Windows Patch Management

In order to combat the ever increasing number of 3rd party security vulnerabilities on Windows machines the UMIACS systems staff has deployed LANDesk Patch Manager. As security threats have evolved from the operating system to applications we have had to take this step in order to maintain operational security for the institute. Currently the updates are focused on applications that are exposed to the internet such as Firefox, Flash, Acrobat, Java, etc.

Patches are deployed during the week leading up to the maintenance window. The updates are scheduled to be installed every night between 7:30 and 9:30. If you are not logged in during those times then the system will automatically install the patches and reboot if necessary. If you remain logged into your system overnight you will see a prompt from LANDesk asking to scan your system. You have 24 hours to snooze the scan and can snooze up to 6 times. If you do not snooze within 24 hours the system will be automatically patched. After the scan and the patches are installed you will most likely be prompted to reboot. It is highly suggested to reboot right away due to system instability but you do have the option to snooze. After 24 hours the system will automatically reboot. If you have any open, unsaved work this could be lost during this reboot.