Organizations need to prep for a pretty significant set of patches that are scheduled to be rolling out from Redmond tomorrow. It's the most security patch updates from Microsoft in nearly six months.There are eight updates in total, five of those are ranked as critical by the software maker. Four of the five critical updates affect versions of Windows, and two affect Microsoft Office. One is for Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7. All of the critical vulnerabilities make it possible for attackers to execute remote code on at-risk systems.

This makes it possible for not only remote attackers to infiltrate unpatched systems, but also to try to create Internet spreadable worms.

The three remaining bulletins tell of updates that will be necessary to patch important and moderate vulnerabilities in Windows and Microsoft Forefront Edge Security. The Microsoft Forefront weakness leaves systems vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks.

Nearly all of the patches will require a re-boot (Oh, the joys of patching).

We'll keep readers up to date, should any difficulties are changes arise from this month's batch of patches.

More information is available from Microsoft.