System Update
Microsoft's June 2024 Patch Tuesday
If you are a small business leader, you might think that cybersecurity is not a priority for you. You might think that your business is too small or too obscure to be a target for hackers. You might think that you have nothing valuable to lose or that you can rely on your antivirus software or firewall to protect you.
However, these are dangerous assumptions that could put your business in jeopardy. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, sophisticated, and damaging, and they can affect any business, regardless of size, industry, or location. In fact, small businesses are often more vulnerable than large corporations, because they have fewer resources, less expertise, and less awareness of the cyber threats they face.
Microsoft's June 2024 Patch Tuesday marks the release of security updates that fix several vulnerabilities and bugs that could put your business at risk. You should make sure your systems are updated regularly and promptly to improve your cybersecurity posture and protect your business from potential threats and losses.
I've put together three takeaways and next steps:
1. What is Patch Tuesday and why does it matter?
Patch Tuesday is the second Tuesday of every month when Microsoft releases security and quality updates for its products, such as Windows, Office, Edge, and more. These updates fix vulnerabilities and bugs that could expose your devices and data to hackers, malware, and ransomware. Keeping your systems updated is one of the best ways to protect your business from cyberattacks, which can cost you money, reputation, and customer trust.
2. What's new in the June 2024 Patch Tuesday?
Microsoft released security updates for 51 flaws, including 18 remote code execution (RCE) flaws and one publicly disclosed zero-day vulnerability. The critical issue fixed is a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ). The 'Keytrap' attack in the DNS protocol, which could exhaust CPU resources and cause denial of service, has been addressed.
3. How to install the June 2024 Patch Tuesday updates?
If you have automatic updates enabled, your devices will download and install the updates automatically. You may need to restart your devices to complete the installation.
If you have manual updates enabled, you can check for updates by going to Settings then Update & Security then Windows Update and clicking on Check for updates. You can then select the updates you want to install and click on Download and Install.
Either way, the installation of updates can and does fail for many reasons. You should validate that the updates were successfully installed to ensure you’re protected from the latest threats. If you have many devices to manage, you can use tools like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Microsoft Endpoint Manager to manage, deploy, and validate the updates centrally.
If you use an MSP IT service provider, this is something they should be doing on your behalf.