14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will release the coming week a consistent patch package containing no less than a dozen patches for its products. The updates are to address nine Windows vulnerabilities, two in Office and only one in Exchange.
Some of the patches will carry a severity rating of "critical," indicating problems that can be exploited externally with no action from the victim. The "critical" tab will point to at least one Windows update and one in Office, the Exchange patch having a rating of "important".
Office's vulnerability has already been targeted by hackers several times starting in May. It allows running unauthorized software on the PC, although first the user must open a Word - malware document. The updates will also change the way in which Internet Explorer processes dynamic content using ActiveX, in response to the patent lawsuit loss involving ActiveX's code, lawsuit lost in favor of University of California and Eolas Technologies.
"The biggest headache, however, will come from the sheer number of updates being released," said Susan Bradley, chief technology officer with Tamiyasu, Smith, Horn and Braun, Accountancy. And this because the launching date is in the middle of Microsoft's Tech-Ed user conference.
All patches will be available for manual download from Microsoft's site starting June 13th. All these considered, the Redmond company will also push them via the automated update services that include Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, and Software Update Services.