Posted April 25, 2016 by Academic and Institutional Technology
Tags:
Maintenance
Security
Removal of QuickTime from College-Owned Windows Computers
Effective Date: April 27, 2016
Because of two recently-discovered security vulnerabilities and Apple's depreciation of QuickTime for Windows, we will uninstall QuickTime from College-owned Windows computers beginning Wednesday, April 27.
Typically, companies like Apple provide regular updates to their software in order to repair known security vulnerabilities. When a company discontinues software, they stop providing these updates. Apple discontinued support for QuickTime for Windows earlier in April. At the same time, two QuickTime security vulnerabilities were announced. These vulnerabilities could allow a hacker to use QuickTime as a disguise for malicious code.
Uninstalling QuickTime will prevent the exposure of your personal data and information to those exploiting security vulnerabilities. We will uninstall QuickTime beginning Wednesday, April 27. No action is required, though we recommend all Windows users restart their computers at the end of the day on April 27 to help ensure QuickTime is uninstalled.
If you used QuickTime to play media files, you can use VLC media player instead, which is already installed on your computer.
You can read more about why we're uninstalling QuickTime in this alert from the Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team, including the listed references.
If you use QuickTime for Windows on a personally-owned computer, we recommend you uninstall it. Apple provides instructions on how to do so here. After uninstalling QuickTime, older versions of iTunes may stop working. If this happens, you can install the latest version here.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us or call 630.752.4357.