March 2025 News & Updates

• Microsoft is saying goodbye to Skype. According to this post, Microsoft is moving away from Skype to Teams.
• Fortinet yesterday disclosed multiple vulnerabilities in unpatched Fortinet gear including FortiGate Firewalls, FortiPAM and FortiProxy. Additional information and links are available here.
• Upcoming End of Life for Windows 10 – We’re officially under one year before the Windows 10 End of Life (EOL), currently scheduled for 14 October 2025. Prior to that date, you will need to make certain that all Windows 10 computers are either upgraded (Windows 11 Requirements) or replaced. Additional information is available from Microsoft here.
• Upcoming End of Life for Windows Server 2016 – We’re officially under two years before the Windows Server 2016 End of Life (EOL), currently scheduled for 25 January 2027. This may seem like a long way off but, in most cases, the upgrade from Windows Server 2016 will require not only additional software licenses but also Client Access Licenses (CALs) and hardware and extensive planning to transition older systems off of the current Windows Server 2016 platform.
• Client Forms – In an effort to make requesting support easier for common tasks (onboarding and offboarding users, for example), we are launching a number of forms that clients can use to request support. Links to the forms are located at the top of our website under Client Forms.
• New Email Security Partner – We have onboarded several clients onto the Proofpoint Essentials platform for things like email filtering, email encryption, archiving and more and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Updates

There were only ~50 patches released this month (I’ve seen 50 to 57) but, in those 50 were patches for six zero day vulnerabilities (or seven, depending on who you ask) including two that Microsoft credits ESET for discovering and reporting. In addition to the six zero days, there are also an additional six vulnerabilities that are rated as critical and require no user intervention to exploit.

Microsoft releases regular updates the second Tuesday of each month, often referred to as ‘Patch Tuesday’. These updates are categorized as Low, Moderate, Important or Critical. Details on the categories are available here. The updates can include any supported Microsoft product from Windows to Office to Internet Explorer and server products like Exchange and SQL Server. If you have one or more of these products installed, especially if the update is listed as Important or Critical, it’s important that the updates are installed.

Additional details on this months Microsoft updates are available from Krebs on Security, SANS Internet Storm Center, AskWoody.com and Bleeping Computer .

Adobe has released a total of seven security bulletins (again this month) to address vulnerabilities in Acrobat Reader, Substance 3D Designer, Modeler, Painter, Sampler, Illustrator, and InDesign. All of these updates are rated critical and users are encouraged to update as soon as possible.

Like Microsoft, Adobe now releases updates to their products on the second Tuesday of each month. Adobe will also release ‘out of band’ updates if necessary to address critical vulnerabilities in their products. Adobe products include Adobe Reader (for viewing PDF files), Adobe Flash Player (often used to watch videos, for interactive content like games, etc.), Adobe Shockwave and the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Lightroom, etc

Additional details are available from Adobe Here including links to download the update(s) and instructions for installation.

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Cyber Tech Cafe an  IT Service Company with a focus on helping small to medium business get the most out of their technology investment.  As a small business ourselves, we understand the challenges you face and have designed our service offerings to help you get the most out of your technology dollar.  We offer on-call, as needed support if you just need a quick fix or extra set of hands right now.  We also offer maintenance plans that we call “MyIT” that are designed to address the most common concerns (patch management, disaster recovery / backup, log review, etc.) that are based on the number of workstations and servers that you have and have no term contract.  We believe that, if you find value in what we’re doing, you’ll find a way to keep us around without contract saying that you have to.

If you have questions about the MyIT plans or have an IT need that you need addressed right now, let us know.  We look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.

Article Submitted by Nathan J. Underwood, CEH