Microsoft releases March 2020 security update that covers over 100 vulnerabilities. Here's how to install it
Microsoft's March 2020 Security Update for Windows 10 was released yesterday, and it's gigantic: in a single update, Microsoft fixes as many as 115 security holes, in as many as 13 different areas, including even its own Windows Defender antivirus.
And these are fixes for Windows 10 only, because Microsoft itself reminds that Windows RT 8.1 users have to download security updates via Windows Update, while Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 users have now lost the official support of the Redmond company and, to stay safe, they have to buy an Extended Security Update license. Some of the vulnerabilities fixed with this mega update require additional steps after installing the update. As many as 26 vulnerabilities covered by this update are defined as "critical" which means both that they are easy to exploit and that, once exploited, the hacker can take control of our PC.
March 2020 Security Update: the fixed flaws
Microsoft informed that the flaws fixed with this update affect the following products or components: Windows, Edge (both the old and the new Chromium-based version), ChakraCore, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Exchange Server, Office and Office Services and Web Apps, Azure DevOps, Windows Defender, Visual Studio, Azure, Microsoft Dynamics. Among the most serious vulnerabilities covered by this update is CVE-2020-0684, which allows a hacker to gain administrator privileges on our computer via malicious code inserted in a file with .lnk extension.
March 2020 Security Update: how to install it
Microsoft releases monthly security updates for Windows 10 in the same way it releases updates for additional features and non-security-related bug fixes: via Windows Update. This means that if we haven't set up automatic download and installation of updates, we'll have to do it manually by opening Windows Update and looking for updates. After downloading the installation package, the operating system will install the updates and ask you to restart the computer. Given the amount and severity of the flaws closed with this update, finally, its installation is highly recommended for all Windows 10 users.