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Microsoft Patch Tuesday - No Love for February -- Postponed Until March

posted by cmn32480 on Friday February 17 2017, @08:07AM   
from the they-didn't-want-to-interrupt-our-anniversary-party dept.

martyb writes:

Following an initial report that Microsoft's Patch/Update Tuesday would be delayed comes the notice that it will actually be postponed. Oh, and there is a zero-day SMB exploit currently in the wild for which Microsoft intended to release a patch last Tuesday. That fix, and all the others scheduled for February, have been postponed to be released on March's Patch Tuesday.

Here are some stories that lay things out:

• Microsoft cancels February Patch Tuesday despite 0-day in wild | Ars Technica
• Microsoft shelves all February security updates | Computerworld
• Microsoft's monthlong patch delay could pose risks | Computerworld
• February 2017 security update release – MSRC

Many businesses have regular processes in place to test and roll out patches on their systems; how has this postponement affected you?

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Original Submission

• Language niggle Language niggle (Score: 5, Funny) by gidds on Friday February 17 2017, @01:51PM

  by gidds (589) on Friday February 17 2017, @01:51PM (#468199)

  Following an initial report that Microsoft's Patch/Update Tuesday would be delayed comes the notice that it will actually be postponed.

  Er, sorry, run that past me again?

  From Wiktionary:

  delay (v.tr.)

  To put off until a later time; to defer.  To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.

  postpone (v.tr.)

  To delay or put off an event, appointment etc.

  So a postponement is a delay — it can't be the one without the other!  Which makes that summary line completely meaningless.

  I guess it depends on whether it's talking about Patch Tuesdays in general (in which case it makes sense to talk of it being delayed, postponed, put off, rescheduled, held back, and deferred) or about the specific Patch Tuesday that was due to occur in February (which isn't being delayed or postponed, but is actually being flat-out cancelled!).  I guess either would fit — but you can't just mix them up willy-nilly!

  (Sorry; I'm a pedant.  I can't help it.)

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• Re:Language niggle (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 17 2017, @01:58PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 17 2017, @01:58PM (#468201)

  I think it's meant in the sense that until now it was delayed until further notice, but now it has been re-scheduled to next month.

  Parent