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Monthly Archives

January 2019

Top 10 Most Out-of-Date Programs

By News, UncategorizedNo Comments

Millions of PCs Are Running Outdated Versions of Popular Software

55% of all programs worldwide are out-of-date
It is 2019, and millions of computers still either have at least one outdated application installed or run outdated operating systems, making themselves vulnerable to online threats and known security vulnerabilities/exploits.
Many outdated applications, including frameworks and tools, contain vulnerabilities and for security reasons should be updated immediately.

For example, in May 2018 7-ZIP fixed an issue in the RAR extraction logic that could allow a DoS attack or execute harmful code embedded in RAR files.
Another popular example is Java: Versions 6, 7 and 8 are still widely installed and no longer up-to-date. Even users who are on the latest Java version 10 release should check for updates regularly to avoid any security issues.
One of the most out-of-date applications is the VLC Media Player. This is likely due to older versions of the software not notifying the users about updates. Skype closely follows, as most users are still on the older version, Skype 7 Classic. Microsoft has not enforced the update to the new Skype 8, but has been gathering user feedback and encouraging users to upgrade.

Most Out-of-Date Programs

1. Adobe Shockwave
2. VLC Media Player
3. Skype
4. Java Runtime Environment 6-8
5. 7-Zip Filemanager
6. Foxit Reader
7. Adobe Air
8. InfranView
9. Mozilla Firefox
10. DivX Plus Web Player

11. WinZip
12. iTunes
13. Nitro PDF Professional 9
14. GOM Media Player
15. WinRAR Archiver
16.Skype 8
17. Java Runtime Environment 10
18. Nitro PDF Professional 10
19. Mozilla Thunderbird
20. Mozilla HP Photo Creations

Use Syxsense to detect and then remediate updates. While you could run a comprehensive scan of all devices on a network, you can also run a targeted scan seeking a specific software. Easily see which devices are running which version of an application that might be at risk. From there, it’s simple to set up a task that targets every device that need the update.

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January 31, 2019
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January Third-Party Security Updates

By News, Patch Management, UncategorizedNo Comments

Latest Third-Party Updates

This month there are several notable updates with CVSS ratings. Apple has released critical fixes for two of their OS platforms. Adobe and Foxit both have patches with high ratings. Prioritize these updates when securing your environment.

Still using WSUS?

If so, how are you deploying third-party security updates?
It’s time to switch to an IT management solution that can deploy any security updates required. Don’t rely on an incomplete tool that can only deploy windows updates. Syxsense can deploy a wide-range of updates, including Windows, Mac, and Linux software.

Third-Party Updates

Vendor Category Patch Version and Release Notes: CVSS Score and Rating
Adobe Multi-purpose software Flash Player, ActiveX, and AIR: v32.0.0.114Acrobat and Reader DC: v19.010.20069 N/A7.8 and High
Apple Operating Systems macOS: v10.14.3macOS High Sierra: v10.13.6

iTunes: v12.9.3.3

 9 and Critical9 and Critical

N/A
Don Ho Text and Source Code Editor Notepad: v7.6.3 N/A
Evernote Organization App Evernote: v6.17.6.8292 N/A
FileZilla FTP application FileZilla: v3.40.0 N/A
Foxit Corporation PDF software FoxitReader: v9.4.0 6.3 and High
Google Browser Google Earth Pro: v7.3.2.5495 N/A
KeePass Open-source password manager KeePass: v2.41 N/A
Mozilla Browser and Email Application Firefox: v64.0.2 N/A
Opera Web Browser Opera: v58.0.3135.47 N/A
Oracle Computer Programing Language Java: v8u202 N/A
Peter Pawlowski Audio Player Foobar2000: v1.4.2 N/A
RealVNC Remote Access Software RealVNC Viewer: v6.19.1 N/A
WinSCP Web Client WinSCP: v5.13.7 N/A
Wireshark Open-source packet analyzer Wireshark: v2.6.6 N/A
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January 30, 2019
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Software Update Services: Reliable Patching and Support

By Patch Management, Uncategorized, VideoNo Comments

Get Started with Software Update Services

Our expert patch management team provides reliable support with detection and remediation for Windows and third-party software updates. We work closely with you to provide safe and efficient endpoint security with your own systems management tool or ours, Syxsense.

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January 23, 2019
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Future Windows 10 Updates Will Demand Dedicated Disk Space

By News, UncategorizedNo Comments

The Next Upgrade Will Section Off 7GB of Storage

Due sometime in March or April, the next Windows update will do something new. 1903 will section off and hold 7GB of drive space. This sectioning is being called “reserved storage” and Microsoft argues it will improve functionality by guaranteeing there will always be space for critical OS functions.
Windows updates have always required a chunk of storage space to run the update. But after the task had been completed, that space was released back to the user. Now, it will create a section that will always be held. However, new updates will utilize this new portion before attempting to take any more space in an update.

There are still unknowns about how this will work. For instance, will this reserved storage space be manageable through group policies?
This change leaves IT with an important question, do all Windows devices have the necessary space to facilitate this new demand? To prevent going to every single device and noting its current storage space, utilize an IT solution with comprehensive inventory information.

Syxsense Realtime Security displays current data from your devices. The information is fresh; not from hours or minutes ago, but from right now.

Looking at the free disk space information, there will be no question as to which devices have enough space to handle this new Windows function.
Come trial Syxsense Realtime Security and all of its features before Windows rolls out their next update.

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January 16, 2019
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WSUS Can’t Handle This

By News, Patch Management, Patch Tuesday, UncategorizedNo Comments

Microsoft Releases Fix for Patch Tuesday Blunder

When Patch Tuesday rolled out earlier this month, it came with an unexpected problem. Two updates, KB4480970 and KB4480960, created network shares accessing errors. Patch deployment strategies had to be halted and the update required removal.
Now, Microsoft has released a new update, KB4487345, that should fix the networking issues.
With the mess that this botched update created, Microsoft has shone a bright light on to the limitations of certain update software. WSUS, Microsoft’s own proprietary system, is one of the weakest available.

Deploying the previous, broken updates, along with this new fix, with WSUS would induce massive headaches. Essentially, you would be deploying your updates blindly. There is no function within WSUS to check if devices already have an update deployed. So, if you patched your Patch Tuesday updates as regular, you may have the broken updates on your systems. There is also no option to roll back updates. Uninstalling them would require an immense amount of work.
Even after you had figured out which systems had the bad updates, uninstalled them, and then deployed the fixed update, you’d still have a major problem. WSUS does not show the status of a task. There is no way to confirm within the software that an update was successful. This also means there is no evidence to prove you have executed this critical task.
There can be no more waiting in implementing a true patch management solution. Look to Syxsense.

Why choose Syxsense?
1. Detection: With Realtime security information, Syxsense displays the current state of your devices and software. This is a reflection of right now; not minutes or hours ago.
2. Roll Back Patches: Not only can you deploy updates with a strategic method, but the Patch Manager can also uninstall updates. The task can be configured to remove a specific update, or group of updates, from all devices or just a selection of them.

3. Task Status and Reporting: Along with that Realtime data display comes accurate task status information. You can follow along as the task runs and analyze which devices succeeded or failed to implement the update. From there, our reporting section organizes vital information into easy to understand reports. These are perfect for emailing out to prove needed work has been completed effectively.

What is Realtime Security?

Syxsense Realtime Security pulls live data from thousands of devices, direct to a web console, in seconds. By eliminating stale data, IT management and security decisions are based on what is happening right now, not in the past.

If device scans are run at night when devices are offline, hidden behind a firewall or roaming, security and IT teams have an incomplete view of their environment. Realtime Security eliminates blind spots enabling teams to manage their environment with 100% visibility.
With no steep learning curve, Realtime Security’s simple to learn web interface leverages AI, and empowers teams with the information and skill to act instantly.
Why juggle multiple consoles for device and security management? In a single place, security and IT operations can understand their exposed security risk, patch, deploy software, stop security breaches, satisfy compliance agencies and more.

Whether organizations are looking for endpoint security or IT management capabilities, including patch management, software distribution and remote control, Realtime Security is the only cloud-based approach to security and systems management which enables 10-second endpoint visibility and control thousands of devices.
Get started with Syxsense Realtime Security and manage your entire IT environment with a simple and powerful solution.

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January 14, 2019
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Do Not Deploy These Updates!

By News, Patch Management, UncategorizedNo Comments

Microsoft’s monthly rollup causing network problems

When Microsoft releases their monthly ‘Patch Tuesday’ rollup, the idea is to address vulnerabilities causing issues. But sometimes the release creates new issues. This month, that is what has happened.
KB4480970 (Monthly Rollup) and KB4480960 (Security Update) are causing serious network issues where network shares can no longer be achieved via SMBv2 protocol in certain environments.

We are advising anyone to not deploy these updates until Microsoft has resolved the issue. If possible, use an IT solution to roll back this month’s Patch Tuesday release.

When Microsoft does issue new updates, Syxsense will be sure to have them in our comprehensive Patching Library. The Patch Manager also has the ability to target and uninstall updates just as easily as it can install them.
This incident serves as a reminder why it is important to implement a patching strategy. Having a plan in place can prevent widespread disaster.

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January 9, 2019
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Patch Tuesday: January Updates

By News, Patch Management, Patch Tuesday, UncategorizedNo Comments

Patch Tuesday Release: The Latest News

Microsoft has released 49 security patches today. There are seven Critical severity patches in this release however almost half resolve a remote code execution issue.
Eleven of the others are important remote code execution patches, and one of these patches is listed as publicly known which we are highly recommend be prioritized this month.

Adobe Flash, Connect and Digital Editions

Adobe has released updates for Adobe Flash Player for Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome OS.  These updates address feature and performance bugs, but do not include security fixes.

The Adobe Connect update resolves an important session token exposure vulnerability and the update for Adobe Digital resolved a vulnerability which if successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure in the context of the current user.
All of these updates are Priority 3, which means Exploitation is not known or likely.

CVE-2019-0579

Although this update has a Severity rating of Important, is publicly disclosed, and although there is no evidence that this is being actively exploited in the wild, these types of updates are commonly used to expose customer environments – as demonstrated by the independent CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10.
Robert Brown, Director of Services for Verismic said, “You should not leave Windows Update in its automatic mode as updates like this would typically be lower priority and therefore not deployed automatically. You should have enough information to make informed choices in your selection of patches, and that includes being able to see independent CVSS scores and whether the vulnerability has been made Public or known to be Actively Exploited.”
Syxsense provides that information so you do not need to reply on default Windows Update patching.

7GB of Storage – ‘Reserve Storage’

Windows doesn’t check if a device has enough space before installing an update. The current solution is for users to manually delete unnecessary temporary files and temporarily move those files like photos and films to external storage to make enough space.

Microsoft have announced that a future “Quality Update” could automatically earmark 7GB of storage on your local hard drive to future proof any download of large updates going forward.
What is concerning is this space cannot be retrieved or paid back to Windows – so any device with the older generation SDD drives or smaller hard drive are likely to run out of space.

Patch Tuesday Release

CVE ID Description Severity Publicly Discovered Actively Exploited Recommended
CVE-2019-0579 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important Yes No Yes
CVE-2019-0539 Chakra Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0568 Chakra Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0567 Chakra Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0565 Microsoft Edge Memory Corruption Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0547 Windows DHCP Client Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0550 Windows Hyper-V Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0551 Windows Hyper-V Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Critical No No Yes
CVE-2019-0564 ASP.NET Core Denial of Service Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0548 ASP.NET Core Denial of Service Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0566 Microsoft Edge Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0562 Microsoft SharePoint Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0543 Microsoft Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0555 Microsoft Xml Document Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0552 Windows COM Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0571 Windows Data Sharing Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0572 Windows Data Sharing Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0573 Windows Data Sharing Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0574 Windows Data Sharing Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0570 Windows Runtime Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0545 ASP.NET Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0560 Microsoft Office Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0559 Microsoft Outlook Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0537 Microsoft Visual Studio Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0561 Microsoft Word Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0536 Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0549 Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0554 Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0569 Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0553 Windows Subsystem for Linux Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0541 Internet Explorer Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0538 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0575 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0576 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0577 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0578 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0580 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0581 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0582 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0583 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0584 Jet Database Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0588 Microsoft Exchange Information Disclosure Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0586 Microsoft Exchange Memory Corruption Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0585 Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0556 Microsoft Office SharePoint XSS Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0557 Microsoft Office SharePoint XSS Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0558 Microsoft Office SharePoint XSS Vulnerability Important No No
CVE-2019-0622 Skype for Android Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Moderate No No
CVE-2019-0546 Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Moderate No No
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January 8, 2019
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Urgent Adobe Update

By News, Patch ManagementNo Comments

Adobe Releases Critical Updates for Reader and Acrobat

Two out-of-band security updates have been released by Adobe, patching critical vulnerabilities in Acrobat and Reader. These updates effect both the Windows and macOS operating systems.
The first vulnerability, CVE-2018-16011, is a use-after-free problem which can lead to arbitrary code execution if exploited could permit the execution of malware payload.

The second security flaw, CVE-2018-1972 is a security bypass issue which permits attackers to ramp up privilege levels, potentially leading to attacks and system tampering taking place with additional freedoms beyond the usual confines of a user account.
While both flaws are considered critical, Adobe has assigned them a priority rating of 2, which means exploits are not imminent and IT Security Administrators are advised to install the patches within 30 days.
Implementing a sound patching strategy will ensure these updates are deployed before exploitation becomes common. Utilize an IT solution, such as Syxsense, to facilitate the best update plan.

Never Miss an Update

The patch scan task, easily set up from the home screen, will provide the information you require to set up the right patch deployment task. Target only the devices that require the update and set it to run around business hours. This will ensure that the urgent patches are deployed, but that the task doesn’t disrupt productivity.
Its Patch Manager has both Microsoft updates and a massive library of third-party software updates. Within the individual patch information, the number of devices that require the update or need to be scanned for it is featured. By clicking either of these, a task is launched that is prepopulated for rapid execution.
In the devices section, the device health indicators and overview gadgets show the current state of device vulnerability. Information about devices that may need specific patches is immediately available.

Our system rules are sets of updates from predetermined vendors. These facilitate rapid update deployments. You can also easily create your own and set up repeatable deployments. Maintenance windows ensure tasks occur around business hours and don’t interrupt productivity. Finally, run reports to confirm that remediation has occurred and prove it to anyone who might need it.
There’s a better way to manage your environment. Start a trial with Syxsense.

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January 7, 2019
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