Microsoft to issue single security patch next week

Microsoft is issuing only one security patch next week as part of its monthly patching schedule.

The 13 January patch - the first of the year - fixes a "critical" security hole in both the client and server versions of Windows.

Unpatched systems potentially allow remote hackers to get into users' machines.

At the end of last year, Microsoft was forced to issue an "out-of-cycle" patch that fixed Internet Explorer browser vulnerabilities.