In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft released an emergency patch yesterday afternoon for the bad Internet Explorer bug that prompted the Department of Homeland Security to tell everyone not to use IE until further notice. That was no surprise, given the amount of publicity behind this bug.
What was a surprise was that they went ahead and released the patch for Windows XP as well. So, unless something really weird happens, the very last patch for Windows XP is MS14-021, issued 1 May 2014.
If you run Windows and your PC didn’t tell you this morning it applied updates automatically, go to Automatic Updates in Control Panel and download the fix.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
Damn Microsoft for not keeping their word.
So where are we now?
XP will continue to receive politically motivated PR patches into the great beyond? Or is this the last one truly?
I appreciate the question, and I’m going to write about it early next week. The timing really created a no-win situation for Microsoft, and the question to me isn’t whether they made the right decision, it’s whether they lost a close game or a blowout.