[IS&T Security-FYI] SFYI Newsletter, March 18, 2013

[Monique Yeaton]

In this issue:


1. Microsoft Security Updates for March 2013

2. Cybersecurity Discussed in White House Situation Room

3. Is Your Site Hacked?



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1. Microsoft Security Updates for March 2013

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Last week on Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released six new security bulletins<http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms13-mar>. Four are rated critical, two are important. The fixes affect the following products:


  *   Windows
  *   Internet Explorer
  *   Office
  *   Server Software
  *   Silverlight


The updates have been released to MIT WAUS subscribers, and are available from the Windows Update tool, the Windows Server Update Services or the Download Center as well.


The update for IE 10 fully supports flash and if you have a Surface RT device, there is another firmware update for that as well. More details about the individual updates can be found here<http://blogs.technet.com/b/jeffa36/archive/2013/03/13/microsoft-security-bulletin-march-2013-release.aspx>.



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2. Cybersecurity Discussed in White House Situation Room

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The venue for a meeting last week between the President and CEOs of various companies, underlined the importance of the topic. Last Wednesday, 13 CEOs met with the President<http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/03/14/obama-cybersecurity-ceos-situation-room/1987559/> in the Situation Room for a "two-way" exchange of information on cybersecurity. They came after testimony last Tuesday at a Senate hearing by the director of the National Security Agency and the director of National Intelligence, describing the prevalent nature of network breaches by data thieves and cyber spies.


The President sought to grab the attention of the CEOs and to put a stop to petty resistance to his recently issues executive order designed to get the federal government and private companies working more closely to protect the nation's critical infrastructure against cyber attacks. Cyber attacks top the list of security threats<http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57573902-83/intelligence-chief-offers-dire-warning-on-cyberattacks/> facing the country, according to the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community report.



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3. Is Your Site Hacked?

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Google has launched a website<http://www.google.com/webmasters/hacked/> "Help for Hacked Sites" with information to help web masters when their sites have been hacked. The site offers a series of articles and videos to help the website owners regain control of their sites and tighten their security.


Some preventative steps include being vigilant about keeping software updated for the site and understanding security practices of all applications, plug-ins, third-party software and other applications before you use them with your site.



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Monique Yeaton
IT Security Communications Consultant
MIT Information Services & Technology (IS&T)
(617) 253-2715
http://ist.mit.edu/security


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