Microsoft slates 12 patches for next week, Sets seven 'critical' updates for Windows, IE, VBScript and Office

Microsoft Corp. announced that it will release a dozen security updates next week, matching the patch record set a year ago. Seven of the 12 will be tagged with the company's highest threat ranking.

"There's not a Windows shop anywhere in the world that won't need to deploy at least one of these patches," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security Inc. And most everyone will be taking all 12."