ALERT: Massive Security Update from MS for MS software

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/08/microsoft_patches_26_security.html?nav=rss_blog

Microsoft Patches 26 Security Holes
Microsoft today released updates to fix at least 26 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and other software. At least 17 of those flaws earned Microsoft's "critical" rating, meaning they could be exploited to break into vulnerable systems with little or no help from the victim.

The 26 vulnerabilities are the most Microsoft has addressed since it had 25 in August of 2006, which also included 17 rated as critical, according to anti-virus firm Symantec.

Microsoft patched two holes in that have already been used in targeted attacks against people browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 6 and 7. In addition to those two fixes, one bundle of critical updates plugs five other security holes in Internet Explorer, most of which Microsoft said are present all versions of the browser.

Half of the flaws fixed in today's release were found in Microsoft Office and component programs, such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Redmond also released patches for vulnerabilities in Windows Messenger, Outlook Express and Windows Mail.

The updates are available through Microsoft Update or Automatic Updates. Office 2000 users can get Windows patches through either of those options, but will need to make a special trip to the Office Update page to grab the Office patches.

A patch-by-patch breakdown of today's updates is available from Microsoft, at this link here.