February 7, 2023

Good morning, everyone!

This week’s critical vulnerabilities: Apple released iOS/ipadOS 16.3 and Ventura 13.2 with dozens of critical patches, including a zero-day being actively exploited Zoom has released critical fixes for both Windows and MacOS versions of their app VMWare released an update to fix vulnerabilities in its vRealize Log Insight product Google Chrome has new versions for all platforms with lots of security fixes Lexmark printers have a firmware update available to resolve a critical security issue QNAP has released another round of security fixes for QTS and QuTS hero Cisco released a security update to its IOx Application Hosting Environment F5 has released an engineering hotfix for BIG-IP Patch All the Things!

Close applications, log off and reboot occasionally

Last week I talked about the importance of logging out of websites to protect against session hijacking. Let's take this one step further!

When you are done with your device for awhile, after logging out of websites and any open applications, go ahead and close all those applications (yes, even on your mobile devices -- do you know how to close apps on your Apple and Android devices?)

Why? Many applications, like Google Chrome for example, only "automatically" apply updates when the browser is closed and reopened. Say what? Yep, even if you have automatic updates turned on, you may not always be getting them installed, only downloaded -- and that doesn't do much good.

After you have closed all those applications, go ahead and log off your computer! Sometimes those "automatic updates" only get installed when you log off.

Finally, maybe once a week or so, go ahead and reboot your devices. Sometimes those "automatic updates" only get installed when you reboot.

There may be non-security benefits to all these things as well -- reducing memory usage, improving battery life, reducing the risk of file corruption, and more.

So pick up this new habit this week!

Remember, you can read past editions of this newsletter on our website, along with tons more information under the Resources tab.

Have a great week!

Glenda R. Snodgrass
grs@theneteffect.com
(251) 433-0196 x107
https://www.theneteffect.com
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