Technical updates

Admin-relevant notices, prerequisites, and security bulletins for Apteco software.

Q3 2026¶

Designer deployment requires a matching Web Service version¶

Designer's deployment process now uses a new method for the Service notification step, replacing an older attachment-based method.

We always encourage keeping your Apteco software in step, so please upgrade everything to Q3 2026 at the same time.

Q2 2026¶

IP address change for Apteco servers¶

Effective date: Week commencing 27 April, 2026

Apteco is updating the network component that manages traffic to Apteco servers. This component is reaching end of life and will no longer receive security or bug-fix updates. This will result in an IP address change for several Apteco services.

• Old IP address: 65.52.65.107
• New IP address: 52.236.9.107

Check whether you're affected¶

You are only affected if your IT team restricts outbound traffic by IP address rather than by hostname or domain name.

Check with your IT or network team whether 65.52.65.107 is on your allowlist:

• Yes: You must act before the effective date to avoid service disruption
• No: No action needed

Affected services¶

The following components call these URLs:

• Web Server (FastStats Web Service and OrbitAPI)
• Application Server (FastStats Service)
• Build Server (FastStats Designer)

Required action¶

Recommended: Add *.apteco.com to your allowlist instead of using a specific IP address.

If you require a specific IP address, follow these steps:

1. Before the effective date: Add the new IP address 52.236.9.107 to your allowlist alongside the existing entry for 65.52.65.107. Don't remove the old IP address yet, as both will be valid during the switchover period.
2. After confirming the switchover: Remove the old IP address 65.52.65.107 from your allowlist once you've verified that services are operating correctly.

Impact if you take no action¶

• Email and SMS services: Affected servers lose access to those services until you restore connectivity.
• AI services: Affected servers lose access to Orin and all AI functions in Apteco Orbit.

• Licensing service

  Degradation occurs in stages:

  1. Licence refresh fails and the system logs warnings: Error refreshing licences for {systemName} with exception {e.Message}
  2. The system continues on its cached licence for up to two months
  3. Once the cache expires, a two-week grace period applies
  4. After the grace period, the FastStats Service won't restart: Could not find a valid licence for: {systemName}

If you have any questions, please contact the Apteco support team.

Q4 2025¶

.NET Framework 4.8 requirement¶

The following FastStats components now require .NET Framework 4.8 or later:

• FastStats Designer
• FastStats Configurator
• FastStats Web Service

.NET Framework 4.8 provides enhanced security and enables future support for OAuth-based Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) connections. The installer validates that .NET Framework 4.8 is present on your system before proceeding.

For download links and installation guidance, see Requirements and prerequisites.

Q2 2024¶

ASP.NET Core 8 requirement for Apteco Orbit¶

For details on where to download the update and a list of FAQs, see ASP.NET pre-requisite change for Apteco Orbit.

Q3 2023¶

Security: WebP library vulnerability¶

A heap buffer overflow in the WebP library within Google Chrome, specifically in versions before 116.0.5845.187, posed a security risk. This vulnerability allowed a remote attacker to execute an out-of-bounds memory write by exploiting a crafted HTML page.

See CVE-2023-4863 and Patch 16: WebP library security flaw in Apteco FastStats.

Q2 2023¶

SHA-1 hashing algorithm deprecation¶

The SHA-1 hash function for digital signatures is now deprecated. Apteco recommends transitioning all FastStats systems from SHA-1 to at least SHA-256 for improved security aligned with current standards.

See Change hashing algorithm for FastStats systems.

Technical and organisational measures (TOMs) in Apteco Cloud¶

Apteco Cloud services now integrate Technical and Organisational Measures (TOMs), providing the utmost security and protection for personal information processed within the Apteco Cloud environment. They include:

• Access control
• Intrusion prevention
• Unauthorised activities in data processing systems
• Pseudonymisation and anonymisation
• Control procedures
• Separation control
• Input control
• Availability control
• Resilience and fail-safe control
• Order control

For more details, see Technical and organisational measures (TOMs).

Windows operating system and .NET Framework 4.7.2 requirement¶

This applies to:

• Client machines: Those running Apteco FastStats or Apteco PeopleStage
• Servers: Those running the FastStats Web Service and FastStats Service components

You can download the latest .NET installers from https://www.microsoft.com/net/download.

Apteco recommends keeping your .NET Framework up to date and applying all Windows updates.

The following operating systems support .NET Framework 4.7.2:

• Windows 7 Service Pack 1
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 10 (all versions)
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server, version 1709
• Windows Server, version 1803
• Windows Server, version 1809
• Windows Server 2019

Q1 2022¶

ASP.NET Core 6 requirement for Apteco Orbit¶

In January 2022, the second Orbit release (version 1.10.26) added a dependency on the ASP.NET Core 6 Server Hosting bundle for the OrbitAPI. Install this on the web server.

For details on where to download the update and a list of FAQs, see ASP.NET pre-requisite change for Apteco Orbit.

Q2 2021¶

Digitally signed binary assets¶

The Q2 2021 release introduced digitally signed binary assets, increasing security by verifying the integrity of code downloaded by the launcher. To take advantage of this feature, update the binaries and create and distribute a new launcher to users.

Password reset functionality¶

The Q2 2021 release requires you to enter the URL of the FastStats Web Service for the password reset function. You can find this setting in the General tab of your FastStats Web Service configuration.

Once you make this change, the FastStats Web Service picks up the configuration after some time. You can also force this by restarting IIS.