• December 2005

    by  • December 2, 2005 • 2005

    For the final month of the year, Microsoft has released two new Security Bulletins, one ranked Critical and the other rate as Important by Microsoft. That brings the total number of Security Bulletins for the year to 55, ten higher than the total for 2004.

    The Critical update is a cumulative patch for Internet Explorer which actually patches four separate vulnerabilities. One of those vulnerabilities has made headlines because it is already being exploited by malware in the wild and allows a remote attacker to run code on the vulnerable system. eEye Digital Security noted that the cumulative patch also disables the ActiveX control distributed by Sony BMG as a part of the uninstallation process for their highly publicized rootkit which has been exploited by other malware.

    To view a summary of the December bulletins, visit Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for December, 2005. Click the links below to view the individual Microsoft Security Bulletins and to download any patches that might be required for your system. You can also visit Windows Update to automatically determine what patches or updates your system needs.

    About

    Tony has driven security policies and technologies for antivirus and incident response for Fortune 500 companies, and he has been network administrator and technical support for smaller companies. He has written for a variety of other Web sites and publications, including BizTech Magazine, PC World, SearchSecurity.com, WindowsNetworking.com, Smart Computing magazine, and Information Security magazine. Tony is a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and ISSAP (Information Systems Security Architecture Professional). He is Microsoft Certified as an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) in Windows 2000 and an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) in Windows NT. Tony has been recognized by Microsoft as an MVP (Most Valuable Professional) in Windows security since 2006. In addition to his Web site and magazine contributions, Tony was also tech editor of PCI Compliance (ISBN: 1597491659 ) and author of Essential Computer Security: Everyone’s Guide to E-mail, Internet, and Wireless Security (ISBN: 1597491144), coauthor of Hacker’s Challenge 3 (ISBN: 0072263040) and a contributing author to Winternals: Defragmentation, Recovery, and Administration Field Guide (ISBN: 1597490792), Combating Spyware in the Enterprise (ISBN: 1597490644) Syngress Force 2006 Emerging Threat Analysis: From Mischief to Malicious (ISBN: 1597490563), Botnets: The Killer Web Applications (ISBN: 1597491357), and AVIEN Malware Defense Guide for the Enterprise (ISBN: 1597491640).

    http://www.tonybradley.com