windows – Page 42 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Wed, 30 May 2018 03:49:00 -0700

Once more we have a monthly Windows/Office patch scorecard that needs a guidebook. Or two. And we just got a handful of buried warnings about problems in old patches, plus a brand new way to fry your network interface card.

Thus continues the tradition of two cumulative updates per month for all of the supported Windows 10 versions – that’s eight cumulative updates in total – in addition to bobs and weaves and a very long list of acknowledged bugs introduced by recent security patches in Windows 7.

Conflicts with Remote Desktop

The strange behavior of the CredSSP update – where the Patch Tuesday fixes for all versions of Windows seemed to break Remote Desktop Protocol with a strange error message: “This could be due to CredSSP encryption oracle remediation” has been resolved.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 25, 2018 admin

Avast blames Microsoft for Win10 1803 upgrade blue screens, nonsensical options

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Fri, 25 May 2018 12:28:00 -0700

Looks as if we have a solution for the Avast-related blue screens in Win10 1803 upgrades that I talked about earlier this week. Avast heavyweight Ondrej Vlcek chose his words carefully but threw lots of shade at Microsoft for the upgrade installer’s bug.

Posting on the Avast forum, Vlcek says:

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Microsoft Security

May 24, 2018 admin

Adding transparency and context into industry AV test results

Credit to Author: Windows Defender ATP| Date: Thu, 24 May 2018 19:03:41 +0000

Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson recently shared his insights on how Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (Windows Defender ATP) evolved to achieve important quality milestones. Our Windows Defender ATP team is committed to delivering industry-leading protection, customer choice, and transparency on the quality of our solutions. In the continued spirit of these principles, we

ComputerWorld Independent

May 17, 2018 admin

Patch update: Monthly Rollup previews arrive for Win7, 8.1, along with updates for Win10 1607, 1703

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Thu, 17 May 2018 12:22:00 -0700

We just got a smattering of patches that seem to be in the “Oh yeah, we forgot” bucket. Windows 7 and 8.1 received Previews (which you should never install, of course). Win10 1607 (out of support for Home and Pro on April 10) and 1703 got the usual laundry list of minor fixes.

I bet Win10 1709 and 1803 updates will be out soon.

Here’s the roundup:

KB 4103713 – Win7 Monthly Rollup preview. Doesn’t solve the network driver uninstallation bug, but does add a new “SMB1 access auditing on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.” You have to turn on the auditing with a registry change.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 16, 2018 admin

Lots of little Microsoft patches, but nothing for this month’s big bugs — and no Previews

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 06:32:00 -0700

Third Tuesday of the month and it’s time for bug fixes and Monthly Rollup Previews, right?

Well, no. May’s Third Tuesday brought a big bag of .Net Framework Previews, microcode patches for Win10 1803 and Server 2016, and a Win10 1803 upgrade nag, but no respite at all for the major problems introduced by this month’s earlier patches.

The .Net Framework Previews

Unless you’re testing your own .Net-based software to make sure it won’t explode next month, you don’t need to think about these. There’s the usual assortment of Previews for .Net Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7 and 4.7.1 for all the usual versions of Windows and Server.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 16, 2018 admin

FAQ: How Edge's Application Guard and isolated browsing work

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 03:23:00 -0700

Microsoft two weeks ago quietly added a security feature to Windows 10 Pro that initially was available only in the operating system’s most expensive edition.

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(Insider Story)

ComputerWorld Independent

May 11, 2018 admin

Two more evolving threats: JavaScript in Excel and payment processing in Outlook

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Fri, 11 May 2018 09:04:00 -0700

Once upon a time – dating back to the first “Concept” macro virus in Word – the Office folks were wary of new features that had possible security implications. But in the past few weeks, we’ve been introduced to two new features that have “Kick Me” written all over them.

First, JavaScript in Excel. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Last December, Microsoft published a Dev Center article that talked about using the new Excel JavaScript API to create add-ins for Excel 2016.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 11, 2018 admin

Surface Pro (2017) owners hitting Win10 1803 update blue screens. Now we know why.

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Fri, 11 May 2018 06:43:00 -0700

As Win10 version 1803 rattles through the unpaid beta-testing phase, it’s snagged another victim — Intel’s aging SSD6 solid-state drives. Both Microsoft and Intel now admit that running Win10 version 1803 on Intel 600p or Pro 6000p is a recipe for disaster.

Some Surface Pro (2017) models ship with “bad” Intel SSD Pro 6000p drives. Customers are complaining about freezes with Win10 version 1803 — and the Microsoft support folks don’t have a clue what’s causing the problem. Now we know.

Here’s how the drama unfolded.

Win10 version 1803 has been in beta testing for centuries, in internet time. The “final” version, build 17134.1, entered the Windows Insider Fast ring almost a month ago, on April 16. In a jumble of mixed-up build numbers, Win10 version 1803 has been officially pushed since April 30. Why did it take so long to figure out that the 600p and Pro 6000p cause problems?

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