Windows Update website – Error 0x80240025
Daleon a Windows XP PC. As I wrote in Windows Update: Network policy settings prevent you from using this website ..., you’d often see a Windows Update error when your…
VBscript to uninstall a Microsoft security patch
This is a small script I wrote many years ago to uninstall security patches. I customise it when I need it. In this example, I’ve customised it for MS09-032, but…
The case of the broken Microsoft Word VBA application
It was a Microsoft Word (VBA) application written back in 2001. Essentially what it does is: user selects a letter type. the user then enters some customer reference numbers. the…
“Windows Update: Network policy settings prevent you
… from using this website to get updates for your computer. If you believe you have received this message in error, please contact your system administrator." This often happens on…
A good patch management policy
A good patch management policy is needed to protect you from risk, and to encourage the attacker to find easier/unpatched victims. Selfish but true. Know your risk. Security is risk…
Incident Response – Preserving Evidence
Nigel Phair, in the CSO Magazine Australia Opinion column (2006), wrote the following guidelines. I do believe they still apply 3 years later: Identify and gather relevant pieces of information…
Honk, hooooonk. “Get out of the way, it’s the Unix/Linux guys …
wanting to drive their *nix truck through your network security." This is one of my annoyances with Windows & Unix/Linux (collectively known as *nix) security. The annoyance starts with a…
I wonder how long until some corporate bozo asks for Microsoft Security Essentials
... in order to "save" money. Once had a customer whinge about the cost of implementing an anti-spyware solution. Someone told them that Spybot S&D was free. Technically it was,…
Discovering what hotfixes are on your PC, via WMI
There are several ways to list what hotfixes are on your PC, such as looking in the registry, running MBSA, or visiting the Windows Update site. An easier way is…
Patching off-network PCs with AutoPatcher
One of the cleverest guys I’ve ever worked with, came up with a idea to provide patch updates on compact disc. It allowed our home office users to pickup a…