More Windows & MS Office patches on the way next week. These patches are part of the "monthly cycle."

"Microsoft said it will also issue a "high-priority" update for Office that is unrelated to security on Tuesday. In addition, that day is tagged for the release of an updated version of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which detects and removes malicious code placed on computers, the company said."

Microsoft has released what will likely be the last major update for Windows2000 for some time. There are no new service packs planned for Windows2000, as its support is nearing EOL. Apparently, even if you've been automatically updating your Win2K installations, you should still install this update, as there are several fixes that haven't been included in the security updates.

"Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 was released June 28, 2005. This update rollup contains a list of security-related updates produced for Windows 2000 between the release of Windows 2000 SP4 and April 30, 2005. April 30, 2005 is the date when the contents for Update Rollup 1 were locked down for final testing by Microsoft, external beta testing sites, and customer sites."

Make sure that your Windows box3n are up-to-date on their patches. There's a flaw that's been fixed by an MS patch on the SMBus that's been seeing increased port scanning activity. Would-be hackers are targeting the affected port 445, & if your box is open on that port & not patched, you could be in for a long week next week.

"A recent surge in port 445 scanning activity could herald impending hack attacks, and industry experts have warned firms to take immediate steps to ensure that the affected Windows ports are secure."