Apple currently has a security update available, Security Update 2008-007, that is recommended for all users to download and apply. To do so, just click on your Apple Menu and choose Software Update…  You Windows users will also have an important set of software updates set for release this week. Microsoft releases them on what they call Patch Tuesday, so you can expect to see them available tomorrow. If you have automatic updates turned on, then you will get this without any effort on your part. If you don’t have them turned on, then you will need to manually install them.

For more information:

• Mac OS X Patch Day
• Microsoft Patch Tuesday

And it’s time to make sure that your computer is completely patched and up-to-date to provide you with a safe computing environment. All users, running any operating system from Windows to Mac, should apply all available patches and security updates to make sure their computer is safe from any and all vulnerabilities. When vulnerabilities are found for major operating systems, you can be sure that something designed to exploit it will be found somewhere in the wild in short notice.

Just this week, Apple announced a series of updates and patches for Mac OS X. This patch set will upgrade your operating system to version 10.5.5 and protect you against several known security problems. To apply the update, click on the Apple menu and choose Software Update…

For more information, please see this article:

• Even Mac users have to patch

This was reported earlier this week but has only recently come across our radar. According to Secunia, there is an extremely critical vulnerability with Apple’s Quicktime software that leaves users of Windows XP and Windows Vista open to potential attacks from malicious people intent on comprimising their system.  There is no patch for this vulnerability at this time, but since many people use Quicktime both online and with iTunes, we wanted to pass along this news item. Until a patch is available do not browse untrusted website, follow untrusted links, or open Quicktime files that you do not trust. 

For more information:

•  LatestQuicktime bug leaves XP, Vista vulnerable (ZDNet)

Apple Mac OS X 10.4 has received a large update today that upgrades your system to version 10.4.11. This update is intended to make Mac OS X 10.4 compatible with Apple’s new operating system, Mac OS X 10.5, also known as Leopard. This update also fixes several vulnerabilities that were known to exist with Apple’s operating system and it updates Safari to version 3. The is highly recommended update. To apply the update, click on the Apple icon at the top left of your screen and then choose Software Update… This will begin the update. For user of Intel Macs, the update is about 120mb if your system is up-to-date and 321.5mb if you are running Mac OS X 10.4.09 or older. For PowerPC Macs, the updates are about half those sizes.

In related news, Safari 3 Beta for Windows XP and Windows Vista has also received an update that fixes several known vulnerabilities. If you are running Safari 3 Beta on Windows, we recommend that you apply this update as soon as possible.

For more information:

• Apple Updates Tigers with Safari 3, Security Fixes
• Apple monster update fixes 41 Mac OS X, Safari vulnerabilities

The USI Safe Computing blog is intended to be a window into the world of security updates, good practices, useful software, and helpful tips for the USI community in an effort to make us all safer users of technology. Subscribe to this blog or bookmark it and it return to it on a regular basis. While most of the information posted here will be about timely announcements of security vulnerabilities, software updates, and potential security threats, we also plan to publish articles and tutorials that will help you understand how to be a safer while using your computer, to be better informed of safe computing practices and terminology, and to be knowledge about the threats that technology and Internet have introduced into our lives.

Because this is a blog, we encourage you to participate by leaving comments and questions. If there is something you want to know, feel free to ask us and we will do our best to provide information that informs not only you but the wider USI community.

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