Microsoft swears Windows 11 isn’t “less secure,” even as 1,100+ security fixes landed last month, and warns hackers can now exploit them within hours

Windows needed more than 1,000 security fixes in October 2026, but Microsoft swears it’s not “less secure” and warns users against hitting the brakes on Windows updates. The company worries AI will find even more critical bugs as it accelerates its own bug hunting with AI models in an “agentic” mouse-and-rat game.

Microsoft’s wider October 2026 security release addressed 1,413 CVEs across its product portfolio, according to its October Security Update Guide.

Microsoft is not sounding alarms all of a sudden. I’ve been observing these warnings for the past six months, and the most obvious warning landed in July 2026.

Jeremy Chapman, a director at Microsoft 365 who works closely with Windows customers on security, strongly warned against delaying Windows updates. He also noted that Microsoft no longer recommends delaying monthly updates for three days or more because “the risk is real,” and “total addressed vulnerabilities have been on the…