Enterprises put themselves at risk by running outdated Microsoft products
According to a new report 65 percent of Windows systems are still running Windows 7, and a small percentage of devices are still running Windows XP.
The survey from trusted access specialist Duo Security analyzed more than two million endpoints and found 63 percent of them running Microsoft operating systems. Yet only 24 percent are running Windows 10. Windows 7 remains the most popular despite there being over 600 vulnerabilities affecting unpatched versions.
Google discloses actively exploited Windows vulnerability before Microsoft patch is ready
Google has shared details of a 0-day vulnerability in Windows a mere 10 days after informing Microsoft of the problem. In Google's own words, "this vulnerability is particularly serious because we know it is being actively exploited", but the company is accused of putting users at risk.
Microsoft is yet to produce a patch for the security problem, and it's not clear when one will be released.
Thanks to Microsoft, Chrome is now 15 percent faster on Windows
In a bid to make its browser faster than ever, Google has started using Microsoft’s Profile Guided Optimization (PGO). Introduced in Chrome 53, this technology can help optimize high-use functions in the browser.
The nightly Chrome builds track how often functions are used, and these functions are then optimized by PGO, sometimes increasing their binary size. In addition, PGO optimizes the memory location of the browser code, keeping rarely and frequently used functions away from each other.
Microsoft Q1 FY2017 by the numbers: $22.34 billion revenue, $5.98 billion profit
Microsoft has posted its earnings for Q1 FY2017 (Q3 CY2016), revealing revenue of $22.34 billion, operating income of $7.1 billion, net income of $5.98 billion, and earnings per share of $0.76 cents. The software giant beat analyst expectations of $21.71 billion in revenue and EPS of $0.68. The stock is up around 5.5 percent over yesterday, with shares trading at over $60 -- a record value for the company.
How do the latest numbers compare to Q1 FY2016? A year ago Microsoft reported revenue of $21.66 billion, operating income of $7.07 billion, net income of $5.66 billion and EPS of $0.70. So the revenue, operating income, net income, and EPS are up.
ImBatch 5.10 now creates animated GIFs
Versatile image batch processor ImBatch has been updated to 5.10 with a simple "Save to animated GIF" task. The current image list acts as your frames, and you can set one delay to cover all transitions.
The "Set EXIF/IPTC Tag" task has also seen a major extension with new support for file and image attributes. This means text tags such as IPTC’s Description could now include details like a file’s folder, original file name, creation date and more.
Microsoft's Project Springfield helps developers test their software
Microsoft has just announced that it will be releasing the first preview of its new cloud-based tool called Project Springfield. It has been designed to aid developers in spotting "million dollar bugs" in their Windows applications before launch.
The reason the company is making Project Springfield available to Windows developers is to save them from the "costly effort" of having to release patches to fix broken software after it has already been made public.
Microsoft finally removes its scummy Windows 10 nagware from Windows 7 and 8.1 systems
15 months ago, in an effort to make it as easy as possible to upgrade to its new operating system, Microsoft introduced a Get Windows 10 app for Windows 7 and 8.1 that allowed users to reserve their upgrade.
While this tool was innocuous enough to start with, it soon turned into something much more akin to malware, becoming harder and harder to kill, and employing all manner of scummy methods in an effort to trick users into installing Windows 10 against their wishes.
Windows Safe Mode attack could put your passwords at risk
Because it allows only the essential elements of the Windows operating system to run, Safe Mode is a useful tool for diagnosing and fixing problems. But according to researchers at CyberArk Labs it could also be exposing you to risk.
Safe Mode stops a lot of third-party software from running at startup and that can include many security solutions. Attackers who have gained remote access to a machine may therefore be able to reboot it into Safe Mode to launch attacks.
Ancile is a script-based Windows 7/8 telemetry-blocker
Increasing concern over Windows "spying" technologies has brought a host of free tools claiming to disable them, but are they safe to use? It’s often hard to tell, as developers don’t clearly explain what they’re doing.
Ancile is easier to evaluate, at least for experienced users, because it’s just a Windows script -- open the files in your text editor of choice and it’s all there.
The growing security risks in enterprise Windows environments [Q&A]
ManageEngine recently announced the results of its global Active Directory and Windows Server Security -- Trends and Practices Survey for 2016, which found that 70 percent of IT administrators across the globe agree that their Windows environments are not immune to malicious attacks.
To delve a bit deeper, we spoke to Derek Melber, a technical evangelist for ManageEngine.
How to crack Windows and OS X passwords
A security researcher has revealed a way to determine the password needed to access a protected Windows or OS X account. Using Rob Fuller's technique, it doesn't matter if the computer in question is locked, and it uses a USB SoC-based device to crack user credentials.
By modifying the firmware of a USB dongle, Fuller was able to make the device appear as an Ethernet adaptor. By spoofing a network connection, it is then possible to trick a target computer into giving up an account password.
Restrict and limit Windows user accounts with FrontFace Lockdown Tool
If you're setting up a PC for others to use then you’ll often want to limit their actions, prevent them running other applications or tweaking system settings.
Windows has many security and user settings that can help, but they're scattered across many applets and may be hard to find.
Windows, Mac or Linux... Which operating system best suits your business?
With all the options out there, organizations may be having a hard time deciding which operating system to go with. The three most common are Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. But which is the best for your business?
An OS should have a robust set of characteristics to serve the diverse needs of a busy office. It should be reliable and secure, yet flexible enough to scale with business demands. The user interfaces should be feature-rich and easy to navigate for both end-users and IT administrators. Windows remains by far the most popular, used in around 85 percent of businesses, with Mac a distant second and Linux operating systems hanging in at over 5 percent.
Chrome apps to disappear from Windows, Mac and Linux while Chrome OS gains new launcher icon
Google has come to the realization that hardly anyone is using Chrome apps. As such, the company plans to phase out support for the apps on Windows, Mac and Linux over the next couple of years.
While admitting that packaged apps are used by just 1 percent of users of the three platforms, Google says that the decision comes after a drive to integrate the feature of apps into web standards. Chrome apps will live on in Chrome OS "for the foreseeable future", but a wind-down timetable has been set out for everyone else.
Windows falls to 0.6 percent share in the smartphone market
Windows continues to lose ground to Android and iOS in the smartphone market, according to a new report from Gartner. Driven by the poor performance of the Lumia line, its share dropped to just 0.6 percent in Q2 2016, down from 2.5 percent a year ago.
Microsoft is the largest platform vendor, selling over 90 percent of the smartphones that run Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile, so its performance has a direct impact on Windows' share in this market. And, since in Q2 2016 it only sold 1.2 million Lumia devices, it dealt the platform yet another blow.
Recent Headlines
Most Commented Stories
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.