Shop Safely This Holiday Season!

BREAKING NEWS FLASH:  Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Has a Security Flaw! 

As Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again”.

This is not the first time and certainly will not be the last that Microsoft issues critical security bulletins and patches. This warning is particularly timely in light of the upcoming holiday shopping season.  According to comScore, online purchases during the 2011 holiday season topped $37 billion, a 15% increase over the previous year.  Forecasters are projecting growth of 12% or more in 2012.

One of the security bulletins released on November’s Patch Tuesday addressed multiple vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (IE). For those of you who have not followed my recommendation to dump IE in favor of Google’s Chrome browser, it is absolutely critical to apply this update as soon as possible.   This is even more urgent if you plan to shop online next week and enter your credit card information.

To make sure that Windows (and IE) is completely up to date, take a look at my September post.  It outlines the steps to verify whether Windows Updates are current and how to ensure they are installed automatically going forward.

While you’re at it, take a look at my March 2012 blog post about staying safe online. There I touch on public wireless networks, antivirus software, applying Windows Updates and utilizing strong passwords.  I also discuss the importance of ensuring that a website is secure (https://) before entering credit card information.

If you want more details on the current batch of Microsoft Updates (or simply need help sleeping), take a look at the article in PC World or Microsoft’s Security Bulletins.

Stay safe out there.  Please contact me if you need assistance securing your system.