[269] in Security FYI
[Security-fyi]
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tim McGovern)
Tue Feb 8 22:51:18 2005
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To: I/T Security FYI List <security-fyi@mit.edu>
From: Tim McGovern <tjm@mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 22:42:16 -0500
Errors-To: security-fyi-bounces@mit.edu
Colleagues,
IS&T's I/T Security Support is notifying the community of a large
number of security problems affecting the users of Microsoft Windows
computers.
On February 8, 2005, Microsoft announced eight critical, and 4 less
serious, vulnerabilities related to the Windows operating system and
associated software. For complete information on these announcements,
refer to
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/200502_windows.mspx.
An exploit of these vulnerabilities could put your computer at risk of
intrusion which in turn could lead to loss of data and exposure of any
personal or otherwise sensitive information stored on your computer.
It may also result in your computer being used to break into other
computers here at MIT or elsewhere.
The very best first line of defense against such vulnerabilities is to
take Microsoft patches automatically unless your local system
administrator -- the person who maintains your computer's software --
has instructed you to do otherwise. One way to do this is to turn on
the automatic update feature on your computer. Refer to
http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/security/patch.html for complete
information on this option. If you prefer to wait for the results of
MIT testing of the patches for MIT's applications, you can subscribe to
MIT's local Windows Automatic Update Service. Refer to
http://waus.mit.edu/ for specifics. Tested updates are typically
available 48 hours after they are released by Microsoft. Regardless of
which of these options you choose, you will also need to visit
http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/ to download and install patches for
your Microsoft Office software.
We want to thank everyone who is already using one of the automatic
update services mentioned above. Taking precautions to keep your
computer's software up to date protects your computer, and also
prevents the unnecessary spread of computer infections from one MIT
computer to another. For more information on Microsoft's rating
system, refer to
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/rating.mspx.
For further assistance, please contact IS&T I/T Security Support at
<security@mit.edu>, or the IS&T Computing Help Desk at x3-1101 or
<computing-help@mit.edu>.
Tim McGovern
Manager, I/T Security Support
Client Support Services
Information Services & Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Ave. Room N42-040k
Cambridge MA 02139-4307
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