5.2.3 is a security update.
https://osquery.io/downloads

AOMEI Partition Assistant 9.7.0 adds speed test, and app mover improvements. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PointerStick 5.77 adds support for dark mode, improves DPI scaling, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

PowerToys 0.58.0 resolves a dozen bugs. This is a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

RoboForm 9.2.7 resolves compatibility issues. This is not a security update.
https://www.roboform.com/

ScreenConnect 22.4.7745.8154 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

SmartMonTools 7.3 resolves several bugs, adds support for new hardware, and several new diagnostic and testing options. This is not a security update.
https://smartmontools.org/

Speccy 1.32.774 improves hardware support. This is not a security update.
https://www.piriform.com/speccy

Synergy 1.14.3 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://symless.com/synergy/

TeamViewer 15.29.4 resolves a file transfer bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

Unity 2022.1.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

WhyNotWin11 2.4.3.2 resolves several bugs and improves detection and command-line support. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

WinScan2PDF 7.77 improves TWAIN support. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

ZoomText 2022.2204.21.400 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/ZoomText

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

AutoHotkey 1.1.34.01 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.autohotkey.com/download/

AutoIt 3.3.16.0 resolves dozens of bugs and adds several new features. This is not a security update.
https://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/docs/history.htm

Docker Desktop 4.8.1 adds several new features, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

GitHub Desktop 3.0.0 updates notification capabilities, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

Inno Setup 6.2.1 is a security update.
https://www.jrsoftware.org/isdl.php

MySQL Server 8.0.29 is a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/

MySQL ConnectorNet 8.0.29 is a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/

Node.js 14.19.2 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.15.0 adds fetch API and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.1.0 updates dependencies and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.38.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Visual Studio Code 1.67.1 is a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VirtualBox 6.1.34 resolves dozens of 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.

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.19 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Drupal 9.2.17 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Drupal 9.3.12 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.11.1 is a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

Joomla 4.1.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

SMF 2.1.2 is a security update.
https://www.simplemachines.org/

YOURLS 1.9 is a security update.
https://yourls.org/

Akismet 4.2.3 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/

Autoptimize 3.0.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/autoptimize/

Slider Revolution 6.5.20 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

Social Post Feed 4.1.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-facebook-feed/

Duplicator 1.4.5 improves several features, This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/#developers

Interactive World Map 3.1.9.2 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/interactive-world-map/

Postie 1.9.60 improves translatable strings. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postie/

WooCommerce 6.4.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WP Mail SMTP 3.4.0 improves compatibility, integration, and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/

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

Regards,

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

Updates 2021-06-08

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Shawn K. Hall

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

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.

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 2021-01-12

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Shawn K. Hall

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for January, 2021.

This Month in Technology

By now you’re probably very aware with the SolarWinds “hack” since it was 24/7 news only a month ago, though mostly conjecture. We now know they were hacked over a year before a third-party (FireEye) pointed it out to them, and the malware remained on their servers weeks after it was identified.

What we’ve learned of it over the last month is a rich reminder of do’s and don’ts:

Don’t trust multi-factor authentication – it’s not nearly as effective at preventing logins as you’ve been lead to believe.
Don’t take over devices you can’t exploit quickly – don’t expose yourself wideband for 0.2%.
Do use a strong, unique password for everything – never something as absurd as “solarwinds123“.
Do modify your firewall to eliminate automatic whitelists for government IP addresses.
Do regular checkups – you never know what you’re going to find.

Don’t worry, though, they’ve hired a political hack to CYA!

Austin City, the City of Cornelia, City of Ellensburg, Independence City (Kansas), Chatham County (North Carolina), Huntsville City Schools (Alabama), Jefferson County (Kentucky), Subway, Intel’s Habana Labs, Microsoft, FireEye, the United Nations, Maryland’s GBMC HealthCare, the US Dept of Justice, Nissan, Livecoin, Spotify, IndiGo, various Israeli companies, the US Judiciary case file system, and many gaming companies have all been hacked.

Security issues or backdoors were found in Zyxel firewalls, Typo3, Android Bluetooth, Glassdoor, Nintendo 3DS, Microsoft 365, Google Titan security keys, Signal App cryptography, Starbucks mobile, and terabytes of secrets and databases have been dumped online.

Point-of-sale hardware has a “service mode” with a default password, malware is fingerprinting and mapping networks using the MAC address, Smart Doorbells are still a bad idea, Gionee has been infecting their own budget smartphones for kickbacks, and Google is still the easiest way to hack Google.

Ticketmaster hacked their competition 7 years ago and is only now paying a fine for it, Twitter is being fined almost half a million Euros for its breach handling, and Sabre Corp has now settled with 27 states over data breach.

WhatsApp won’t let you use it if you don’t want it to have your data tied to the rest of Facebook. The bigger you are, the bigger the target is on your back.

The “secure communication” tool Telegram tells everyone your precise location if you enable location support. One of my favorite browser extensions, The Great Suspender, changed hands in 2020 and the new publisher has recently been caught using it to distribute malware under the guise of analytics. Shopify, BigCommerce and other large sales platforms are being targeted with a card skimmer.

Mozilla (creator of Firefox and Thunderbird) wants the entire Internet to be used to censor certain publishers (that’s a bad thing), which is sad since they recently dropped support for PWAs (that’s a good thing).

Speaking of censorship and cancel culture, a potential new federal banking rule could put an end to the social/financial terrorism employed by cancel culture devotees. However, Big Tech censorship is at an all-time high in the wake of “riots” that were tame for the last year.

Corellium is protected by Fair Use and Tim Cook is going to have to testify more than a mere 4 hours about how his elimination of competition and closed ecosystem aren’t “really” a monopoly.

Ledger Wallet, T-Mobile (yet again), Amazon partner Juspay, Ubiquiti, Nintendo, 21 Buttons, Sangoma Technologies, Dental Care Alliance, Koei Tecmo, and Apex Laboratory all suffered data leaks/breaches.

Zoom, however, willingly shared their US user data with China.

Facebook’s recent Instagram hack exposed a massive click farm.

Google has had several service outages in the last month, as has Apple and even #Slack.

WinZip is vulnerable to a MitM attack (dude, no SSL, really?!).

Google broke SMS on many Android devices, your RAM can be used to exfil data from your device, Apple iPhone assembly plant Wistron in India has been suspended after a riot causes $60 million in damages. That may be a good thing, though, since the Apple MagSafe chargers can deactivate pacemakers.

macOS Preview is damaging PDFs (again).

Apple has removed the ability to download combo updates for Big Sur. This is going to cause serious security problems for the vast majority of the world that doesn’t have Bay Area bandwidth available to them.

In a good move, Apple has upset Facebooks advertising ecosystem by preventing certain data collection and use on their latest platforms, even Google is trying to figure out how to get around the new privacy requirements.

Why don’t I trust government? It’s hard to pick just one reason, but this month has many examples. Government employees tasked with preserving election data call for its mass deletion, or “accidentally” delete the security log files, while ignoring hundreds of pages of evidence and “moving the goalposts.”

The FBI has been hiding Seth Rich’s laptop while claiming they didn’t have it, public schools are purchasing hacking tools to get the data off student’s phones, mass data collection never ends, agencies fine you for helping during a crisis or being in a car without permission, while they hack journalist’s phones and run pedophile rings out of large white government buildings in DC. Nevertheless, you should trust the math and not look behind the curtain. Or else.

By the way, streaming content that you don’t have rights to is now a felony thanks to a nearly 6,000 page bill passed without anyone reading it. Hypocrisy is their bread and butter. Which is why they have such religiously held beliefs that violate all common sense.

Now for the good news:

It is now possible to integrate Everything into the Windows taskbar!

Starlink is approved for use in the UK, opening the door to true worldwide broadband.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Adobe Flash Player is finally dead! There will be no more security updates released for Flash, and it’s probably the application single-most responsible for infections world-wide over the last 20 years, so it should be removed immediately. Use the utility below to remove it.
Win: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html
Mac: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html

Patch Tuesday this month is pretty big. The typical computer should see roughly 2 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, and MSRT (~ 1.6 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for macOS Big Sur 11.1, Security Update 2020-001 Catalina, Security Update 2020-007 Mojave, Safari 14.0.2, macOS Server 5.11, macOS X Combo Update 10.15.7, Brother Printer Drivers 4.1.1 and HP Printer Drivers 5.1. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 14.3 and iOS 12.5.1 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 14.3 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 7.2 and watchOS 6.3 are security updates. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

tvOS 14.3 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 87.0.4280.142 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

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.

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

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

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.3.5 improves removal of various artifacts. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

nVidia 461.09 is 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 1.18.78 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 87.0.4280.141 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 87.0.664.75 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 84.0.2 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

Firefox ESR 78.6.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

Iridium 2020.11 is a security update (but still not patched to the current Chromium security updates). Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://iridiumbrowser.de/

Vivaldi 3.5.2115.87 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 78.6.1 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.

Facebook Messenger 20201207 is a security update, but is still a month behind the current chromium security level. You should remove Facebook Messenger if you have it installed.
https://www.messenger.com/download

Trillian 6.4.0.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/

curl 7.74.0 is a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 112.4.321 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.52.0.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Minds 4.7.0 improves data use and channel header, restyles posts, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.minds.com/mobile

Npcap 1.10 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

Technitium DNS Server 5.6 adds dynamic configuration application, adds cleanup options, block list refresh intervals, forced refresh, and resolves many other bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Zoom 5.4.59931.0110 adds ability to block insecure participants, force authentication, silence notifications when sharing, and management improvements. This is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Adobe FrameMaker 2020.0.1 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/detail.jsp?ftpID=7061

Adobe Bridge 11.0.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/bridge/apsb21-07.html

Adobe Captivate 2019 11.5.1.499 hotfix 1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/captivate/apsb21-06.html

Adobe InCopy 16.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb21-05.html

Adobe Campaign Classic Gold Standard 11, 20.3.3.9234, 20.2.4.9187, 20.1.4.9126, 19.2.4.9082, and 19.1.8.9039 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/campaign/apsb21-04.html

Adobe Animate 21.0.2 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb21-03.html

Adobe Illustrator 25.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb21-02.html

Adobe Photoshop 22.1.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb21-01.html

darktable 3.4.0 resolves over 100 issues and adds several new features. This is not a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/install/

Flickr Downloadr 3.3.3.2 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://flickrdownloadr.com/downloads/

Picard 2.5.6 resolves several bugs.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2020.12.21 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

PlayStation PS3 4.87 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps3/system-software/

PlayStation PS4 8.03 adds option to disable Game Chat Audio. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps4/system-software/

PlayStation PS5 20.02-02.30.00 resolves PS4 transfer bugs, text input and Wi-Fi stability issues, 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.

Interactive Calendar 2.2 adds color schemes, resolves search issues, improves stability & performance, and fixes several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.csoftlab.com/calendar

LibreOffice 7.0.4 resolves over a hundred bugs and is now the new general release. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.1.1 resolves dozens of bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 7.9.2 resolves over three dozen issues including performance and stability. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Security Software Updates

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

Tails 4.14 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

Gpg4win 3.1.15 improves AD support and resolves a random security key selection bug. This is a security update.
https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html

KeePass 2.47 resolves several bugs, improves search and options. This is not a security update.
https://keepass.info/

NSudo 8.0.1 updates libraries and adds translations. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/M2Team/NSudo/releases/latest

RogueKiller 14.8.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

uBlock Origin 1.32.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Wireless Network Watcher 2.23 updates internal MAC addresses database. 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.

SnagIt 2021.1.0 improves transparency handling, scaling improvements, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?snagit

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.1.5 adds new models and profiles, improved Enlarger AI handling. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

IsoBuster 4.7 adds an option to import and export templates, improved reliability, scanning, and read handling, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.isobuster.com/download.php

MakeMKV 1.15.4 improves compatibility, implements seamless join of TrueHD streams, and resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.makemkv.com/download/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

BulkFileChanger 1.72 adds “Photo – Date Taken” option. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/bulk_file_changer.html

CCleaner 5.75.8238 adds import for “Cookies to Keep” option, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

ControlMyMonitor 1.27 adds switches for turning on, off, and toggling on/off state. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html

Dell Command Update 4.0 adds support for DCH drivers, adds a filter for Security updates, and improves user interface. This is not a security update.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln311129/dell-command-update?lang=en

DesktopOK 8.38 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

dupeGuru 4.1.0 now uses tabs instead of windows, adds cosmetic fixes and options, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/

Etcher 1.5.113 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything 1.4.1.1003 resolves issues with the exit switch, improves shortcuts and autofocus. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

GoodSync 11.5.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

IsMyHdOK 2.71 updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

LessMSI 1.8.0 improves usability. This is not a security update.
https://lessmsi.activescott.com/

MS ISO Downloader 8.46 adds new builds for Office 2019 for Mac, more Dell models and ISO Tools hash improvements. This is not a security update.
https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-download-tool

NTLite 2.0.0.7756 resolves several bugs and improves controls. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 9.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PointerStick 5.01 improves rendering. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

Process Monitor 3.61 adds monitoring for various registry APIs and resolves a query output bug. This is not a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

PsExec 2.21 is a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

Sysmon 13.00 adds image tampering events and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

TaskSchedulerView 1.65 adds columns for Task File Created/Modified. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

TeamViewer 15.13.6 is released – but their changelog is on their community site (forum) which is currently down and redirecting to a third-party site. The new build may be a security update, but I recommend disabling TeamViewer completely for the near future just to be safe.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows/

TraceRouteOK 2.31 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/TraceRouteOK

WakeMeOnLan 1.87 updates the internal MAC addresses database. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wake_on_lan.html

WifiChannelMonitor 1.66 adds option to copy clicked cell and updates MAC addresses file. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_channel_monitor.html

WifiInfoView 2.67 adds window resizing and pagination to the properties window, and adds wildcard filter support. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html

WinScan2PDF 6.41 improves duplex support. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

WirelessKeyView 2.21 improves display and adds QR Code view (F2). This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Node.js 12.20.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.15.4 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 15.5.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Redemption 5.26.0.5872 adds ability to remember SMTP passwords, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
http://www.dimastr.com/redemption/

Visual Studio Code 1.52.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Web Package Updates

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

Docker Desktop 3.0.4 resolves a stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Drupal 9.1.2 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Joomla 3.9.24 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

Nextcloud Server 20.0.4 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

OpenPetra 2020.12 removes support for SQLite, improves Find, Type Ahead, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.openpetra.org/

phpList 3.6.0 adds blacklisting hook, and counter limits. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

phpMyAdmin 5.0.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phpmyadmin.net/

ConnectWise Control 21.1.2009.7678 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

WordPress 5.6 improves layout flexibility, adds new block patterns, captions, new default theme, and improved auto-update capabilities. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Akismet 4.1.8 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.

Autoptimize 2.8.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

BuddyPress 7.1.0 resolves two bugs. This is not a security update.

Contact Form 7 5.3.2 is a security update.

Social Post Feed 2.18.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Interactive World Map 3.1.9 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.

myStickymenu 2.4.9 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.

W3 Total Cache 2.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Widgets on Pages 1.5.0 is a security update.

WooCommerce 4.9.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.

Show IDs 1.1.6 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 2020-04-01

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Shawn K. Hall

Happy April Fools’ Day, Folks!

It’s not Patch Tuesday, but updates from Microsoft, Apple, Google, and others have triggered an out-of-cycle update.

This Month/Week in Technology

The FCC announced that by July 2021 every US phone company (landline and mobile) must adopt STIR/SHAKEN which will massively reduce the amount of robocalls and phone spam people receive and ensure that call blocking features work as intended.

Microsoft has rebranded Office 365 to Microsoft 365 and is launching more features and cross-platform monitoring across the system. Is this the next step towards Windows-as-a-Service?

Dell and HP Enterprise have issued updates for the runtime bug in certain Enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) that will begin bricking them in only a couple months.

The latest to jumping on the virus-free-trial bandwagon is Plex.

The country of Georgia has been hacked, with data on almost every citizen being posted online.

How bad are companies at dealing with ransomware? Most corporations and governments just give in and negotiate the ransom. Others pay insurance through companies like Chubb, a cyber-insurer for this type of thing. Can a company insure itself?

For a couple days, the latest builds of iOS and macOS wouldn’t let you search for a “+” sign. This is more common than you might think, and one of the pieces of advice in my Selecting the Perfect Domain” guide.

#3 Don’t use any strange characters

CloudFlare’s 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver received glowing marks in a recent study. While it’s very private and fast, it doesn’t provide built-in security as does OpenDNS, though.

Now for the good news:

Even the scientist most cited for his chicken-little response to COVID-19 has reversed course and said he over-estimated lethality and virulence.

Let’s Get Busy

Microsoft released an out-of-cycle update to address connectivity problems for VPN users. If you’re using a VPN, use Windows Update to install the most current version.

Apple released security updates for iCloud for Windows 7.18 and iCloud for Windows 10.9.3. Use Apple Software Update to install the most current versions.

Google Chrome OS 80.0.3987.158 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Important Notes

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.2.3 improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

Browser Updates

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

Google Chrome 80.0.3987.162 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to get the most current version.

Internet Updates

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

WinSCP 5.17.3 is a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2020.03.26 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

PlayStation PS3 4.86 improves system performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/system-updates/ps3/

Office Updates

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

Krita 4.2.9 adds Airbrush and Ratio controls to the Color Smudge brush, and resolves 70 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

Security Software Updates

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

RogueKiller 14.4.0 resolves several bugs, improves compatibility and adds warnings to certain scans.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 11.0.8.2 adds support for new encodings. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

RoboForm 8.6.8 improves data synchronization, Windows Hello integration, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?rf

GoodSync 10.11.4 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://12pd.com/click?goodsync

DesktopOK 6.91 improves compatibility with the next build of Windows. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

NetworkInterfacesView 1.20 adds option to open device properties window with F2. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_interfaces.html

PSAppDeploy 3.8.1 adds Repair action and new installation controls, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://psappdeploytoolkit.com/

MS ISO Downloader 8.34 adds several new ISOs. This is not a security update.
https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-download-tool

WinScan2PDF 5.25 resolves a TWAIN bug under Windows 10 x64. 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 3.6.2.0 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html

Node.js 13.12.0 improves build notarization for macOS, upgrades libraries, adds option to disable proto to CLI, moves diagnostic reports to stable, and now allows URL in worker constructor. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Web Package Updates

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

OpenPetra 2020.03 resolves the PDF printing bug, as well as several other bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.openpetra.org/

WordPress 5.4 improves the block editor, adds Social Icons and Buttons, gradients to Buttons and Cover block, color options to Group, Columns, and Rich Text, improved consistency, as well as many developer and privacy improvements. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Postie 1.9.45 resolves an email notification bug. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postie/

Custom Facebook Feed 2.13 adds a Block. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-facebook-feed/

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

Regards,

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