Microsoft began issuing Patch Tuesday updates publically in
advance over ten years ago, but from next every second Tuesday of the Month, if
you want to see what security patches Microsoft is going to issue, then you
will have to pay for it.
UPDATE ALERTS FOR PAID CUSTOMERS ONLY
Yes right, Microsoft has decided to ditch its Advanced
Notification Service (ANS) and will no longer be releasing a public blog post
to preview what is to come on Patch Tuesday.
Microsoft is facing fierce criticism by industry experts for
its decision to make advanced security bulletin available only to those who pay
a premium.
Note: Only advance notifications are now paid, but security
updates/patches are free.
NO MORE "OUT-OF-BAND" PUBLIC SECURITY ALERTS
In the post on the Microsoft Security Response Center blog,
Chris Betz, senior director at Microsoft's security research arm, said:
"more and more customers today are seeking to cut
through the clutter and obtain security information tailored to their organizations.
Rather than using ANS to help plan security update deployments, customers are
increasingly turning to Microsoft Update and security update management tools
such as Windows Server Update Service to help organize and prioritize
deployment. Customers are also moving to cloud-based systems, which provide
continuous updating."
The change in Microsoft's Advanced Notification Service
(ANS) also applies to the occasional alerts that Microsoft issued when it gave
customers a heads-up about an impending emergency patch i.e. public alerts for
"out-of-band” updates.
WHAT-THE-HACK [FREE ADVANCE ALERTS]
Within a couple of hours after the Microsoft announcement,
we were getting Whatsapp messages and emails from our readers and colleagues
about it and none of them seemed to be happy about the decision. But don't be
sad because there is a hack to get advance notification without being a premium
Microsoft member.
A Microsoft spokesperson informed ZDnet author that those
who receive the advanced notification service information won’t have to sign an
NDA. That means anyone from premium member is free to publish it publicly just
after receiving advance notices.
MICROSOFT's my Bulletins DASHBOARD
Microsoft has offered an alternative way for administrators
who aren't Microsoft customers to see which patches and updates they need to
apply. myBulletins - a new online security bulletin customization service which
is all responsible for identifying, monitoring and managing patching and
security for the organisation.
Unfortunately, myBulletins does not send notifications - you
must log in using your Microsoft Account to the service to see the security
bulletins.
