If you’ve been pestered to make an unusual number of updates by Windows recently then don’t worry, you’re not alone. On Tuesday, Microsoft released an unprecendented seven security updates to patch 11 vulnerabilities, almost half of them “critical.” Its the biggest Windows update in 4 years according to the company.
Microsoft Word was the biggest target with several new security holes discovered that needed plugging. However, Internet Explorer was targeted for the same old script flaws that continually plague it whilst Windows Media Player was patched for a vulnerability that could allow criminals to hijack PCs by creating malformed .asx playlists and entice users to dodgy sites.
The update bonanza means a record-breaking year of 78 in total for 2006 – six more updates than the previous record set in 2002. If you haven’t been pestered by the dreaded yellow shield in the corner of your screen for an automatic update and god knows how many restarts, you can obtain them manually from Microsoft Update services. Since many of these are critical patches, the sooner you do this, the better.
