Tag Archives: quickbooks

Updates 2022-06-14

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for June, 2022. It’s the biggest update series in well over a year.

This Month in Technology

AA Traveller, Acuity International’s Comprehensive Health Services, Adecco, Aesto Health, Aimware, Alameda Health System, Allaire Healthcare Group, Allwell Behavioral Health Services, Amart Furniture, Aon PLC, Apple iPhones (even when off), Apple M1 CPUs, Apple Watches, Arnprior Regional Health, Associated Ophthalmologists of Kansas City, P.C., Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center, AU Health, Bangladesh government, Bank of Zambia, Behavioral Health Partners of Metrowest, LLC, BJC Health System, BlackBerry Fans, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Bryan County Ambulance Authority, Burman & Zuckerbrod Ophthalmology Associates, P.C., Capital One, Capsule, Carinthia, Austria, Central Florida Inpatient Medicine, Chicago Public Schools, CHRISTUS Health, Cisco IOS, Comstar LLC, Costa Rican Social Security Fund, Cypress Healthcare, LLC, Dis-Chem, DivX SubTitles, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Fanpass, Finkelstein Eye Associates, Fishman Vision, Football World Cup 2022 qualifier between Wales and Ukraine, Foxconn, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, General Motors, Genetics & IVF Institute, GitHub, GitLab, Greenland’s healthcare services, Healthcare Assistance Plan for Employees of Seventh-day Adventist Organization of the North American Division, Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP, Heroku, Homestead Hospice & Palliative Care, HP BIOS, 70 Indian government websites, John Knox Village of Florida, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington, Kaiser Permanente, Kiddos’ Clubhouse, Mandiant, McCoy Vision Center, McKenzie Health System, Memorial Community Health, Inc., MGM Resorts, Microsoft Teams, Mindpath Care Centers, North Carolina, PLLC, Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center, Moyes Eye Center, PC, Nikkei, NLB Corporation, North Alabama Bone & Joint Clinic, P.C., North Lakes Pain Consultants, Northern Rockies Orthopaedics, Novartis, NuLife Med, LLC, Numrich Gun Parts, OE Enterprises, Inc, OGUsers, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, Omnicell, Orangeburg Eye Center, Oswego County Opportunities, Inc, Otherside Metaverse, Palermo, Italy, Paragon Cheats, Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Partnership HealthPlan of California, PayHere, Pegasus Airlines, Platinum Hospitalists LLP, Preen.Me, QNAP NAS, Quantum Imaging & Therapeutic Associates, Quincy, Illinois, Rainier Arms, ReadNovel, RiverKids Pediatric Home Health, Russian Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities, Sberbank, Scarborough Health Network, Schneck Medical Center, Screencastify, Shaker Heights City School District in Ohio, Shields Health Care Group, Shoreline Eye Group, SirHurt, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access (SMA) 1000 Series, South Australia’s Treasury, SpiceJet, Stevens & Lee, Summit Healthcare Association, Sylvester Eye Care, Telegraph, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, Texas Department of Insurance, Texas Department of Transportation, The Multiple Sclerosis Center of Atlanta, Travis-CI, Trend Micro, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), University of Chicago Medical Center, Val Verde Regional Medical Center, Versus Market, Viasat, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Wagner Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Wendy’s, and Windows 11 have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

Netgear broke the Orbi firmware. I’ve been warning about the privacy risks of Wi-Fi for years. It’s finally going mainstream. A pirated version of CCleaner is yet again being used to hijack user accounts.

Apple allowed 1.6 million malicious apps onto the Apple AppStore, then later removed them.

The next time someone uses the argument that “how is a web-based business supposed to stay alive without ads” to decry your use of an ad blocker, send them this link about how third-party trackers (like the ones used in Google and DuckDuckGo) are collecting everything you type.

Now for the good news:

Intuit has finally acknowledged they’re being used to send phishing messages. They’re not going to put an end to it, but they finally have admitted that it’s a widespread source of phishing emails.

Oh, and the UK has declared that “defensive attacks” are legal.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

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

Microsoft released updates to address 62
vulnerabilities in .NET Framework, AV1 Video Extension, Azure OMI, Azure RTOS, Azure Service Fabric Container, HEVC Video Extensions, Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Microsoft File Server, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft Photos App, Microsoft SharePoint Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Windows ALPC, Microsoft Windows Codecs Library, Microsoft Windows Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT), Remote Volume Shadow Copy Service (RVSS), Visual Studio, Windows App Store, Windows Autopilot, Windows Container Isolation FS Filter Driver, Windows Container Manager Service, Windows DCOM Server, Windows Defender, Windows Encrypting File System (EFS), Windows File History Service, Windows Hyper-V, Windows Installer, Windows iSCSI, Windows Kerberos, Windows Kernel, Windows LDAP, Windows Media, Windows Media Center, Windows Network Address Translation, Windows Network File System, Windows PowerShell, Windows SMB, Windows WinSock, and MSRT (~2.5 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for iOS 15.5, iPadOS 15.5, macOS Monterey 12.4, macOS Big Sur 11.6.7, Security Update 2022-004 Catalina, watchOS 8.6, tvOS 15.5.1, Safari 15.5, Xcode 13.4, and iTunes 12.12.4. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 15.5 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 15.5 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

tvOS 15.5.1 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

watchOS 8.6 are security updatess. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 101.0.4951.72 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

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 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.

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.

Garmin Express 7.13.1 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/express/

Nvidia Driver 473.62 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 1.39.111 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 102.0.5005.115 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 102.0.1245.41 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 101.0.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 91.10.0 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Iridium 2022.04.100 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://iridiumbrowser.de/

Vivaldi 5.3.2679.55 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 91.10.0 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.

AnyDesk 7.0.10 resolves an error reporting bug. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.83.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

DNSDataView 1.65 adds a new command-line parameter. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/dns_records_viewer.html

Dropbox 150.4.5000 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update. (btw, thank you Dropbox for finally releasing a changelog!)
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.60.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.21 adds volume GUID support, case conflicts, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 59.0 adds support for client-side encryption, system-level search shortcuts, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Nextcloud Server 24.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Prosody 0.12.1 adds CORS controls and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

PuTTY 0.77 is a major update adding several new features, networking and security features, and resolves many bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

Signal 5.45.1 improves language leveling and data sync. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Skype 8.83.0.408 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.skype.com/

Syncthing 1.20.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Technitium DNS Server 8.1.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Trillian 6.5.0.20 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/

Trillian Mac 6.5.0.14 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/

TrueNAS Core 13.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.truenas.com/download-truenas-core/

Wget2 2.0.1 is a security update.
https://gitlab.com/gnuwget/wget2/-/releases

Zoom 5.10.7.6120 adds Zoom Whiteboard sharing and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

iTunes 12.12.4.1 is a security update.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Picard 2.8.1 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Plex Desktop 1.46.1.3056 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.18.0.3023 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.27.0.5897 resolves several bugs and improves stability. 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.

Epic Games 14.0.12 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.epicgames.com/

GameMaker Studio 2022.5.1.16 updates runtime. This is not a security update.
https://www.yoyogames.com/en/gamemaker

Nintendo Switch 14.1.2 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 PS5 22.01-05.10.00 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Steam 2022.05.31 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

Office Updates

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

Calibre 5.43.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

Inkscape 1.2 adds pages, markers and dashes, more gradient controls, performance improvements and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://inkscape.org/release/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.3.4 resolves over 80 bugs. This is not a security update. Remember that the Fresh line is beta software and should be avoided by most users.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice 7.2.7 resolves almost 50 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.5.1 resolves 20 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.4.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Paint.net 4.3.11 improves dark theme and updates plugins. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/

PDF Candy Desktop 2.93 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://pdfcandy.com/

Adobe Animate 21.0.11 and 22.0.6 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb22-24.html

Adobe Bridge 12.0.2 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/bridge/apsb22-25.html

Adobe Illustrator 26.3.1 and 25.4.6 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb22-26.html

Adobe InCopy 17.3 and 16.4.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb22-29.html

Adobe InDesign 17.3 and 16.4.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb22-30.html

RoboHelp Server 11.3 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/robohelp-server/apsb22-31.html

Security Software Updates

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

RogueKiller 15.5.3 is a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

Tails 5.1 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd/index.en.html

uBlock Origin 1.43.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.7.4 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 6.0.8 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.

1Password for Mac 7.9.5 is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

AccessChk 6.15 resolves a crash bug. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/accesschk

Agent Ransack 2022.3326 resolves several bugs and dds support for new policies and file types. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/

AOMEI Partition Assistant 9.8.0 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

Bitwarden 2022.5.1 resolves several bugs and improves integration and compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

Cygwin 3.3.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://cygwin.com/

DesktopOK 9.91 adds system-wide dark theme controls. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

dnGrep 3.0.64.0 resolves several bugs, improves performance and reliability. This is not a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

Everything 1.4.1.1017 updates localizations and resolves a search history bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Fido 1.29 adds UEFI Shell 2.2 support. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

FileLocator Pro 2022.3326 resolves several bugs and dds support for new policies and file types. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorpro/download

Go 1.18.3 is a security update.
https://go.dev/

GoodSync 11.11.2 is a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

NTLite 2.3.6.8785 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

OSFMount 3.1.1001 improves command-line verbosity and error reporting. This is not a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html

osquery 5.3.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://osquery.io/downloads

PowerToys 0.59.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

RAMMap 1.61 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/rammap

ScreenConnect 22.5.7881.8171 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

SmartMonTools 7.3 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://smartmontools.org/

Sysmon 13.34 resolves several bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TaskSchedulerView 1.71 adds a new switch to control column display and export. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

TeamViewer 15.30.3 improves user interface and resolves a send-to bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

TraceRouteOK 3.01 improves internal networking. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/TraceRouteOK

Unity 2022.1.4 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

USBDeview 3.05 adds WCID column. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

WinScan2PDF 7.81 improves multi-monitor support. 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.

AutoHotkey 1.1.34.03 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.autohotkey.com/download/

Android Studio 2021.2.1.15 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

GitHub Desktop 3.0.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

Node.js 14.19.3 updates OpenSSL. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.15.1 updates OpenSSL. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 17.9.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.3.0 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Visual Studio Code 1.68.0 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.

Drupal 9.2.21 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Drupal 9.3.15 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.11.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

Joomla 4.1.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

OpenCart 4.0.0.0 is major update adding many new features and libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.opencart.com/

phpList 3.6.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

phpMyAdmin 5.2.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phpmyadmin.net/

YOURLS 1.9.1 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://yourls.org/

WordPress 6.0 is a major update adding several new features, including block locking, performance, accessibility and new design tools. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Akismet 4.2.4 only updates documentation. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/

BuddyPress 10.3.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

Contact Form 7 5.5.6.1 resolves Constant Contact API changes and improves compatibility. This should be treated as a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/

Social Post Feed 4.1.4 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-facebook-feed/

Duplicator 1.4.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/#developers

myStickymenu 2.5.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mystickymenu/

Slider Revolution 6.5.24 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

Sucuri Security 1.8.31 resolves a path bug. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sucuri-scanner/

Theme My Login 7.1.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/theme-my-login/

WooCommerce 6.5.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

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

Regards,

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

Updates 2021-10-12

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for October, 2021.

This month we’ve got the new Microsoft Office, Windows 11, iOS 15, iPhone 13, and Windows Server 2022…so far. A new build of Windows 10 is still on the horizon, and a security update for Java is slated for next week. That said, Patch Tuesday this month is very large. The typical computer should see roughly 2.3 GB in updates today.

This Month in Technology

Amnesty International, Ajarn, Apple AirTag, Apple Game Center, Azure DevOps, Banco Pichincha, Bank of America, Bitcoin.org, BrewDog, the Canadian Vaccine Passport system, Canopy Parental Control, Coinbase, Compound, Cox Media Group, Crystal Valley, Dahua cams, various DVR devices, Elastic Stack, Fantasy Football Hub, Giant Group, Forward Air, Horizon House, Huawei Cloud, various IT companies, JVCKenwood, Marketron, Medtronic insulin pump controllers, Microsoft Windows Platform Binary Table, MoneyLion, Neiman Marcus, NEW Cooperative, Olympus US, Pacific City Bank, Playbook, Port of Houston, Sandhills Global, Simon Eye Management, 90% of the supply chain, Syniverse, The Telegraph, Twitch (there’s a lot of information out there about this Amazon property hack), United Health Centers, the US Navy, various aerospace and telco firms, various Apache Airflow servers, various Apache services, various Confluence servers, various hotels, various healthcare facilities, various real estate organizations, various University Wi-Fi networks, various VMware ESXi servers, Vertafore, and Weir Group.

The assets and financial information of 35 world leaders have been exposed in the Pandora Papers.

A Microsoft Azure customer, Bandwidth.com, and VoIP.ms have been struck by major denial of service attacks.

How serious are the privacy risks of RFID? The US military is using RFID to track their guns. This results in the ability to track (and target) those carrying the weapons.

How serious is ransomware? Another child has died as a result of equipment that was disabled during an attack.

The Google idle detection API can be used to abuse you only when it knows you’re not looking. For a company whose slogan was “don’t be evil,” and that has the highest paid programmers in the world, between idle detection and FLoC, they’re really proving to either not be able to anticipate the potential risks or they simply don’t care.

Firefox is now injecting ads into the address bar. Apple Pay allows hackers to take your money from your locked iPhone. Phishing messages posing as Verizon are using mathematical symbols to evade detection. Intuit is warning users of phishing attacks targeting QuickBooks users. Popular projects on public repositories remain high profile targets. If you can’t trust the hacker you bought your exploit kit from, who can you trust? Sigh.

The biggest outage this month was the Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp that has lead to millions of users abandoning Facebook. Trello has had a couple outages, too.

Microsoft is planning to randomly disable access to their customers to see if they’re using their services. Personally, I would just check the logs.

Microsoft 365 broke MFA again, locking users out of their accounts. And a bug in their Exchange Autodiscover implementation has leaked over a 100,000 credentials. A newly discovered UEFI bootkit has been backdooring Windows devices for almost a decade.

Google, the same company that warned of the risks of compromise through 2FA (as have many others), will be forcing 150 million accounts to use 2FA.
This is the same company that accidentally sent thousands of past due messages to their users last month. Their Android operating system is very privacy-averse, too.

A new ransomware strain doesn’t even both encrypting your files anymore, simply collecting a copy of your data and using the threat of release to extort their users.

If you’re still using a landline phone it’s probably because you don’t like change. Get ready, change is coming anyway. In order to more easily assist those having a mental health crisis, the FCC is going to require you to use full 1+10-digit dialing
when making any calls on a landline and 10-digit dialing from most mobile phones starting in late October. The intent is to make dialing a 3-digit number possible for the suicide hotline (988).

PG&E has been charged with causing yet another wildfire.

Now for the good news:

For what it’s worth, robocalls are now illegal.

Even the majority of IT professionals think patching is too hard. Don’t do it yourself, let me.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Windows 11 is out. Even if your hardware supports it, don’t install it yet. Consider it in the “open beta” phase. The new build of macOS (12.0 / Monterey) should be released sometime soon, too. The same goes for that: consider it a beta for at least the first couple months.

Patch Tuesday this month is very large. The typical computer should see roughly 2.9 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, Servicing Stack, Internet Explorer, and MSRT (~2.3 GB). This includes updates for Windows Server 2008. This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for watchOS 8.0.1, iOS 12.5.5, iOS 15.0.2, iPadOS 15.0.2, and Security Update 2021-006 Catalina. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 15.0.2 and 12.5.5 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 15.0.2 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 8.0.1 are security updates. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 93.0.4577.95 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Big Sur (11.x) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (v21H1) is very large, for the first time it’s actually smaller than the previous release, but it will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

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

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.4.4 adds support for Windows 11 and improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

HP LaserJet Stub 13.4.8 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be considered a security update.
https://123.hp.com/us/en/devices/LASERJET

MS Mouse and Keyboard Center 14 adds support for newer hardware, Spotlight and improves Smart Switch. This is not a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/downloads/mouse-keyboard-center

Xerox Smart Start 1.6.26.0 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be considered a security update.
https://www.support.xerox.com/en-us/content/143617

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.30.89 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 94.0.4606.81 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 94.0.992.47 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 93.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.15.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

SeaMonkey 2.53.9.1 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 4.3.2439.44 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

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

OutlookAttachView 3.43 adds hi-DPI support and improves sorting behavior. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_attachment.html

Thunderbird 91.2.0 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.

Telegram 3.1.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

curl 7.79.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 132.4.3800 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.56.0 is a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

Omada Software Controller 4.4.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Rclone 1.56.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Syncthing 1.18.3 improves reliability and resolves a cosmetic bug. This should be treated as a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Technitium DNS Server 7.0 is a major update to the API and Apps feature, each of the Apps, adds several more Apps, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

WGet 1.21.2 is a security update.
https://eternallybored.org/misc/wget/

WinSCP 5.19.3 is a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.8.1.1435 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

iTunes 12.12.1.1 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Picard 2.6.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Plex Desktop 1.35.1.2632 corrects a couple minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PlayStation PS5 21.02-04.02.00 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Steam 2021.10.07 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

Office Updates

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

Artweaver 7.0.10 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.artweaver.de/

Audacity 3.0.5 resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Blender 2.93.5 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.2.1 resolves over 80 bugs. This is not a security update. The “Fresh” line is beta software and should be avoided in favor of the “Still” line.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice Still 7.1.6 resolves over 40 bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.3.5 improves security. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.1.5 adds date insertion and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

OpenOffice 4.1.11 is a security update.
https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Adobe Reader DC 21.007.20099 is a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe Acrobat DC 21.007.20099 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-104.html

Adobe Connect 11.2.3 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/connect/apsb21-91.html

Adobe Reader Mobile 21.9.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/reader-mobile/apsb21-89.html

Adobe ops-cli 2.0.5 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/ops_cli/apsb21-88.html

Adobe Commerce 2.4.3-p1 and 2.3.7-p2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/magento/apsb21-86.html

Adobe Campaign 21.3.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/campaign/apsb21-52.html

Security Software Updates

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

PureOS 10.0 is a security update.
https://pureos.net/download/

Tails 4.23 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

OnionShare 2.4 is a security update.
https://onionshare.org/

RogueKiller 15.1.1 is a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

TinyWall 3.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/

uBlock Origin 1.38.4 resolves Twitch filtering and important filters. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.34 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

HandBrake 1.4.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.9 adds the ability to “securely” share a link with others. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 7.9.822 adds the ability to “securely” share a link with others. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

Autoruns 14.03 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

Bitwarden 1.28.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

ControlMyMonitor 1.29 adds the ability to set font options. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html

dnGrep 2.9.400.0 improves bookmarks and adds option to hide missing files in Everything search. This is not a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

Etcher 1.6.0 adds basic auth support and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything CLI 1.1.0.20 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Fido 1.26 adds Windows 11 downloads. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

Fing 2.7.0 adds user-presence tracking, improves the security tab, and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.fing.com/products/fing-desktop-download-windows

GoodSync 11.8.6 resolves several bugs, updates certificates and libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

Homedale 1.99 resolves a privacy bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

NTLite 2.3.0.8394 updates libraries and assignment options. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 9.4.1 adds Windows 11 compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PowerToys 0.47.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

Process Monitor 3.85 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Samsung Magician 7.0.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

TCPView 4.15 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/tcpview

TeamViewer 15.22.3 improves chat notification and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

WhyNotWin11 2.4.2.1 improves compatibility and accuracy. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

Windows 11 RCT 1.2.1 updates libraries and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://bytejams.com/

WinGet 1.1.12653 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest

WizTree 4.03 improves reliability, and improves details when loading exports. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskanalyzer.com/

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Godot 3.3.4 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://godotengine.org/

Node.js 12.22.7 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.18.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.11.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Visual Studio Code 1.61 adds split views, improved locking, new decorations, improved pair guides and more. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PPSSPP 1.12.2 adds support for Android 12, scoped storage, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://ppsspp.org/downloads.html

Web Package Updates

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

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.15 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Dada Mail 11.16.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dadamailproject.com/

Docker Desktop 4.1.1 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Drupal 9.2.7 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

MailArchiva 8.3.2 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://mailarchiva.com/

Nextcloud Server 22.2.0 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

phpList 3.6.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

ScreenConnect 21.13.5058.7951 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

Slider Revolution 6.5.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

Akismet 4.2.1 resolves an AMP validation bug. This is not a security update.

Contact Form 7 5.5.1 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.

NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster 4.3.23 is a security update.

Sucuri Security 1.8.30 is now a non-GoDaddy project. This is not a security update.

Visual Composer 39.1 resolves a cosmetic bug. This is not a security update.
https://visualcomposer.com/

WooCommerce 5.7.1 reverts a path change bug. This is not a security update.

WP Mail SMTP 3.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

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

Regards,

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

 

Updates 2020-10-13

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for October 2020.

This Month in Technology

For those in our local community, the biggest news is that AT&T has abandoned DSL in rural America, reducing Internet access options even further for our friends and neighbors.

The US Treasury has announced that it is now illegal to pay your federal taxes.

The Universal Health Services was hacked (all 400+ locations!) and infected with ransomware, so was Software AG, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was hacked again, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was hacked, the Las Vegas school system was hacked – and since they didn’t pay the ransom student details were leaked, Docsketch was hacked, and the United Nations (UN) International Maritime Organization was hacked. Razer made a boo-boo, and even coffee makers are now being used for ransomware distribution. Grindr was hacked, Microsoft’s Windows XP source code was leaked, almost any current iPhone can be listened into from 20 feet away using only an AM radio, and access to your RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) is being sold to attackers. Evidence exists that your anti-virus is helping the bad guys, and BitDefender is still weak security.

Facebook has been hacked (for years), Facebook for Android has been hacked again, Office 365 & Outlook have been down repeatedly over the last month, Fitbit malware – distributed by Fitbit – can be used to take over your internal network and exfiltrate your data to the web, Bluetooth is still the weakest wireless link, your Comcast XR11 TV remote can be used to listen in to your conversations, BitLocker encryption is vulnerable to a sleep-mode bypass (aka, yet another reason not to use sleep mode), HP Device Manager flaw is a big deal, but not as big a deal as Windows Error Reporting being used to infect your PC.

Apple’s initial iOS 14 release killed batteries on many iPhones, (so did the recent ChromeOS update), Apple’s latest security fix (10.15.7) can kill performance on your Mac, but only if you use Mac software (rolls eyes). Hint: disable and re-enable Find My Mac to fix it. And that’s nothing compared to their T2 security chip vulnerability.

“The” secure reimplementation of BIOS, UEFI, was designed to make security at boot a thing of beauty and prevent third-parties from being able to hijack the boot process. Unfortunately, it simply provided a false sense of security.

2FA via SMS is also a much lower fruit than many realize, but not nearly as bad as SSO.

Many others have joined in the case against Apple & Google’s rent-seeking, who charge significantly more for their “services” than even the federal government, but portray themselves as victims. Insane rules and hypocritical requirements force developers to charge for free services or force users out of their application in order to even be allowed into the Apple ecosystem. What can we really expect from a SF bay area “green” company that lies about their recycling program? Hopefully the courts will use Apple’s own words against them, in that Apple claims that their AppStore is a place to “reliably” download “safe” apps.

Former Facebook data scientist exposes her complicity with atrocities and abuse by governments and MNCs.

The Supreme Court heard arguments on the Oracle v Google IP fight suffered the same problem that most legal battles over technology do: poor arguments. Google’s defense failed to explain the distinctive nature of APIs as guides rather than code. Sure, they provide access to the functionality of the code, but are not, in and of themselves, code. The entire argument could be easily equated to vehicles. One does not need to know nor expose the specific design of a Ferrari 911 to know that the vehicle should stop at a stop sign nor yield at a yield sign. The vehicle itself (code – reasonably subject to IP) can operate on any road as long as the traffic signs (APIs) are in place. The signage is consistent across most of the world, even where languages differ greatly. So should the APIs be universally available.

In the current world of tech censorship and cancel culture, nobody can really argue against the necessity for Section 230 to be revised. However, most calls for revision would create an even more abhorrent system where public discourse can not be held without risk of liability to completely unrelated parties.

If you take government money, you are subject to the same rules as government, so says RFK, Jr.

In the new “get woke, go broke” era, it should come as no surprise that when you pander to racists and terrorists, you will be investigated.

Research shows that the lockdowns were not only anti-science, but caused far more harm than the virus itself. On the subject of fraud, are we still supposed to believe that the government’s “kill a fly with a nuke” response to COVID is really all the result of bats in an Asian wet market or that masks actually do anything at all?

One would think fraud would be front page news, but the MSM is much more likely to ignore than acknowledge it. To paraphrase Stalin, “A single case of fraud is a tragedy; a million cases are just a statistic.”

The moment I read that Nintendo’s lawyers said Joy-Con Drift “wasn’t a real problem” I knew they would be sued.

Now for the good news – since I’m making up for last month, I’ll give you three:

Adobe Flash will finally be dead in only 79 days.

Free, limitless power from graphene could literally change everything.

A “vaccine” of sorts has been developed to protect against some forms of ransomware.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

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

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

Apple released updates for iOS 14.0.1 and iPadOS 14.0.1, tvOS 14.0.2, Safari 14.0, watchOS 7.0.2, macOS Catalina 10.15.7, macOS Mojave 10.14.6, macOS High Sierra 10.13.6, iCloud for Windows 7.21, iCloud for Windows 11.4, iTunes for Windows 12.10.9, and Xcode 12.0. These are security updates.

iOS 14.0.1 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current version. This version also adds the Orwellian contact tracing feature at the system level. While “disabled” by default, you may validate that it is disabled in Settings, Privacy, Health, COVID-19 Exposure Logging, and turn off Exposure Logging.

iPadOS 14.0.1 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current version.

tvOS 14.0.2 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Updates to install the most current version.

watchOS 7.0.2 is a security update. Use your updated iPhone to install the most current version through the Watch app.

Adobe Flash Player 32.0.0.445 is a security update.
Win: https://12pd.com/click?flash
Win: https://12pd.com/click?flashie
Mac: https://12pd.com/click?flashmac

Google has released security updates for Android 9 and 10 which will gradually be published by individual vendors and available to you in the coming weeks. This version also adds the Orwellian contact tracing feature. Disabling Location and Bluetooth will disable the current version of contact tracing.

Google Chrome OS 85.0.4183.133 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Catalina (10.15) means that macOS Sierra (10.12) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS High Sierra (10.13) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (2004) is a huge (about 25% larger than any prior build) so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

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

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.3.3 improves removal of DCH CP on older builds of Windows. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

Logitech Options 8.30.310 resolves several bugs adds profiles for Zoom and MS Teams. This is not a security update.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/options

Logitech Options (macOS) 8.30.293 resolves several bugs adds profiles for Zoom and MS Teams. This is not a security update.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/options

nVidia 456.71 adds support for new hardware and improves support for COD beta and other games. This is not a security update.
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Crucial Storage Executive 6.06 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a a security update.
https://www.crucial.com/support/storage-executive

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.15.72 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 86.0.4240.80 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

Microsoft Edge 86.0.622.38 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 81.0.2 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

Firefox ESR 78.3.1 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.

SeaMonkey 2.53.4 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 3.3.2022.47 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 78.3.2 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.

Dropbox 107.4.443 resolves bugs and adds more. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Zoom 5.3.53291.1011 changes automatic update behavior, and improves poll and link behaviors. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Prosody 0.11.7 is a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

FreeFileSync 11.2 resolves several bugs, improves layout and key bindings. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Nmap 7.91 adds support for new profiles and fingerprints, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://nmap.org/

Npcap 1.00 resolves two minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

Technitium DNS Server 5.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 2.0.6 improves sensitivity calculations, light focal management, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

iTunes for Windows 12.10.9 is a security update. Use Apple Software Update to install the most current version.

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2020.10.07 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Office Updates

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

Notepad++ 7.9 adds several new features and fixes over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Adobe Reader DC 20.012.20048 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Artweaver 7.0.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.artweaver.de/

Atom 1.52.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://atom.io/

Blender 2.90.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

Lightworks NLE 2020.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.lwks.com/

Microsoft Office for Mac 2016/2019 is a security update.

Krita 4.4.0 improves fill layers, multigrid, screentone, brushes, API improvements and more. This is a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.0.2 resolves over a hundred bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.0.2 resolves a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Security Software Updates

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

OpenSSL 1.1.1h resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.openssl.org/source/

KeePass 2.46 adds several features including TLS 1.3 and mass edit capabilities, as well as resolving bugs, and other improvements. This is not a security update.
https://keepass.info/

RogueKiller 14.7.3 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

TinyWall 3.0.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/

uBlock Origin 1.30.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.27.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

SnagIt 2020.1.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/enu/snagit.exe

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.0.1 is a major update with several improvements. This version improves the GUI and adds several new output profiles. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

AVStoDVD 2.8.9 resolves several bugs, improves performance and updates libraries. This should be treated as a security update.
https://sites.google.com/site/avstodvdmain/

MakeMKV 1.15.3 resolves several bugs, introduces TOR/VPN support, adds support for new stream types. This is not a security update.
https://www.makemkv.com/download/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Windows 7.6.785 resolves a bug. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

Beyond Compare 4.3.7.25118 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=dl4

Bitwarden 1.22.2 resolves bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CCleaner 5.72.7994 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

CPU-Z 1.94 adds support for new hardware and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

DesktopOK 7.95 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

DevManView 1.72 resolves an output bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/device_manager_view.html

Etcher 1.5.109 is a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything 1.4.1.992 is a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

GoodSync 11.3.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

IsMyHdOK 2.51 resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

LessMSI 1.7.0 improves messaging. This is not a security update.
https://lessmsi.activescott.com/

MS ISO Downloader 8.40 adds support for new Dell models and images, new Win10 builds and adds hash reporting to images. This is not a security update.
https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-download-tool

NTLite 2.0.0.7656 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 8.10 improves display and startup. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PSAppDeploy 3.8.3 adds several new features and resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://psappdeploytoolkit.com/

RoboForm 8.9.4 resolves several bugs, including the QuickBooks compatibility issue that prevented display of registers and Chrome that caused freezes.
https://12pd.com/click?rf

Process Monitor 3.60 adds support for multiple filter item selection and decoding for new file system control operations and error status codes. While not a security updates, this improves the analytical data collection, thus increasing security awareness.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Procdump 10.0 adds support for dump cancellation and CoreCLR processes. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procdump

Sysmon 12.0 resolves several bugs and adds support for capturing clipboard operations. While not a security updates, this improves the analytical data collection, thus increasing security awareness.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

SysInternals released new builds of many of their applications, as well as ARM versions. While the changes on many of the updates are poorly documented and SysInternals apps are generally more secure than apps distributed elsewhere, you should assume that any updates have security ramifications. If they’re not security updates, they may improve the context or analytical data that is exposed, thus increasing the security awareness of the tools.
https://live.sysinternals.com/

TeamViewer 15.10.5 resolves a licensing bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows/

USBDeview 3.01 adds an option to copy the contents of the active cell. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

USB Oblivion 1.14.0.0 addes support for new modules. This is not a security update.
http://www.cherubicsoft.com/en/projects/usboblivion

WifiChannelMonitor 1.65 adds support for detection of new protocols. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_channel_monitor.html

WifiInfoView 2.65 adds support for detection of new protocols. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html

WirelessKeyView 2.20 adds support for displaying WiFi QR Codes. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html

WinGet 0.2.2521 updates libraries and adds new verbs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest

WinScan2PDF 6.06 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Android Studio 4.1.0.19 integrates database and emulation, improves diagnostics, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

Godot 3.2.3 resolves over a hundred bugs and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://godotengine.org/

Node.js 14.13.1 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 12.19.0 updates libraries, and resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Visual Studio Code 1.50 improves accessibility features, pinned tabs, adds ARM support, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

TortoiseGit 2.11.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tortoisegit.org/

Web Package Updates

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

Dada Mail 11.12.0 adds image embedding and resizing, improved scheduling capabilities, library updates and bug fixes. This is not a security update.
http://dadamailproject.com/

Drupal 9.0.7 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Docker Desktop 2.4.0.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Nextcloud Server 20.0.0 updates libraries, adds a new dashboard, Talk bridging support, and several other new features and improvements. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

HumHub 1.6.4 is a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

Joomla 3.9.22 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

OpenPetra 2020.09 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.openpetra.org/

phpMyAdmin 4.9.6 and 5.0.3 are security updates.
https://www.phpmyadmin.net/

Autoptimize 2.7.8 is a security update.

BuddyPress 6.3.0 resolves bugs. This is not a security update.

Email Log 2.4.3 adds a new filter and enhances nonce. This is not a security update.

Social Post Feed 2.17 adds support for new embed types. This is not a security update.

WooCommerce 4.5.2 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.

WP Mail SMTP 2.4.0 updates libraries, improves compatibility, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

W3 Total Cache 0.15.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

WordPress Zero Spam 4.10.2 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 2010-03-31

Posted on by
Reply

Hey folks!

Before I begin this time I’d like to take a moment to point out the prescient Dilbert comic from Monday. This Tuesday there were more updates released in any single day, throughout the day, than since last Fall. Many, unfortunately, will require reboots.
  http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-03-29

Microsoft has released an out-of-cycle security update for Internet Explorer. One of the vulnerabilities it corrects is actively being exploited against IE6 and IE7, though this includes updates to IE8 as well. This is a security update. A reboot is required.
  http://update.microsoft.com/

Apple has been busy this month:

OSX 10.6.3 and update 2010-002, iPhone Configuration Utility, Final Cut Studio, iMovie, Aperture, Logic Express & Pro, and more than a dozen printer drivers (including a Bounjour Print Services client). This includes several security updates, at least four of which are remotely exploitable and in the wild now. The most common flaw within these vulnerabilities is an overrun within TIFF image processing, which effectively allows an attacker to do anything they like with your Mac if ANY of the flawed applications are installed on your machine, simply by getting you to visit a webpage. This is a security update. Use the “Apple Updater” to get the most recent versions of all affected software. If that doesn’t work (errors are raised during download, for example) use the following link to individually download and install each update (using the Apple Updater as a guide to which downloads are required):
  http://support.apple.com/downloads/

iTunes 9.1 and Quicktime 7.6.6 were also released today. These are both security updates. The vulnerabilities can be exploited simply by opening an evil site (or a trusted site with ads on it) within any browser on your computer. Ideally, you should use the Apple Updater, but if that doesn’t work for you (or you didn’t install it), you can obtain the updates at the links below. If you have iTunes installed, use:
  http://apple.com/download/itunes
Otherwise, install only the QuickTime update, and ONLY if you already have Quicktime installed:
  http://apple.com/download/quicktime

Java Runtime 6u19 adds a couple dozen bugfixes, including “mitigating” (though not exactly eliminating) more than one significant security issue. This is a security update. All users should update ASAP:
  http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1
If you’re using a 64bit machine and use both 32bit and 64bit browsers, you should also install the 64bit version, available here:
  http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

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.

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.

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

NVIDIA Forceware 197.13 increases performance and exposed features for several newer games. This is not a security update.
  http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index5.aspx?lang=en-us

ATI Catalyst Drivers 10.3 introduces support for various additional hardware and mobility support under Windows 7, as well as optimizations for recent games. This is not a security update.
  http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

IntelliPoint 7.1 corrects several bugs and enables repeating macros, configured through custom button assignments. This is not a security update.
  http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=MK

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

Firefox 3.6.2 corrects a half dozen security issues, as well as several other stability bugs. This is a security update. If you have firefox installed, update NOW!
  http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Hamachi 2.0.2.84 provides the simplest VPN setup I’ve ever seen. As no changelog is provided, this should be considered a security update.
  https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi2/

Skype 4.2.0.155 fixes a URL security bug as well as a payment issue. This is a security update.
  http://www.skype.com/getconnected/

Safari 4.0.5 is a security and stability release. This is a security update.
  http://apple.com/download/safari

Opera 10.51 corrects over 2 dozen bugs in the 10.50 version, including two remotely exploitable security bugs. This is a security update.
  http://www.opera.com/browser/

Trillian for Mac 1.0 Build 105: Universal binary and Facebook/XMPP integration! This is not a security update.
  http://trillian.im/

Trillian 1.1 for iPhone: Landscape, Facebook Chat, 7-day signout, various filters, UI improvements and more consistent connection preferences pulled from the desktop application. This is not a security update.
  Get it from the App Store.

Yahoo! Messenger 10.0.0.1258 corrects several unidentified security bugs. This is a security update.
  http://messenger.yahoo.com/

GoodSync 8.1.9 fixes a crash on uninstall, logoff issues, provides the ability to sync on a schedule, network queuing for enterprise distribution, adds a new “Good Explorer” system for navigating the remote structure, batch activations, FTP syncing fixes, SFTP security update, and adds a “Sync on Logoff” feature. This is a security update.
  http://www.goodsync.com/download/goodsync.exe

uTorrent 2.0 Build 18620 fixes a minor settings bug. This is not a security update.
  http://www.utorrent.com/

FileZilla 3.3.2.1 corrects a half-dozen bugs, including issues with site-specific bookmarks & file-renaming. This is not a security update.
  http://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client

SmartFTP 4.0.1085.0 fixes several issues in “find” functionality, as well as a remote browser sorting bug. This is not a security update.
  http://www.smartftp.com/download/

Miranda 0.8.17 provides two new minor features and several fixes to Gadu-Gadu, MSN Messenger and Jabber protocol handling. This is a security update.
  http://www.miranda-im.org/download/

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

Intuit released a 235mb update to QuickBooks that, among other things, corrects a really annoying PDF printing compatibility issue on 64bit machines, as well as Payroll and Sales Tax bug fixes (if you’ve experienced them, you know exactly what I’m talking about). This is not a security update.
  http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/ProductUpdates.aspx

Scribus 1.3.6 adds new scripting functionality, usability improvements and broader color palettes, in addition to much anticipated documentation updates. This is not a security update.
  http://www.scribus.net/?q=downloads

Adobe released a security update to Premiere Elements, which should be installed by any Adobe Premier users. This is a security update. Use Help, Check for Updates, or download the updater from the link below:
  http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4653

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

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.45 adds an update scheduler, new flash scan option, web policy blocking, stability and performance improvements, and heuristics engine updates. This is a security update.
  http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

SuperAntiSpyware 4.35.1000 introduces “Rootkit Uncover” to help detect and remove deeply hidden malware, as well as engine updates. This version also incorporates a 32/64 merged installer so if you’re downloading for multiple computers you no longer have to worry about whether it’s the right install package. This is a security update.
  http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
Note that SAS now provides a portable scanner, too, available here:
  http://www.superantispyware.com/portablescanner.html

AntiVir Personal 10.0.0.561 is a major update for Avira AntiVir. Several additional features (a “pile” of features according to Avira) are included in this releas, including “generic repair” (which attempts to make additional repairs to a system instead of simply deleting the infected files), ProActiv (behavior tracking), improved installation process, and (for the premium version) extensive parental control features. This is a security update.
  http://www.free-av.com/en/download/index.html

Media Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Picasa 3.6 Build 105.56 corrects numerous crash bugs and a couple translation errors. This is not a security update.
  http://google.com/picasa/

CDBurnerXP 4.3.0.1977 adds additional functionality, as well as a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
  http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

ImgBurn 2.5.1.0 adds numerous features, and corrects dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
  http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

Any Video Converter 3.04 incorporates newer codecs and hardware support. This is not a security update.
  http://www.any-video-converter.com/

Windows 7 Codec Package 2.4.5 updates several codecs, corrects several MKV handling issues, and fixes a couple interface bugs. This is not a security update.
  http://shark007.net/win7codecs.html

Vista Codec Package 5.6.5 updates several codecs and fixes a couple interface bugs. This is not a security update. Note that Vista Codec Package DOES support Windows XP. If you’re having trouble on an older machine getting web or downloaded audio or video to play, try this Codec package!
  http://shark007.net/vistacodecpackage.html

Utility Updates
These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VirtualBox 3.1.6.59338, the first release since the Oracle buyout of Sun, provides several dozen fixes, including stability and performance changes. This is not a security update.
  http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

iPhone Configuration Utility 2.2 and MobileMe Control Panel 1.5.1 both add support for the iPad, as well as correcting other issues, including the TIFF security issue detailed above. If you don’t use these applications, don’t install them. 🙂  This is a security update.
  http://support.apple.com/kb/DL926 (iPhone Config)
  http://support.apple.com/kb/DL769 (MobileMe CP)

CPU-Z 1.54 provides additional hardware detection support. This is not a security update.
  http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

GPU-Z 0.4.0 includes support for newer hardware, as well as correcting a couple minor bugs. This is not a security update.
  http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1781/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.4.0.html

CCleaner 2.30.1130 improves performance and reliability for cleaning. This is not a security update.
  http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Microsoft has released updates to several SysInternals tools, including Process Explorer (expands upon the categorical details within each process), VMMap (correcting a mathematical error under 64bit) and DiskView (providing better disk mapping performance). This is not a security update.
  http://www.sysinternals.com/

Web Package Updates
These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

phpMyAdmin 3.3.1 corrects a handful of bugs, primarily related to the recent user interface changes. This is not a security update.
  http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/downloads.php

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

Regards,

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