fyi
Dear Blackboard Community,
With vulnerabilities recently exposed in the base operating systems and
components that Blackboard runs on, there has been much confusion about
the extent to which Blackboard will support the application of Security
Patches/Service Packs. As you know, software developers such as
Blackboard receive these security patches/service packs at the same time
as other users of the operating systems, databases, etc., thereby making
it very difficult for us to immediately certify a security patch which
we have not thoroughly tested. However, having recently created a new
group, named Engineering Services, within our development team, we are
now able to more rapidly mobilize skilled staff who can appropriately
test compatibility between the Learning System, the Community Portal
System, and the Security Patch and/or Service Pack.
Therefore, it is now our official policy to continue support for anyone
that has applied the Security Patch(s)/Service Pack(s). As these
patches become available, Blackboard will act quickly to assure
compatibility and stability with our platform.
Blackboard understands that vulnerabilities uncovered by the community
at large may be extremely harmful to your network environment or
infrastructure, and that applying a service pack is an important
defensive mechanism. Before doing so, Blackboard suggests that you
first 1) perform a full back-up of your system and 2) apply the
patch(es) in a test environment.
We hope that this new policy, based on feedback from this list, as well
as other respected constituencies, is another sign of Blackboard's
commitment to serving the needs of our clients.
Thank You,
Karl Engkvist
Vice President, Product Support
Blackboard Inc
For your reference, I have attached excerpts from two Blackboard
Knowledge Base articles. To view the full article, please visit
http://behind.blackboard.com
###
Blackboard KB Article #181-573
Microsoft releases different "Security Patches" after the release of
Blackboard Learning System and Community Portal System. Should
Blackboard customers run these security patches or updates from
Microsoft?
Resolution:
Blackboard attempts to maintain the compatibility of its software with
Microsoft's security patches and service packs. We apply these patches
to our internal test systems as they are released by Microsoft, and
conduct regression testing to ensure compatibility. Blackboard will
provide hotfixes/updates to our software in the event that a security
patch causes incompatibilities with Blackboard software.
[ To view the full article, please visit http://behind.blackboard.com
and see Knowledge Base article #181-573 ]
###
Blackboard KB Article #181-1032
Windows Operating System only: Protecting against "slammer" worm
Resolution:
Note: Please ensure that you have a backup of the system before
installing the service pack update.
Clients running Blackboard Learning System (Release 6) are advised to
run the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with SP3 immediately.
Clients currently running any version of Blackboard Learning System
(Release 6):
Install the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3 to protect the system.
Clients running any version of Blackboard 5.x should download the
following security patch from Microsoft at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-061.asp. They
should not update to Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with SP3.
- Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-061
[ To view the full article, please visit http://behind.blackboard.com
and see Knowledge Base article #181-1032 ]
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