Internet Security and Programming

A software update Microsoft quietly delivered to millions of PCs this summer prevents the installation of at least 80 security updates when some Windows users try to fix a problem with their computer using the software’s “repair” feature, according to reports. Microsoft has acknowledged that in July it started shipping an update to its Windows Update program. The patch was automatically installed for any Windows user who took advantage of the built-in software-update feature (including automatic update users who had selected the option to “download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them”). The story received a fair amount of attention in the tech press, with many people remarking that they had suspected all along that Microsoft would try something like this, and that such a scenario was the primary reason they had chosen not to allow automatic updates of any kind. Microsoft acknowledged that it [...]

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