It’s Patch Tuesday: Get Ready to Download Windows and IE Updates

The last Patch Tuesday updates of the year will be released in a few hours and will include important fixes for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10.

Just like it usually does with Patch Tuesday fixes, Microsoft keeps everything secret until it officially rolls out the updates, just to make sure that no one tries to exploit some of the found vulnerabilities.

But even though the Redmond-based software giant hasn’t provided too much information on this month’s Patch Tuesday update cycle, we do know that Microsoft will release a total of seven different updates today aimed at Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10.

While the company will also patch flaws in other products and previous Windows versions, three of the updates are aimed at Windows 8, with two marked as “critical” and one “important.”

Windows RT is going to be patched too with the help of two different updates, both of them being flagged as “critical.” Microsoft hasn’t yet confirmed whether these patches are expected to fix some of the many Surface RT bugs, but we’re pretty sure that thousands of buyers are now keeping their fingers crossed for this.

Last but not least, Microsoft is expected to release a critical patch for Microsoft Word, as security researchers have previously hinted that an existing bug could allow attackers to break into a vulnerable computer and execute malicious code.

“We assume the ‘critical’ rating comes from Outlook, which can be configured to use Word to visualize documents in its preview pane. This is an automatic mechanism that does not require user interaction. In any case, this is will be an important bulletin to watch out for,” Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of security firm Qualys, said.

All updates will be released in just a few hours, so make sure you have you Windows computer configured to automatically download and install updates.