windows

Heresy. Yes, I know. Any way you slice it, from my point of view anyway, Windows Automatic Update is for chumps.

Just like the “users must be forced to change their passwords frequently” argument that’s no longer au courant, the “users must get patched immediately” argument is based on old, faulty, and totally unsubstantiated claims that make security people feel better — and little else.

With a few notable exceptions, in the real world, the risks of getting clobbered by a bad patch far, far outweigh the risks of getting hit with a just-patched exploit. Many security “experts” huff and puff at that assertion. The poohbahs preach Automatic Update for the unwashed masses, while frequently exempting themselves from the edict.

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Much has changed in the past month. We’ve seen an emergency cry for all Windows XP, Vista, Win7, Server 2003, 2008 and 2008 R2 systems to get patched in order to fend off widely anticipated BlueKeep attacks. We’ve also seen Microsoft officially release Windows 10 version 1903, with unsuspecting “seekers” now the prime targets.

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May 2019 will go down in the annals of Patch-dom as the month we all ran for cover to fend off another WannaCry-caliber worm, but a convincing exploit never emerged.

Microsoft officially released Windows 10 version 1903 on May 21, but I haven’t yet heard from anyone who’s been pushed. All of the complaints I hear are from those “seekers” who went to the download site and installed 1903 with malice and forethought. A triumph of hope over experience.

This month, if you let Windows Update have its way on your machine, you may end up with a different build number than the person sitting next to you. Blame the gov.uk debacle for that: Folks with Windows set up for U.K. English get an extra cumulative update pushed onto their machines, whilst those who don’t fly the Union Jack will get the fix in due course next month.

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