May Patch Tuesday: Playing Defense

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Who defends the Windows Defender?

This week we have learned of a serious bug with Windows Defender which could effectively hand over control to an attacker simply by receiving a carefully crafted email – without you even opening it. The researchers with Google Project Zero responsible for finding the bug, Travis Ormandy and Natalie Silvanovich, tweeted that this was “the worst Windows remote code exec in recent memory.” We would highly recommend if you are using Windows Defender to update the protection engine as soon as possible.

You may remember last year we published an article called, “Hard Shell – Soft Center.” This article typified the common strategy of protecting company networks at the physical perimeter level only and having a reduced security presence once inside the network.

We have since learned that our concerns on this type of strategy have been realized, having learned that network security is falling behind as it is unable to dynamically change to meet the ever-increasing threats to company property.

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Our clients must include a multi-factor protection strategy which includes both protection at the perimeter supported by a routine patching process.

This is what we like to call a software perimeter, and requires you to follow some simple steps to protect your environment from the inside. Should you need some free advice to get started, click here.

Microsoft Updates

The May security release consists of security updates for the following software;

1. Internet Explorer
2. Microsoft Edge
3. Microsoft Windows
4. Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Services and Web Apps
5. NET Framework
6. Adobe Flash Player

We have chosen a few updates to prioritize this month, this recommendation has been made using evidence from industry experts (including our own) and anticipated business impact.

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