Today is Patch Tuesday for April 2014 and Adobe and Microsoft each issued updates to fix critical security vulnerabilities in their software today. Adobe patched its Flash Player software and Adobe AIR. Microsoft issued four updates to address at least 11 unique security flaws, including its final batch of fixes for Office 2003 and for systems powered by Windows XP.

Two of the four patches that Microsoft issued come with a “critical” rating (the most severe), meaning cyber criminals or malware can exploit the flaws to break into vulnerable systems without any help from users.

Your PC will should download the Microsoft patches automatically, but the updates for Adobe and Flash Player many times have to be manually downloaded and installed when you see the alert popup in the lower left hand corner of your screen.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday for April 2014 is the FINAL time XP will receive these updates.  Computer users should be very concerned about the security and privacy of their personal data on any PC running Windows XP and should immediately start making plans to upgrade. 

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Founded in 2010, Prairie Star Technology is an independent IT service and support firm located in Overland Park, KS.  We offer on-site computer repair and virus removal throughout the greater Kansas City area, including Overland Park, Shawnee, Olathe, Kansas City, Lenexa, Prairie Village, and Leawood and remote help desk support to clients nationally.  We specialize in improving computer performance, reliability and security for residential and small business customers.  We are focused on providing fast, professional and CompTIA certified computer support to clients nationwide.   Our unique managed service program, Complete Computer Care, combines remote monitoring, preventative maintenance and Internet security all in one bundled offering starting at $15.99 a month.

If you would like to find out more about how we can improve your computers security to better protect your personal identity, documents, pictures and other data and make your computer faster and more fun to use, call us at 913/730-6262 or on our Contact Us page.  If you are going to take on the risks of the Internet, you owe it to your data to have the best Internet security possible.

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