Microsoft's latest countdown: Update Windows 8.1 before Tuesday
Summary
Microsoft today announced it will deliver seven security updates to customers next week, including an almost-habitual one for Internet Explorer (IE), and others for Windows, Office and Lync, the companys communications server software. The IE update, one of two classified as "critical," Microsofts most serious threat ranking, will include a patch for a vulnerability that went partially-public last month after a bug bounty program tired of waiting for Redmond to fix the flaw. Like the IE "bulletin" -- Microsofts term for an update package that patches one or more vulnerabilities -- the critical one for Windows was tagged as "remote code execution" (RCE) in todays advance notification. That meant cyber criminals could, if they managed to exploit the bug, compromise an unpatched PC, then plant malware on it, steal information from it or use it as part of a botnet constructed from hijacked systems. Microsoft originally gave everyone just five weeks to put Windows 8.1 Update in place or face a sans-patch future, but quickly backed off under pressure from corporate customers, giving them a three-month extension.
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