IE Security Update - updated

OP requested the thread now be closed. Time to move on. Thanks.

I'm still confused on the adobe reader update required as a must have by firefox. When I go to update it it says I am updating flash.

I was told never to install flash that it is the cause of everything bad. :R:?

Gdetrailer wrote:
FireFox rocks.. IE, well not so much.

When I first saw the "new" FF Version 29, I didn't care for it, but after having used it for several days, I do like it a lot. It certainly does rock. One website that DW uses has some sort of agreement with Microsoft. Some functions of FF don't work on their website or any other browser but IE :M, but this website is the ONLY one where we use IE. FF is set as our default. Don't care for Chrome much either.

epmes wrote:
Gdetrailer, there's good news on AdBlock Plus. See https://adblockplus.org/en/internet-explorer.

Most browsers are increasingly against plug-ins. As you probably know, most exploits use Java or Flash or similar plug-ins. The analogy I use is that it's like building a castle, then knocking a wall down to let the lowest-bidder contractor add an extension. It's not just IE; even Mozilla said "To provide a better and safer experience on the Web, we have been working to move Firefox away from plugins."

Security is always a balance between functionality and risk. There are lots of really useful plug-ins, but the functionality comes at the increase of potential risk. I do think people should be able to make informed choices, as you've done.

Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft. Maybe I should just add this to my .sig. :-)

:R

Too little, too late..

FireFox rocks.. IE, well not so much.

Gdetrailer, there's good news on AdBlock Plus. See https://adblockplus.org/en/internet-explorer.

Most browsers are increasingly against plug-ins. As you probably know, most exploits use Java or Flash or similar plug-ins. The analogy I use is that it's like building a castle, then knocking a wall down to let the lowest-bidder contractor add an extension. It's not just IE; even Mozilla said "To provide a better and safer experience on the Web, we have been working to move Firefox away from plugins."

Security is always a balance between functionality and risk. There are lots of really useful plug-ins, but the functionality comes at the increase of potential risk. I do think people should be able to make informed choices, as you've done.

Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft. Maybe I should just add this to my .sig. :-)

1492 wrote:
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was experiencing issues with my WIN 7 Pro x64 desktop Updates not working. Either updates would stall and not completely download, or if fully downloaded, would not actually install and just lockup Windows Updates altogether. In both cases, I needed to kill the active Windows Update process. Both issues appear to be related to file download corruption.

What I suspect is the root cause of file corruption has to with this known issue Data corruption and network issues when you run a WFP-based application on a computer that is running Windows.

I was actively using two apps, Networx and Bitdefender Free, both of which apparently utilize Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) API. With Networx, a bandwidth monitoring app, virtually all file downloads were corrupted. However, with Bitdefender Free with virus shield active, only occasional downloads would stall and not fully complete, mostly involving Windows Updates. Web browsing and streamed videos were not effected.

The solution was to discontinue use of my version of Networx. And temporarily disable Bitdefender Free real-time scanner(Virus Shield) to allow Windows Updates to fully download. Don't forget to re-enable Virus Shield.

There is a Microsoft Hotfix(KB2789397) for this issue which is emailed to you upon request. But, in my case, the hotfix indicated that it does "not" apply to my system. Which I believe is incorrect, as it appears my system meets all the requirements to apply the fix. And the glitch still exists in my WIN 7 Pro x64 SP1 system.

I've been using Networx 5.x for a few months now and this is the first update I've had problems with in that time.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was experiencing issues with my WIN 7 Pro x64 desktop Updates not working. Either updates would stall and not completely download, or if fully downloaded, would not actually install and just lockup Windows Updates altogether. In both cases, I needed to kill the active Windows Update process. Both issues appear to be related to file download corruption.

What I suspect is the root cause of file corruption has to with this known issue Data corruption and network issues when you run a WFP-based application on a computer that is running Windows.

I was actively using two apps, Networx and Bitdefender Free, both of which apparently utilize Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) API. With Networx, a bandwidth monitoring app, virtually all file downloads were corrupted. However, with Bitdefender Free with virus shield active, only occasional downloads would stall and not fully complete, mostly involving Windows Updates. Web browsing and streamed videos were not effected.

The solution was to discontinue use of my version of Networx. And temporarily disable Bitdefender Free real-time scanner(Virus Shield) to allow Windows Updates to fully download. Don't forget to re-enable Virus Shield.

There is a Microsoft Hotfix(KB2789397) for this issue which is emailed to you upon request. But, in my case, the hotfix indicated that it does "not" apply to my system. Which I believe is incorrect, as it appears my system meets all the requirements to apply the fix. And the glitch still exists in my WIN 7 Pro x64 SP1 system.

epmes wrote:

ChopperBill wrote:
My dad belongs to a computer club. Here is an part of an email he got from one member.
"Microsoft will issue a patch for IE on Tuesday which will fix the program code exploit for all versions of IE and for all versions of Windows. My advice is to be sure to install the patch (Windows Update) on Tuesday or Wednesday. Then quit using IE forever and switch to Chrome or Firefox. Hackers will continue to find weaknesses in IE in the future exposing users to exploits."

Sorry, this is technically inaccurate on a few fronts.

First, the patch was issued yesterday (Thursday) and pushed out through Automatic Updates. It does have prerequisites, though, and assumes that you've been updating your system with other security updates. If you haven't, AU will install those updates first.

Second, we haven't announced what will be in the Patch Tuesday update yet. That's the second Tuesday of the month, not this coming Tuesday, so it's still 11 days away.

Third, of course IE has vulnerabilities. All large software packages have vulnerabilities. What's ironic about some guidance is that people seem to think that Chrome and Firefox are without problems, when in fact they have significantly MORE vulnerabilities than IE. Check Secunia Vulnerability Review or the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report or go straight to the US National Vulnerability Database and do your own searches if you don't believe me. The truth is that if someone wants to target your company, they'll target exploits against whatever browser, OS, and other software you're using. IE consistently comes up as more secure than other browsers in security tests--which is why nearly all governments, financial institutions, etc. use IE in the first place--but it's hard to stack up empirical evidence against some guy in a relative's computer club.

Much better advice would be to not click on email links that take you to sites you don't know or trust, and update your systems. This is always good advice, and would prevent this kind of attack in the first place.

Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft, and it's been a long week.

While IE "may" have fewer security patches, in many respects it IS far less "secure" than FireFox.

Why?

Simply put IE gives the USER a lot less OPTIONS for stopping and preventing malicious code from running.

IE does not have addons like AdBlockPlus (stops a lot of unwanted and potential ads which may contain UNSECURE scripts (got hit with malware TWICE from "roll over" inline ads while using IE a few years ago).

Nor does IE have anything like BetterPrivacy which contains and controls Flash Super Cookies.

Nor does IE have NoScript which STOMPS on ANY JavaScript based code attacks. NoScript while a bit of a pain by far makes for a much secure browser and GIVES the user CONTROL (IE DOESN'T).

Ever since I got hit with malware using IE I switched to FireFox and those addons, Websites load FASTER and so far no more drive by malware attacks. :B

HappyKayakers wrote:
Not sure what happened the first time. I uninstalled the update yesterday, reinstalled this morning and everything seems to be working fine. It even shows in the Update History now as successful.

Glad you got it worked out :)

I ripped a lot of hair out several years ago on a Church PC which failed some MS updates. The PC would tell you to not turn off, then it would wait a few minutes then shut down.. The next time you turned it on it would halt at installing updates for a few minutes then a message about failed updates and restoring back the PC..

Went on for nearly a month before I managed to get the update to work, had to use MS "Fixit" tools for Win7 updates several time then install each update one at a time..

Later we discovered the Phone company DSL modem was failing during the update downloads corrupting the updates..

MS kind of botched the Update process by removing your local option of bypassing the failed updates (used to be able to do that with XP).

Not sure what happened the first time. I uninstalled the update yesterday, reinstalled this morning and everything seems to be working fine. It even shows in the Update History now as successful.