If you're using Google's Chrome browser to read this article
Be advised that the company has announced the presence of a pair of major, Zero-Day vulnerabilities that put you at immediate risk. Not only are the flaws of the highest possible severity, but hackers have already begun exploiting them.
The two issues are being tracked as CVE-2019-13720 and CVE-2019-13721.
The first of these impacts Chrome's audio component, while the second resides in the PDFium library. The company has been reluctant to release any technical details on these issues for fear that it will lead to even more widespread exploitation.
Part of the official statement from Google
"Google is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2019-13720 exists in the wild...Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on but haven't yet fixed."
The issues were discovered and reported by researchers from Kaspersky Labs and Google immediately took steps to patch the problem.
Google is urging all Chrome users to update to version 78.0.3904.87 immediately. If you're not sure what version of the browser you're running, you can check by clicking the three vertical dots in the upper right corner, going to "Help" and then "About," which will tell you if your browser is updated or manually trigger the update process.
These issues are about as serious as they come. Zero-day exploits are, as one might expect, exceedingly dangerous. Given that one of the two has already been seen being exploited by hackers makes updating your way out of harm's way a top priority.
Our perspective
Kudos to the sharp-eyed researchers at Kaspersky Labs for spotting the issues right away, and to Google for fast action in issuing the correction.
As Hill Street Blues' Sgt. Esterhaus always advised: "Hey, let's be careful out there!"
Meanwhile, check out this report
This free executive report may give you insights into how to build your business with safe IT environments: 10 Hidden IT Risks That Might Threaten Your Business and 1 Easy Way to Find Them
The author
Thanks for reading this short post. For more tips on thriving with small business technology, check out the other blog posts at DWPia Blogs. I am also available on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
I am Denis Wilson, President and Principal Consultant for DWP Information Architects. I help professionals grow their business by building a foundation of rock-solid information solutions for smaller healthcare, insurance, financial, legal, and nonprofits firms in Ventura County and San Fernando Valley. And have created cost-effective IT solutions, for over 20 years, specializing in cybersecurity and regulatory compliance. I am also a published author and speaker, working extensively with a variety of organizations, as well as providing small business technology education programs through business and professional associations. This just in: I will be speaking regularly at California Lutheran University's Center for Nonprofit Leadership starting in September.
Contact me if you would like me to speak at your association.
