For goodness sake, please listen to me when I tell you: Do NOT use Internet Explorer any more!

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In mid-January 2020, Microsoft issued advisory ADV200001 warning of a vulnerability in the scripting engine of Internet Explorer.  Yes, I know, that’s gibberish to most of you.  It means that there could have been an attempt to execute code in attack mode via that browser.   How?  You could have received an email with a link that explicitly opened Internet Explorer (even if it wasn’t your default browser) and been sent to a malicious web site specifically designed by bad guys.   If exploited successfully, the attacker could have gained access rights to your computer.  As Microsoft put it at the time: “An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.”

That’s very bad (I’d segue into the Ghostbusters “don’t cross the streams” theme about the definition of the word “bad,” but I’m sure you get the idea).

At the time, Microsoft did not have an immediate fix.  As of February’s “patch Tuesday,” they announced one with the heading “Security Advisory CVE-2020-0674.”  Microsoft will be patching desktop operating systems from Windows 7 clear through the latest version of Windows 10, plus a slew of server operating systems.

The Network Operations Center will be testing this set of updates for the next seven days.  If the patches pass those tests, then the updates will be available for all of you by the end of next week.  In the interim, I have only one thing to say:  DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER, USE ANOTHER BROWSER!  There are several to choose from, for example, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera (which I didn’t recall as being around, but it still exists) or Brave (which I’m sure you’ve never heard of), heck there are probably some of you who use Edge in Windows 10 (heaven help you).  If you’re not sure what browser is your default, write to me and I’ll let you know.

But let’s get down to the meat of this:  If Microsoft announced the problem on January 17 and only released the solution on February 11, the bad guys had a considerable amount of time to take advantage of the vulnerability, and yet the world didn’t come to a screeching halt.  But I don’t – for one minute – want to suggest that you not patch a known vulnerability.  What I recommend, instead, is a moderate amount of common sense.  And the best way to implement that would be to stop using the problem-plagued browser, even after your computer receives the patches.

Bottom line:  this exploit is explicitly for IE – so to avoid any possible unpleasantness, don’t use it.  Simple really.

Thanks and safe computing!

When It Is A Busy Thursday For The Wrong Reasons

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Microsoft issues its monthly updates on “Patch Tuesday,” the second Tuesday of the month. Since the beginning of this year it has tried to fix the critical issues associated with the Spectre and Meltdown problems. But in a totally unexpected turn, the March 2018 monthly update knocked Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 systems offline because the network drivers get clobbered after the computers were restarted.

As a result, for the past two months I have blacklisted the updates; meaning I prevented them from being installed. In cases where I missed that phase and the computer had not been rebooted, I ran a script to uninstall the update. And in some cases, I was altogether too late and had to manually reinstall the network drivers.

Unfortunately, the May 2018 monthly update was wrapped up with a critical security patch, so it was inevitable that I had to release it. And I regret it, because this last episode has pretty much worn me out – and I’m not done with it yet.

Of all the vaunted software tools I have at my disposal, the most valuable one is remote access. However, when a client’s computer cannot connect to the internet that tool becomes useless; and I am forced into “break/fix” mode.

So the second Thursday of the month has now become a day of running around to client sites and manually reinstalling drivers, getting internet access again, updating the drivers and fixing other elements that are listed as “Unknown” in the Windows Device Manager.

Knowing that I’m shouting into the wind, I’m going to make this plea anyway. “Hey Microsoft! Could you please figure out a way to get this update to work properly without any extraordinary measures on my part?” I would thank you, and my clients would thank you.

Setting Up a New Lenovo Computer Causes a Headache

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As many of you know, I started using Lenovo as a vendor of choice for both desktops and laptops earlier in 2012.  There are several reasons for this change.  One is because I think the design and build of Lenovo’s products is compatible or better than other computer manufacturers.  Now, most people use (and some even like) Dell, and I am a Registered Dell Partner.  Nevertheless, I have always believed in offering an option for my price-conscious clients, and Lenovo frequently beats Dell’s pricing.

Granted, Dell offers a wider array of customization options, but then you have to wait for the factory to build it for you.  Lenovo, on the other hand, has determined a decent core set of options that appeal to a wide segment of my client base.  There has been, so far, very little need to alter the basic hardware configurations.  I discovered long ago that most of you keep your computers far longer than their normal life spans.  I find it comforting to know that Lenovo computers will let me upgrade the memory one or two times to keep it performing like a newer computer.

So what is the headache?  Well, that came during installation.

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