Microsoft is preparing to roll out patches to fix 25 security vulnerabilities for its products, tomorrow, Tuesday April 13th.
The 11 security bulletins detail patches to Windows, Microsoft Office, and Exchange. Of the 11 bulletins, 5 are rated critical, 5 important, and 1 moderate. Nine of the bulletins apply to the Windows OS alone.
The first Tuesday of the month is an important one for Microsoft customers and one that should always be paid attention to as a means to help protect your small business systems from attacks found in the wild. For example, this particular round of patches plugs two holes for which code already exists to remotely execute code or takeover your system if triggered.
As with all major updates, please be sure your systems are backed up (and verified) before updating. With backups complete, update one system, test it thoroughly to ensure software you rely on works properly, and then proceed to update the rest.
Software affected by these updates includes: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, Office 2003, 2007 Microsoft Office System, and Exchange Server 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2010.
For more information: Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for April 2010