Hack 79 Download Windows Patches Securely

Use Knoppix to download Microsoft Windows patches onto a vulnerable Windows machine. Then boot to Windows, and apply the patch while disconnected from the network.

It seems like new vulnerabilities for Windows, or software running on Windows, appear every few weeks. The worst vulnerabilities are remote exploits that give the attacker full Administrative privileges on a machine. Worms that exploit these vulnerabilities are written rather quickly and are soon scanning the Internet looking for machines to infect. The common remedy for these exploits is to download a patch from the Internet with a service like Windows Update. The problem is that your machine is at risk of being exploited every moment it is on the Internet downloading the latest patches. It's like running across the battlefield to get your bulletproof vest! Use Knoppix to provide cover for you. Boot to Knoppix, grab the patches you need, and then apply them from within Windows with the computer disconnected from the network.

In addition to Windows Update, Microsoft also provides patches as individual downloads so that system administrators can download them once and apply them across the network, saving bandwidth and time. This service is provided at http://www.microsoft.com/technet, where you can browse for downloads and security bulletins for all of the software Microsoft supports.

To get the Windows patches, boot to Knoppix and visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet. Then click on the Security link or the Downloads link on the left side of the page. The security page provides links to the latest security bulletins and virus alerts, and the downloads page lists new security patches and bug fixes for Microsoft software. If you have the Knowledge Base ID (KB followed by six numbers) or the Security Bulletin ID (MS followed by two numbers, a dash, and three more numbers), then you can search by that ID under TechNet, and quickly get a link to the download you need.

You can register with Microsoft's Security Notification Service at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/notify.mspx to get security bulletins emailed to you as they are announced. This makes searching by the Security Bulletin ID much simpler.

Once you find the appropriate download, mount your Windows partition with read/write permissions by clicking on the drive icon to mount it, and then right-clicking on the drive icon and selecting ActionsChange read/write mode, or for NTFS partitions, follow the steps in [Hack #73] . Then you can save the download directly to your Windows partition.

Once the download is complete, temporarily disconnect your network cable from the computer (or otherwise disable your Internet connection), and boot to Windows to apply the patch following any instructions that Microsoft provides.