microsoft

Microsoft is doing its level best to kill off Internet Explorer. Users of the browser will soon find many key websites automatically open in the Edge browser instead. There hasn't been a new edition of Internet Explorer since 2013 and it's ... understandable many people would think it had died out altogether with Microsoft putting all its efforts into Edge instead. However, Statcounter estimates that more than 2.5 percent of desktop and laptop computers are running Internet Explorer. It's harder to estimate the total number of computers, but it's plausible the number of people using Internet ... (view more)

Microsoft has added links to Office web apps on Windows 10 computers without asking permission. It's more of an irritation than a damaging problem, but it's certainly safe to say some folks are irritated. The links appear to have been added by an ... automatic update, with some users reporting their computer restarted without warning and they lost some work that hadn't been saved. (Users can set Windows 10 to only restart automatically at set times such as during the night to stop this happening.) The links appear in the Start Menu alongside other apps as a single tile that contains several small ... (view more)

Microsoft says it has disrupted "one of the world's most persistent malware operations." The action against "Trickbot" reportedly involved working with the US military. Trickbot is a botnet , created by infecting computers with malware then ... hijacking and combining their resources for further malicious activity. The operators largely built it using bogus emails that tricked users into opening a file attachment or clicking a link that downloaded and installed malware. The uses of Trickbot have included stealing login details such as online banking credentials; accessing sensitive data; and ... (view more)

Windows 10 users can once again disable Bing Internet results from showing up in the Windows search taskbar. Unfortunately, it involves editing the Registry rather than changing a settings menu. One of the "improvements" of Windows 10 is a combined ... search function. Users who type in a search through the Start menu will not only see results from the computer itself (for example, matching filenames) but also website results retrieved from Microsoft's Bing search engine. While theoretically this could be useful in some cases, some users find it frustrating or intrusive, particularly with the ... (view more)

COVID-19 hasn't had much direct effect on the world of malware, but it may be why ransomware scams are getting scarily efficient. So says Microsoft in its latest "Digital Defense Report." The report is based on Microsoft's experiences through its ... built-in and standalone security measures on consumer and business devices and networks. It covers the year from July 2019 though June 2020. (Source: microsoft.com ) Microsoft suggests COVID-19 itself hasn't made much difference to most forms of malware. That's something of a surprise given more people are working from home and thus sending ... (view more)

Microsoft will block Adobe Flash in its web browsers from the end of the year. It's the last major browser developer to drop the technology. While Adobe Flash was once the primary tool used for multimedia content on websites, it earned a poor ... reputation for security. It wasn't just that it had numerous security holes, but that when those holes were exploited, hackers were often able to access a computer's memory and gain a worrying level of control just by using a web browser. Steve Jobs a Noted Flash Hater Apple was arguably the first company to crack down on Adobe Flash content with Steve ... (view more)

Microsoft is reportedly planning to only have one major update to Windows 10 next year. It could be a permanent switch and appears inspired by requests to have Microsoft spend more time testing updates before releasing it to the public. The idea ... with Windows 10, sometimes dubbed 'Software as a Service', was to ditch the old model of releasing a totally new version of Windows every few years. Instead, Microsoft has based updates around a mix of security updates (either monthly or as needed for the most serious problems), monthly tweaks and fixes, and then two major updates each year. New ... (view more)

Windows 8.1 users should make sure to install an emergency patch just released by Microsoft. The company rates the risk as critical based more on the potential consequences than the risk of exploitation. The bug is patched with a security update ... that has the reference KB4578013. It affects all versions of Windows 8.1 along with Windows Server 2012. The bug doesn't affect Windows 10. In theory it could affect Windows 7 and earlier, but Microsoft no longer patches those systems as they are no longer supported. (Source: microsoft.com ) The fix comes in an "out of band security update", commonly ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed there will be no option to uninstall the Edge browser once the new version is on a Windows 10 computer. There is a workaround, but it's not worth the trouble for most users. The two versions of Edge are known by Microsoft as ... the "legacy version" and the "new version." The legacy version ran on Microsoft's own code, while the new version is based on Chromium, which is open source software that is also the basis of Google's Chrome browser. One big reason for the switch is to make it easier for both website and browser extension developers to make something that works ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed it paid more than $13 million in bounties to people who reported security bugs in the past 12 months. It's three times the amount for the previous year, raising questions about Microsoft's attitude to security. Like many tech ... firms, Microsoft has a series of programs that pay rewards for reports of vulnerabilities. It's not so much meant as a way to compete against the potential earnings of would-be cyber criminals. Instead, it's meant as an incentive for legitimate independent security researchers to put their efforts into a particular application, device or platform. ... (view more)