If you took a look at the available updates for your Windows system last week, you might have come across something that looked a little strange.
The patch claimed to be a Windows Language Pack and was marked as being Important, which means that you should install it on your PC.
But, if you looked at the description, you’d just see URLs for some American websites ending in .mil and .gov, as well as a lot of garbled text.
The strange looking update has led many Windows users to suspect that Microsoft’s servers had been hacked, and that cybercriminals had found a way to distribute malware via the Windows Update service.
If that had happened, it would be a major threat to the millions of Windows users around the world, especially the majority who have Windows configured to automatically install updates as they become available.
But, in this case, I can reveal that Microsoft’s server has not been compromised and it actually turns out that Microsoft have made a mistake by pushing out an update that wasn’t quite ready.
So, if you have not yet installed the update, you can safely ignore it. Microsoft are in the process of withdrawing it from the update servers.
If you’re a user of Windows 8.1 or earlier, then you have the option to choosing which updates are installed on your PC, so when you get junk like this from Microsoft you can choose not to install it.
If you’re a Windows 10 user you’re not so lucky, since Microsoft’s latest Windows version installs updates automatically, as soon as they become available, without giving users the choice of when they are installed.
This is generally a good thing, since it means that essential security fixes are installed as soon as they become available, reducing the damage a hacker or malware infection can do.
But, if Microsoft’s standards start to slip and they let through updates such as this, then there is always the chance that a problem update that actually damages Windows is sent out.
Hopefully, this latest slip will prompt Microsoft to take steps to ensure that only rigorously tested updates are released, to limit any damage that could be done.