Microsoft Support & Discussions

Reuters recently reported a hacking campaign focused on a wide range of targets across the globe. In the days leading to the Reuters publication, Microsoft researchers were closely tracking the same campaign. Our sensors revealed that the campaign primarily targeted public sector institutions and non-governmental organizations like think tanks and research centers, but also included educational institutions and private-sector corporations in the oil and gas, chemical, and hospitality industries. Microsoft customers using the complete Microsoft Threat Protection solution were protected from the attack. Behavior-based protections in multiple Microsoft Threat Prote…

In my role, I often meet with CISOs and security architects who are updating their security strategy to meet the challenges of continuously evolving attacker techniques and cloud platforms. A frequent topic is prioritizing security for their highest value assets, both the assets that have the most business value today as well as the initiatives that the organization is banking on for the future. This typically includes intellectual property, customer data, key new digital initiatives, and other data that, if leaked, would do the greatest reputational and financial damage. Once weve identified the highest value assets, it inevitably leads to a conversation about all the pr…

Several weeks ago, the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (Windows Defender ATP) team uncovered a new cyberattack that targeted several high-profile organizations in the energy and food and beverage sectors in Asia. Given the target region and verticals, the attack chain, and the toolsets used, we believe the threat actor that the industry refers to as Tropic Trooper was likely behind the new attack. The attack set off numerous Windows Defender ATP alerts and triggered the device risk calculation mechanism, which labeled the affected machines with the highest risk. The high device risk score put the affected machines at the top of the list in Windows Defende…

With more than 60 million tracks, 244,000 music videos, thousands of expertly curated playlists and hundreds of live events, TIDAL customers have access to an unparalleled music experience. Microsoft app users have the choice of a Premium membership for $9.99/month or HiFi membership for $19.99/month. Both subscription tiers give members access to an unlimited, ad-free listening experience while HiFi offers high fidelity, lossless sound quality – just as the musicians intended their work to sound. More than just a streaming service, TIDAL members connect with their favorite artists in unique ways. In the past year alone, members have been able to attend intimate listen…

You may have already noticed that it’s easier than ever to fill out form details in websites, thanks to several improvements in Microsoft Edge via the Windows 10 October Update. This builds on the multi-field autofill launched in April that gave users the ability to fill out multiple related fields in website forms, such as contact info and credit card details, with one click*. Keep reading for five ways you can use autofill in Microsoft Edge: 1. Autofill for address fields You can fill out multiple related fields in website forms – be it your contact or your credit card details – with one click! Microsoft Edge can help you fill your contact information in addre…

This is the last post in our eight-blog series on deploying Intelligent Security scenarios. To read the previous entries, check out the Deployment series page. Your employees need to access, generate, and share organizational information ranging from extremely confidential to informal; you must ensure that all information and the movement of that information comply with industry standards without inhibiting workflow. Microsoft 365 security solutions can help you know whats happening with your data, set permissions and classifications, and discover and help prevent leaks. How can I make it easier to manage compliance processes? To better manage complianc…

Microsoft Shopping Assistant, first released in 2016 through The Garage, is a browser add-on that helps you get the best deals at more than 50,000 online stores, from top retailers like Amazon and Walmart to your favorite boutique shop on Etsy. Track prices for products on thousands of stores Never miss a deal again with the Microsoft Shopping Assistant. When you’re on a product web page, click the heart shaped button in the assistant widget and add it to your Favorites. The assistant will automatically notify you when the price changes, and you can see all price changes from the notifications screen in the assistant. Compare prices across retailers Shop smart…

At Microsoft, we take your device and account protection seriously, which is why we’ve been on a mission to eliminate passwords. Passwords can be difficult to remember, are often reused and can be used to hack your account anywhere, anytime, from any device. Windows Hello is a key component in our effort to finally saying goodbye to passwords. Using facial recognition, a fingerprint, or PIN, Windows Hello is a fast, secure and password-less way to unlock your Windows 10 PC.1 We’ve been busy bringing the latest and greatest features to Windows Hello and account protection and wanted to take some time to update you on what’s new. Account protection and sign-in We’re m…

With Surface Headphones, you can tune in to what matters most by tuning out the world around you. With your Headphones and your Surface, your office, studio, or library is wherever you need to be. You’ve got the smarter way to listen. Surface Headphones can simultaneously connect with up to 10 devices, including your Windows 10 PC, and mobile devices running on iOS and Android. With it, you can listen to music while focusing at your Surface and seamlessly take a call from your phone. Setting up Surface Headphones To begin using your Surface Headphones, first pair them with your Windows PC or mobile phone. Press and release the power button quickly to turn y…

Traditional antivirus software has a tough time detecting malware used in the campaign. A new, active campaign is using malware capable of dancing around traditional antivirus solutions in order to empty cryptocurrency wallets. The malware is being used in the DarkGate campaign, a previously undetected hacking operation uncovered this week by enSilo security researchers. According to the team, DarkGate is currently underway in Spain and France, targeting Microsoft Windows PCs by way of torrent files. Torrent files are most commonly associated with pirated content, but the technology itself is not illegal and can be used by consumers and businesses alike to…

Across Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (Windows Defender ATP) engineering and research teams, innovation drives our mission to protect devices in the modern workplace. Our goal is to equip security teams with the tools and insights to protect, detect, investigate, and automatically respond to attacks. We continue to be inspired by feedback from customers and partners, who share with us the day-to-day realities of security operations teams constantly keeping up with the onslaught of threats. Today Im excited to share with you some of the latest significant enhancements to Windows Defender ATP. We added new capabilities to each of the pillars of Windows Def…

Across geographic, social and cultural landscapes, Americans from backgrounds of all kinds don’t have enough money to meet their basic needs. Even when the larger economy is robust and job reports are positive, millions of Americans aren’t a part of that picture. They are white, rural, urban, black, married, single, Native American, Hispanic, gay, straight and gender nonconforming. They are religious and they are not. They are elderly and they are just babies. They are our relatives and neighbors – they are us. This November, Microsoft News is putting a focus on Poverty in America with a 2-week series examining the root causes of poverty, what poverty really means to t…

Today we are re-releasing the October 2018 Update after pausing to investigate a small but serious issue. This is the first time in Windows 10’s “Windows as a Service” history that we have taken such an action, and as such it has naturally led to questions about the work we do to test and validate Windows quality before we begin rolling it out broadly. While our measurements of quality show improving trends on aggregate for each successive Windows 10 release, if a single customer experiences an issue with any of our updates, we take it seriously. Today, I will share an overview of how we work to continuously improve the quality of Windows and our Windows as a Service…

In early October, we paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update as we investigated isolated reports of users missing files after updating. We take any case of data loss seriously, and as I noted on October 9, we have thoroughly investigated and resolved all related issues. In addition to extensive internal validation, we have taken time to closely monitor feedback and diagnostic data from our Windows Insiders and from the millions of devices on the Windows 10 October Update, and we have no further evidence of data loss. Based on this data, today we are beginning the re-release of the October Update by making it available via media and to advanced users …

At Ignite 2018, we announced Microsoft Threat Protection, a comprehensive, integrated solution securing the modern workplace across identities, endpoints, user data, cloud apps, and, infrastructure (Figure 1). The foundation of the solution is the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph, which correlates 6.5 trillion signals daily from email alone and enables: Powerful machine learning developed by Microsofts 3500 in-house security specialists Automation capabilities for enhanced hunting, investigation, and remediationhelping reduce burden on IT teams Seamless integration between disparate services Figure 1: Microsoft Threat Protection provides an integ…

In my past life as CISO, Ive worked for small companies, state governments, and large enterprises, and one thing that has been true at all of them is that there is an infinite number of security initiatives in each organization you could implement, yet the resources to accomplish those tasks are finite. To be an effective CISO, I had to learn to appropriate the resources under my control toward the solutions that confront the greatest risk to the most valuable parts of the business. I also had to learn how to extend my own resource pool by persuading every individual at the company that they had a role to play in protecting the organization. In short, I learned to aggress…

This blog post was authored by Vinicius Apolinario, Senior Technical Product Manager, Windows Server. On October 2, 2018, we announced the availability of Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809. Later that week, we paused the rollout of these new releases to investigate isolated reports of users missing files after updating to the latest Windows 10 feature update. We take any case of data loss seriously, so we proactively removed all related media from our channels as we started investigation of the reports and have now fixed all known related issues. In addition to extensive internal validation, we have taken time to closely monitor feedback and d…

Today, we released security updates to provide additional protections against malicious attackers. As a best practice, we encourage customers to turn on automatic updates. More information about this month’s security updates can be found on the Security Update Guide. Continue reading...

Today, we released security updates to provide additional protections against malicious attackers. As a best practice, we encourage customers to turn on automatic updates. More information about this month’s security updates can be found on the Security Update Guide.