New Security Updates Guide Coming in 2017

After Jan. 2017, security vulnerability and update information will only be published using a new Web site (called the Security Updates Guide) instead of the monthly security bulletins Microsoft has used for many years. The Web site, currently in preview, is searchable, filterable, and contains all the information that security bulletins currently provide. The site also has an API that can help users customize information retrieval.

New Service Aids Relevancy

For many years, Microsoft has published security bulletins on the second Tuesday of each month (the so-called Patch Tuesday). Customers could use the Microsoft Security Bulletin Web site to search for relevant information, but the capabilities were somewhat limited and many customers wanted easier ways to customize their views.

The new Security Updates Guide allows customers to more easily find security information that applies to them while weeding out irrelevant information. After the Jan. 2017 Patch Tuesday release, the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) will only publish vulnerability and update information to the Security Updates Guide, which customers access through a Web portal. (See the illustration “Security Updates Guide Dashboard“.)