Lest Ye Forget: June's Patch Tuesday is Not for Users of Windows 8.1

I don’t remember too much being made over the death of Windows 8.1 during the last few weeks, only that it was initially an issue. If you remember, when Microsoft's first Update to Windows 8.1 was delivered in April 2014, the company stated that a plain, vanilla Windows 8.1 would stop receiving security updates on the very next Patch Tuesday, or a month later. Of course, Microsoft relented, understanding that no one truly listens to the company about such things (ahem, Windows XP), and gave consumer customers another few weeks to make Windows 8.1 patch-worthy.

Well, here we are on the cusp of the new final date, June 10, and unless the Windows 8.1 Update is applied, security updates will cease. Could Microsoft extend the deadline again? Probably not and surely don't count on it. If the Windows 8.1 version running on any systems in your organization don't have the Update applied, don't be surprised when the update spigot is turned off and further security patches are unavailable.

The original Windows 8, of course, is still supported and will continue to receive updates until January 2016.

Microsoft is delivering seven security updates next week, with two critical bulletins and five rated as important. Affected software includes Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Lync, and Microsoft Lync Server. And, of course, the full range of vulnerability impact is present. The most common and familiar in the list Remote Code Execution, but also includes Information Disclosure (data theft), Denial of Service, and Tampering.