Search Results for: xp

Yesterday we wrote about a zero-day vulnerability called Follina which allows for remote code execution on a victim's computer. While the flow -- tracked as CVE-2022-30190 -- has been described as an Office vulnerability, it is really the result of a security issue with a component of Windows.

A problem exists in the Microsoft Windows Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) which is found in all supported versions of Windows, including Windows 11. The vulnerability has been billed as an Office vulnerability as using a malicious Word file is one of the easiest attack vectors to exploit the flaw. But what is worrying about the vulnerability, apart from the fact that Microsoft has not fixed it yet, is that the company was made aware of the fact that it was being actively exploited way back on April 12.

Continue reading →

Americans have sensitive data relating to their online activity and location exposed 747 times daily, almost twice as much as Europeans who have their data exposed 376 times a day on average.

A new report from Atlas VPN looks at real-time bidding (RTB), which runs in the background on websites and apps and tracks what you look at, no matter how private or sensitive it is.

Continue reading →

In early March 2022, authentication security company Okta reported that there had been an attempt to compromise the account of a third-party customer support engineer from Sitel in January. The organization released a statement claiming that the matter had been investigated and contained.

Okta CSO David Bradbury later admitted that up to 366 customers may have been breached, apologizing for not notifying customers earlier. In the weeks since the attack, Okta has released a conflicting statement arguing that the attack affected just two customers, although this is perhaps naïve and hard to prove. Okta has said it recognizes the broad toll this kind of compromise can have on customers, but there is little to suggest that the attackers aren’t already lying dormant inside the networks of further customers.

Continue reading →

Windows users currently have a choice of two (supported) operating systems -- Windows 10 or Windows 11. While Microsoft would prefer users to be running the latest OS, adoption of Windows 11 has slowed dramatically in recent months.

When Windows XP first arrived back in 2001 it really shook things up with its revolutionary design and playful color scheme. If you were wondering how it might look if it was released today, we have the answer.

Continue reading →

Next month, Microsoft is officially retiring Internet Explorer 11. In six short weeks -- June 15 to be precise -- the era of IE11 comes to an end, but Microsoft is keen for organizations to move away from the browser before the big day rolls around.

Acknowledging that many organizations are reliant on IE-dependent sites and may well have entered the final stages of preparation, Microsoft says there is no need to wait until retirement day, saying: "the best way to prepare for IE disablement after June 15, is to proactively retire IE in your organizations before June 15".

Continue reading →

Most of us don't think too much about the 'From' address field on our emails, it's filled in by your mail program or web service. At the recipient's end security tools can check this against the sending server to verify that the mail is legitimate.

But hold on a second, an SMTP relay server between the server and the inbox allows messages through even though the addresses don't match. This is how organizations send out mass mailings without them getting blocked.

Continue reading →

The world of work has changed quite considerably over the past few years, driven by a number of factors, not least the pandemic.

Many of these changes have been positive, but some, in particular the shift to hybrid working, have brought challenges too. Some tasks are simply more difficult to do remotely.

Continue reading →

Great news for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel today, as in addition to a new Windows 11 build, there’s also an updated version of the new Media Player available to install.

This new release offers some new features, and also improves performance for users with very large media libraries.

Continue reading →

IT departments added a stack of tasks to their docket when remote and hybrid working became the norm. While initial purchases of video conferencing and business communication subscriptions were temporary fixes, they were not the only long-term solutions necessary to provide the seamless digital experience employees needed to carry out their roles.

The pandemic has strengthened the need to improve the digital experience business case for organizations that wish to increase employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. Employees, so used to having immediate responses from their home-use apps, have come to expect the same instant feedback from workplace technology but in many cases are not getting it.

Continue reading →

Whether it's down to the Great Resignation or a lack of the correct skills, security and development teams are struggling to find and retain enough skilled staff.

A new study released today by cybersecurity company Cobalt finds that 45 percent of security respondents say their department is currently experiencing a shortage of employees.

Continue reading →

Today, at an event to showcase how Microsoft is developing new experiences to "enhance the way we work today, and in the future", the software giant gave us a look at some of the new features coming to Windows 11 in the near future.

While much of the presentation was about business, specifically hybrid working, Microsoft did cover experiences for consumers.

Continue reading →

The US ranks 134th in the world for fixed-line broadband costs with an average package price of $55 per month making it one of the more expensive developed nations.

If you want a cheap service you need to head to Syria with an average monthly cost of just $2.15 according to a study from comparison site Cable.co.uk. At the other end of the scale the African state of Burundi tops the chart with an eye-watering monthly cost of $429.95.

Continue reading →

The metaverse is the latest battlefield for tech giants vying for business and consumer attention. Although the phrase has only fairly recently entered the public vernacular, when Facebook rebranded its parent company as Meta, it was actually coined in 1992 by author Neal Stephenson in 'Snowcrash'. In many ways its rise in popularity marks the 'coming of age' of virtual and augmented reality to date.

To make these new virtual worlds a success will require a truly real-time digital experience. Without this, our virtual experiences are unlikely to be lifelike and nor will they be "better" than real life. But in order to make this real-time digital experience in the metaverse a reality, organizations will need a raft of technical capabilities. This is a significant challenge for tech behemoths today, let alone in the metaverse future. So, what is needed to ensure the metaverse is a long-term success rather than a passing fad?

Continue reading →

The average time to known exploitation of vulnerabilities is 12 days, down from 42 days last year, according to the latest Rapid7 Annual Vulnerability Intelligence report.

Of 50 2021 vulnerabilities looked at in the report, 43 were exploited in the wild and 52 percent of the known exploited vulnerabilities in this report came under attack within one week of public disclosure.

Continue reading →

A new report shows that 81 percent of organizations have experienced at least two or more disruptive outages caused by expired certificates in the past two years, up from 77 percent last year.

The report from machine identity platform Keyfactor, based on research by the Ponemon Institute, finds the cut in SSL/TLS certificate lifespans to one year in September 2020 has made it much more difficult to keep the pace with certificate issuance and management.

Continue reading →