Microsoft Support & Discussions

Today, I’m excited to announce Microsoft Envision, our new flagship event for business leaders. Microsoft Envision is designed for CxOs and their senior department and functional leaders who are driven to shape their own future and position their organizations and business for success in a mobile first, cloud first world. Attendees of Microsoft Envision can expect to gain insights, uncover solutions and build connections to help them achieve more. The event will include: Keynotes and interactive sessions with a broad slate of visionaries, experts and innovators Functional and industry-specific content to provide relevant insights and solutions Opportunities to…

Hi everyone, Welcome to 2016 and a new year full of new builds for Windows Insiders. Today we have a new PC build we’re releasing to Insiders in the Fast ring: Build 11099. As with the previous build, this build does not include big noticeable changes or new features yet. Our focus through the holidays was on structural improvements to OneCore, which is the shared core of Windows across devices. The code refactoring and other engineering work we’ve been doing to optimize OneCore is nearing the point where we will be ready for teams to begin checking in new features and improvements. It will still be a few builds before any really noticeable changes show up, dependin…

Today we released security updates to provide additional protections against malicious attackers. As a best practice, we encourage customers to apply security updates as soon as they are released. More information about this month’s security updates and advisories can be found in the Security TechNet Library. MSRC Team Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Silverlight. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user visits a compromised website that contains a specially crafted Silverlight application. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a compromised website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit the website, typically by getting them to click a link in an email or instant message that takes users to the attacker's website. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The more severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker convinces a user to visit a malicious website. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker is able to log on to a target system and run a specially crafted application. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow spoofing if Outlook Web Access (OWA) fails to properly handle web requests, and sanitize user input and email content. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Microsoft Office file. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to an affected system and runs a specially crafted application. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves a vulnerability in the VBScript scripting engine in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user visits a specially crafted website. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with…

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The more severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts wi…

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.0 (January 12, 2016): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Edge. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Microsoft Edge. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights. Continue reading...

Two new tables based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens have been added to Pinball FX2 for Windows 10. Based on events from the movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, players will be able to experience unforgettable moments from the film in two action-packed pinball tables. These tables are available for purchase at $2.99 each as an in-app purchase once Pinball FX2 for Windows 10 has been downloaded to your Windows 10 PC from the Windows Store. Here are the table details: Table 1: Star Wars Pinball: The Force Awakens This table follows events from the recently released Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie. Players will team up with the Resistance and fight against t…

Introduction Both Internet Explorer (IE) and Edge have seen significant changes in order to help protect customers from security threats. This work has featured a number of mitigations that together have not only rendered classes of vulnerabilities not-exploitable, but also dramatically raised the cost for attackers to develop a working exploit.

Today we released security updates to provide additional protections against malicious attackers. As a best practice, we encourage customers to apply security updates as soon as they are released. More information about this month’s security updates and advisories can be found in the Security TechNet Library. MSRC Team

Virus makers are evolving along with the times, and have adopted classic desktop malware to target and infect new technology, like smart TVs, as Kaspersky Labs researchers discovered. It all started when a Reddit user complained that his sister got a virus on his smart TV, something he described as a DNS hijacker. In this particular case, every time he would open his smart TV's Web browser, a popup message would appear, asking the user to call a number to fix his malware problem. Often referred to as browser ransomware, this is a cross between scareware, tech support scams, and ransomware, which make the user's browser unusable. Since security researchers rarely…

With another CES in the books, the Windows team wanted to extend congratulations to all of our partners on an award-winning week! It was at CES in Las Vegas where our partners unveiled innovative new Windows 10 devices and showcased other Windows 10 PCs that were announced during our World Tour last fall. Our partners ALCATEL ONETOUCH and Acer also introduced new smartphones running Windows 10. With all-new OLED displays to fanless PCs and new extreme gaming laptops, our partners were recognized in Best of CES, Best 2-in-1 Laptop, Best Gaming Laptop, Editor’s Choice and more. We’re proud to see our hardware partners put Windows 10 to work with their pioneering new…

Welcome to the first edition of Weekend Reading in 2016! From Africa to Vegas, Microsoft was busy making all kinds of news this week. Let’s take a look. Wubwub. Wubwub. Wubwub. The moment an expectant mother first hears her unborn child’s heartbeat is immense, but many pregnant women in Africa never experience that joy, due to a lack of access to ultrasounds and prenatal care. To help them, a group of African developers have created WinSenga, an affordable, smartphone-based ultrasound that helps doctors and midwives more easily monitor fetal health. Part of a Microsoft Imagine Cup competition project, WinSenga also helps mothers hear the comforting sounds of their …

Candy Crush Jelly Saga for Windows 10 is here! You can download it from the Windows Store for free onto your Windows 10 PC, tablet or phone. New Features 120 new Jellylicious Levels New Jelly Queen Boss Modes Marvelous game modes including: Spread the Jelly & Release the Pufflers Mesmerizing new Candies and more For Candy Crush fans, 2016 is getting off to a delicious start. Candy Crush Jelly Saga for Windows 10 is a new title in the sugary franchise that adds 120 new levels, new candies, new characters and a whole new narrative to the classic matching game. The goal? Match candies to create Jelly and make it spread, all in hopes of defeating the evil…

The Twitter handle of British adventurer Jamie Ramsay is @Jamieisrunning which is apt, as it’s what he’s been doing for the last 600 days. Ramsay went for a run in Canada and, 14 countries, two continents, 17 pairs of shoes and 17,000 kilometers later, he arrived in Argentina. The British adventurer was solo, save for the Microsoft devices that helped power his journey — a Microsoft Band, Lumia and Microsoft Display Dock. It’s important for anyone making such a journey to stay connected with friends, family and fans around the world, which is why Ramsay also used Skype along the way. “As an adventurer the holy grail is to have the most functionality available from o…

What an incredible week at CES! It’s always exciting to see new devices and experiences, including new Windows 10 devices from Acer, Alcatel, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and many more. We continue to be energized by the passion we see for the Windows ecosystem, with Windows 10 now running on more than 200 million active devices, and the innovation coming to people around the world. Today, I had the honor of joining Samsung President Dr. Won-Pyo Hong during his keynote briefing at CES to celebrate a renewed partnership and a commitment to joint innovation. Of course, Windows and Samsung have worked closely together for over 30 years – co-designing many great Windows d…

Linux.Encoder version 3 still uses buggy encryption, allowing file recovery, researchers found. Getting cryptographic implementations right is difficult. A group of malware creators is currently experiencing that hard truth, to the amusement of security researchers. For the past several months, a group of cybercriminals have been infecting Linux systems -- primarily Web servers -- with a file-encrypting ransomware program that the security industry has dubbed Linux.Encoder. This development is worrying, because Web server infections don't require user interaction as on desktop computers where getting users to open rogue email attachments or visit malicious websit…