Oracle Releases Quarterly Patch Update

In an effort to fix a number of vulnerabilities, bugs and glitches, Oracle is planning to release a major update later today that will cover hundreds of the company’s products. If you’re an Oracle user or administrator, you should prepare yourself now for these updates, as they could take a while to complete. While some people may find downloading and installing all of these updates a time-consuming, bothersome task, you have to remember that they are aimed to better protect users of Oracle. For this reason, it’s recommend that you download these updates as soon as they are available.

The fact is that this is one of Oracle’s largest patch updates of the year. Known as a “Critical Patch Update,” this patch will fix a countless flaws and security vulnerabilities that have exposed Oracle users to malicious remote attacks. If you keep up with news in the IT field, you may recall hearing about a zero-day attack that was done through Oracle’s Java programming code. Although all the major web browsers and virus scanners updated their database to protect against this attack, Oracle is now offering another level of protection by doing the same. Of course this isn’t the only improvement that’s scheduled for Oracle’s quarterly patch update.

According to Oracle’s patch notes, their latest Critical Patch Update which is scheduled for release later today will have five major fixes to Oracle servers, one of which allows hackers and malicious users to access private data on an Oracle network without entering in a username or password. As you can expect, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately, which is why this update is so important. Thankfully, there haven’t been many cases of hackers using this exploit, but the fact is that it’s out there and needs to be fixed.

Along with the patches already listed here, Oracle’s quarterly patch update will also include 26 fixes for Oracle Fusion Middleware.  These fixes are designed to target similar problems that have allowed users to access servers without requiring any authentication.

The bottom line is that you need to download and install the Oracle Critical Patch Update as soon as the company releases it. Installing it will certainly take up some of your time and system resources, but it’s a small price to pay for the safety of your sensitive files and data. Keep checking back on the Oracle website for more information on this latest patch update.