Microsoft Support & Discussions

Have questions about setting up Microsoft Endpoint Manager to manage all the devices—Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS—used in your education environments? Our engineering and product teams will be hosting a one-hour AMA event on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 to help you better understand how Microsoft Endpoint Manager can simplify the way you manage and update devices, provide advice on specific configuration and deployment options, and troubleshoot any issues you may be encountering. ADD TO CALENDAR To join, simply, visit the Microsoft Endpoint Manager AMA space this Wednesday, August 19th at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time and click "Start a New Conversation" to post …

As part of our ongoing efforts towards safer systems programming, we’re pleased to announce that Windows Control Flow Guard (CFG) support is now available in the Clang C/C++ compiler and Rust. What is Control Flow Guard? CFG is a platform security technology designed to enforce control flow integrity. It has been available since Windows 8.1 … Control Flow Guard for Clang/LLVM and Rust Read More » The post Control Flow Guard for Clang/LLVM and Rust appeared first on Microsoft Security Response Center. Continue reading...

To help provide additional protection from potential malware attacks, Microsoft recommends using HTTPS with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). In this post, we will walk you through the steps required to configure each of your WSUS servers to use HTTPS. We will then share details on how to obtain and bind the necessary certificate, enforce Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption, and configure WSUS to use HTTPS. From there, we will discuss how to configure clients to use HTTPS and how to configure WSUS to use HTTPS for synchronization for downstream servers only. We will conclude with a recommended configuration order. These steps are c…

Over the past six months, organizations around the world have accelerated digital transformation efforts to rapidly enable a remote workforce. As more employees than ever access apps via their home networks, the corporate network perimeter has truly disappeared, making identity the control plane for effective and secure access across all users and digital resources. Businesses have responded to the pandemic by increasing budgets, adding staff, and accelerating deployment of cloud-based security technologies to stay ahead of phishing scams and to enable Zero Trust architectures. But the pressure to reduce costs is also real. Given COVID-19 and uncertain economic conditi…

Today's post offers guidance around the tools that will eliminate potential ‘"slow downs" or blockers in your Windows 10 update planning and deployment efforts—and enable you to reduce the cost, effort, and time associated. The goal is help you achieve greater efficiency so you can focus on more transformational projects, and accelerate future update deployments, as was the case for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and others. In previous blog posts, I provided suggestions on how to deploy Windows in a remote world, and how to deploy Windows with the use of a servicing calendar. These articles provide a structured approach to planning, preparing, and deploying Windo…

Based on your feedback, it is now easier for you to discover available Windows 10 feature updates, monthly non-security quality updates, and driver updates. Beginning with the August 2020 security update for Windows 10, when optional updates are detected by your device, they will be displayed on a new page under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View optional updates. That means you no longer need to utilize Device Manager to search for updated drivers for specific devices. How to view optional updates in Windows 10 How optional driver updates will appear in Windows 10, beginning with the August 2020 update Windows Update will, of co…

Through difficult times, some adversaries will find opportunities and COVID-19 has proven to be a ripe opportunity for them to target a new, expanding, remote workforce. While these threats morph and evolve, Microsoft’s Detection and Response Team (DART) finds ways to endure and help organizations become more resilient Cloud environments are continuously being put to the test during this challenging period. DART has seen various security configurations in our customers’ cloud tenants. The one commonality:  administrators flip the switch on a few security tasks without genuinely understanding the process and procedures needed to ensure everything works as designed and c…

Digital transformation, cloud computing, and a sophisticated threat landscape are forcing everyone to rethink the functions of each role on their security teams, from Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) to practitioners. With billions of people around the globe working from home, changes to the daily practice of cybersecurity are accelerating. Organizations are shifting from defending a traditional network perimeter (keeping business assets in a safe place) to more effective zero trust strategies (protect users, data, and business assets where they are). This transformation brings technology changes and also opens up questions of what people’s roles and respons…

Not long ago when I spoke with customers about Zero Trust, our conversations focused on discussing the principles, defining scope, or sharing our own IT organization’s journey. Zero Trust was something interesting to learn about, and most organizations were very much in the exploratory phase. As COVID-19 forced organizations across the world to send their workforce home, organizations rapidly focused on Zero Trust approaches to alleviate challenges of enabling and securing remote work. Using Zero Trust to secure users, data, and devices (wherever they may be) has changed from optional to a business imperative overnight. Companies found that traditional security models …

Most of us know ‘Improv’ through film, theatre, music or even live comedy. It may surprise you to learn that the skills required for improvisational performance art, can also make you a good hacker? In cybersecurity, while quite a bit of focus is on the technology that our adversaries use, we must not forget that most cybersecurity attacks start with a non-technical, social engineering campaign—and they can be incredibly sophisticated. It is how attackers were able to pivot quickly and leverage COVID themed lures wreak havoc during the onset of the global pandemic. To dig into how social attacks like these are executed, and why they work time and again, I spoke with Rache…

Today we announce our Most Valuable Security Researchers for 2020! The MSRC Researcher Recognition program is an integral aspect of recognizing the ongoing partnerships with our community of talented security researchers who report through Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD). These recognitions run throughout specific periods of the year and provide regular opportunities to recognize those who … Congratulations to the MSRC’s 2020 Most Valuable Security Researchers Read More » The post Congratulations to the MSRC’s 2020 Most Valuable Security Researchers appeared first on Microsoft Security Response Center. Continue reading...

Want to learn more on how Android Enterprise works with existing mobility management and security solutions? This article will explain how Android Enterprise fits in a standard mobile ecosystem made of Microsoft Endpoint Manager solution and Pradeo Security Mobile Threat Defense. Android Enterprise arrived like a call to action in the era of mobility. Even though it has its roots in Android 5.0 (Lollipop) launched in 2014, it comes now as a mandatory feature on all Android 10 devices when managed with an Enterprise Mobility Management solution. Android Enterprise integrates smoothly into Microsoft Endpoint Manager to empower its capabilities and complements with Pra…

Rebecca Wynn, Global CISO & Chief Privacy Officer (CISO) of (24)7.ai, shares her advice for relieving stress in today’s CISO Stressbuster post. In many organizations, CISO is held accountable for security breaches, yet they don’t have control over all the decisions and systems that impact cyber risks. They need to continuously prove that they are making the company safer while persuading others to change behaviors. Building a security culture can be stressful, but it helps if people know they can count on you. As a senior information and security risk officer who has served as a CISO at several technology companies, I’ve learned that one way to increase influenc…

We are back to announce the release of Update Rollup 2 (UR2) for System Center 2019. Customers can now download UR2 for System Center 2019 from Microsoft Update as well as other channels. This update covers System Center Operations Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, Data Protection Manager, Orchestrator, and Service Manager. Like Update Rollup 1, released in February 2020, we’ve added new features to several products within the System Center suite in the Update Rollup 2 release. If you'd like to learn more about what the new features are, keep reading! Operations Manager System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) is one of the most widely used monitoring platforms by …

Security researchers are a vital component of the cybersecurity ecosystem that safeguards every facet of digital life and commerce. The researchers who devote time to uncovering and reporting security issues before adversaries can exploit them have earned our collective respect and gratitude. The security landscape is constantly changing with emerging technology and new threats. By … Microsoft Bug Bounty Programs Year in Review: $13.7M in Rewards Read More » The post Microsoft Bug Bounty Programs Year in Review: $13.7M in Rewards appeared first on Microsoft Security Response Center. Continue reading...

Microsoft has invested in the security of open-source software for many years and today I’m excited to share that Microsoft is joining industry partners to create the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), a new cross-industry collaboration hosted at the Linux Foundation. The OpenSSF brings together work from the Linux Foundation-initiated Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII), the GitHub-initiated Open Source Security Coalition (OSSC), and other open-source security efforts to improve the security of open-source software by building a broader community, targeted initiatives, and best practices. Microsoft is proud to be a founding member alongside GitHub, Google, IBM, …

Microsoft has invested in the security of open source software for many years and today I’m excited to share that Microsoft is joining industry partners to create the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), a new cross-industry collaboration hosted at the Linux Foundation. The OpenSSF brings together work from the Linux Foundation-initiated Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII), … Microsoft Joins Open Source Security Foundation Read More » The post Microsoft Joins Open Source Security Foundation appeared first on Microsoft Security Response Center. Continue reading...

It hardly feels like summer without the annual trip to Las Vegas for Black Hat USA. With this year’s event being totally cloud based, we won’t have the chance to catch up with security researchers, industry partners, and customers in person, an opportunity we look forward to every year. We’ll still be there though, and … Black Hat 2020: See you in the Cloud! Read More » The post Black Hat 2020: See you in the Cloud! appeared first on Microsoft Security Response Center. Continue reading...

In theory, a cyberattack can be disrupted at every phase of the attack chain. In reality, however, defense stack boundaries should overlap in order to be effective. When a threat comes via email, for example, even with good security solutions in place, organizations must assume that the threat may slip past email defenses, reach the target recipient, and further compromise endpoints and identities. While defenses on endpoints and identities could successfully tackle the attack in isolation, coordinating signals across protection components significantly increases the ability of these solutions to block and mitigate. Microsoft Threat Protection takes this approach and d…

To support evolving industry security standards, and continue to keep you protected and productive, Microsoft will retire content that is Windows-signed for Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1) from the Microsoft Download Center on August 3, 2020. This is the next step in our continued efforts to adopt Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA-2), which better meets modern security requirements and offers added protections from common attack vectors. SHA-1 is a legacy cryptographic hash that many in the security community believe is no longer secure. Using the SHA-1 hashing algorithm in digital certificates could allow an attacker to spoof content, perform phishing attacks, or perfo…