How to setup your Windows PC for automatic installation of critical updates

Last revision January 20, 2005

Why critical updates need to be installed automatically

Computers running any version of the Microsoft Windows operating system are subject to serious security bugs if used on Stanford's network. Hacker programs scan our network looking for unpatched computers in order to exploit these bugs and infect your computer with a computer virus or worm or a backdoor program that lets the hacker control your computer and use it to attack others.

One of the primary actions you can take to keep hackers off your computer is to make sure that all security patches released by Microsoft Corporation are promptly installed.

For at least two years now, Microsoft has been finding and patching about one new critical security bug per week, on average. Their new policy is to release security patches on a regular monthly basis, with immediate release of patches for bugs that are being actively exploited by hackers. Hackers quickly learn how to take advantage of these bugs to compromise your computer, sometimes in only a week or two after the patch is released. If you are not updating your computer promptly when patches are released, your computer will be hacked.

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