Late last week, Apple released some security fixes for its QuickTime application so users (any platform) should update to the latest version (7.4.5) as soon as they can. This latest update fixes eleven assorted security vulnerabilities. Users who have QuickTime configured to check for updates automatically just need to enable the installation. Otherwise the update can be found at: http://www.apple.com/support/quicktime/

While on the topic of application updates, it’d be worthwhile to verify your current versions of Adobe Acrobat, Firefox, Opera, OS X, etc. against the most recent versions available. There have been security updates released for these packages in the past few weeks that are worth the effort to install. << April 9th update: you should add Adobe Flash Player to the list of application updates above >>

For Microsoft users, today is “Patch Tuesday”. If configured properly, your PC should automagically determine that there are several new critical security updates to be installed. Because of this, you may notice a yellow shield on the right side of your task bar. Clicking on the shield will allow you to download and/or install the applicable updates. However, for some systems, you might not see a yellow shield if the updates are configured to occur in the background.

Any time you’re not sure whether your Microsoft based PC has been updated, just run ‘Microsoft Update’ or go to http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us to see if there are any ‘High Priority’ updates waiting to be installed.

It’s always important to update your operating system and key applications as soon as possible because cyber attacks exploiting these security weaknesses show up on the Internet almost immediately!

Happy Patching,

Nick