Week 1: Identify and Assess
The first week of the month, prepare for the upcoming updates. Early in the week, check WSUS for any new systems that aren't assigned to a group or that aren't up-to-date with patches. To do so, open WSUS, click Reports on the toolbar, and click Status of Computers on the Reports page. Click View; set Computer Group to Unassigned Computers; select the Needed, Unknown, and Failed check boxes; then click Apply to generate the report. Review the report and apply any updates or resolve any problems necessary to bring all systems to your current baseline.
On the first Thursday of the month, Microsoft releases a summary of that month's bulletins at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/summary.mspx. Take time to review the new patches. There won't be much detail yet, but you can get an idea of the number of bulletins, their severity, and which products might be affected. Occasionally, Microsoft will simply state that there are no bulletins, which gets you off the hook for a month unless Microsoft releases an off-schedule update, as it sometimes does for critical bulletins. While you're on the bulletin summary page, you can sign up for the monthly Security Bulletin Webcast, which is scheduled for the day after Update Tuesday. . . .
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