Microsoft Support & Discussions

Today we published the July 2014 Security Bulletin webcast questions and answers page along with the webcast replay. We answered eight questions on air, with the majority focusing on the update for Internet Explorer. The transcript also includes a question we did not have time to answer on the air. Here is the video replay: We invite you to join us for the next scheduled webcast on Wednesday, August 13, 2014, at 11 a.m. PDT (UTC -7), when we will go into detail about the August bulletin release and answer your bulletin deployment questions live on the air. There’s no longer a need to register before this event to attend. You can find details on how to view the web…

Today, we are updating the Certificate Trust List (CTL) for all supported releases of Microsoft Windows to remove the trust of mis-issued third-party digital certificates. These certificates could be used to spoof content and perform phishing or man-in-the-middle attacks against web properties. With this update, most customers will be automatically protected against this issue and will not need to take any action. If you do not have automatic updates enabled, or if you are on Windows Server 2003, please see the Security Advisory 2982792 for recommended actions. Additionally, the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) 4.1, and newer versions, help to mitigate man…

Many around the globe have been following the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ closely. Regardless of which country you are supporting, many folks have been impressed by the defensive display put on by keeper Tim Howard in a loss against Belgium. It was a great performance highlighting a strong defense – always a good thing to have, be it on the pitch or on your system. This month’s release includes six new security bulletins, addressing 29 Common Vulnerability and Exposures (CVEs) in Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer. Two of these security bulletins are rated Critical, three are rated Important, and one rated Moderate in severity. As always, we encourage you to apply…

Today, we provide advance notification for the release of six Security Bulletins. Two of these are rated Critical, three are rated as Important, and one is rated Moderate in severity. These Updates are for Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer. This month we will also premier the new format for our Security Bulletin Webcast, scheduled on Wednesday, July 9, at 11 a.m. PDT. Registration, downloading the Live Meeting client, and dialing in to a separate number will no longer be required. You can find details on how to view the webcast here. As per our usual process, we’ve scheduled the Security Bulletin release for the second Tuesday of the month, July 8, 2014, at ap…

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.2 (September 19, 2014): Updated the Known Issues entry in the Knowledge Base Article section from "None" to "Yes". Summary: This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework. The vulnerability could allow security feature bypass if a user visits a specially crafted website. In a web-browsing attack scenario, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could bypass the Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) security feature, which helps protect users from a broad class of vulnerabilities. The security feature bypass by itself does not allow arbitrary code execution. H…

Severity Rating: Critical Revision Note: V1.1 (September 18, 2014): Corrected the severity table and vulnerability information to add CVE-2014-4112 as a vulnerability addressed by this update. This is an informational change only. Customers who have already successfully installed the update do not have to take any action. Summary: This security update resolves one publicly disclosed vulnerability and seventeen privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same u…

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.1 (September 17, 2014): V1.1 (September 17, 2014): Bulletin revised to clarify language in the Executive Summary, Mitigating Factors, and Vulnerability FAQ sections that describes the attack vector for CVE-2014-4072. This is an informational change only. Customers who have already successfully installed the update do not have to take any action. Summary: This security update resolves one privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework. The vulnerability could allow denial of service if an attacker sends a small number of specially crafted requests to an affected .NET-enabled website. By default, ASP.NET is not in…

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.2 (September 10, 2014): Revised Update FAQ and entries in the Operating System column of the Affected Software table to further clarify what version of Active Directory must be installed on a system to be offered the update. These are informational changes only. Summary: This security update resolves one privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow security feature bypass if an attacker makes multiple attempts to match passwords to a username. Continue reading...

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (September 9, 2014): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to an affected system and runs a specially crafted application that could exploit the vulnerability and take complete control over an affected system. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users. Continue reading...

The new Lumia 532 uses a quad-core processor. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced two new Lumias: The intuitive and affordable Lumia 435, and the Lumia 532, a powerful device that has a quad-core processor. In February, both phones will start being rolled out in select countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, India, the Middle East and Africa. Both smartphones come with the latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, the Lumia “Denim” update, Microsoft’s Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote), Outlook for email, seamless Skype integration and front-facing camera for Skype video calling, HERE location services, up to 30GB of free cloud storage on OneDrive, and a…

On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced the Lumia 435 and Lumia 435 Dual SIM — smartphones that help more people stay connected and that offer the same top-notch Lumia Windows Phone experience at an affordable price. The Lumia 435, with a 4-inch screen, is a perfect choice for those who want to upgrade to a first smartphone, or for anyone to have as a secondary phone. It comes with the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1 and the Lumia “Denim” update, offering great features such as Live Folders, Apps Corner and, in select markets, Cortana. The phone is powered by a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, and has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage. You’ll stay pro…

Meet the new Lumia 532 and Lumia 532 Dual SIM, Microsoft’s latest quad-core smartphone with an affordable price tag. The phone, with a 4-inch display, comes with Action Center, Word Flow, Live Folders and in some markets, Cortana. While Windows Phone 8.1 is designed to run super fast on any of Microsoft’s smartphones, the Lumia 532’s quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM makes for an easy-to-use experience, perfect for playing “Minecraft: Pocket Edition” or “Candy Crush Saga,” and for sharing on Instagram. With a 5-megapixel main camera, and the Lumia Camera app on the Lumia 532, you’ve got total control over your camera settings. And for the selfie lover, you’ll find …

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Facebook will now include targeted AMBER Alerts in its News Feed on both its mobile and desktop versions. The new feature was put in as part of a new partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help find missing kids faster. While many Facebook users have shared stories about missing kids and AMBER alerts in the past, this new formal relationship will offer faster and more accurate information about such alerts. Facebook says: When local or state police determine that a case qualifies for an AMBER Alert, the alert is issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and distributed through the Facebook system with a…

Of all the tools you can keep in a Mac utility toolbox, one of the most important involves whatever you'll use to recover data from a failing or messed up hard drive. And the tool I always go to first when I'm having drive troubles is Alsoft's DiskWarrior. DiskWarrior 5 is now available, so let's take a look at what's new. I'll admit that for a while, I'd given up hope that Alsoft was ever going to upgrade DiskWarrior with a new version — after all, version 4 debuted in 2006, when Intel Macs were still a novelty, and had only been incrementally updated over the years. Fortunately that changed in December, when Alsoft began shipping DiskWarrior 5. What took so long…

One of the most versatile document editors for the iPhone and iPad, GoodReader, has picked up accessibility features in a new update that makes it more convenient for users with visual or reading disabilities access documents on the go. Included in the update to version 4.8.1 is compatibility with Apple's VoiceOver, which along with GoodReader's own text-to-speech utility, called Speak, allows users to listen to documents in their preferred language. Users also have the ability to select how fast the text is read aloud. GoodReader mentions that its own text-to-speech service is different from the functionality offered by VoiceOver: The difference between VoiceO…

Sebastiaan de With, who has designed interfaces for Apple and DoubleTwist, has just launched his own design agency, Pictogram. One of his first projects is Manifest, a "5K periodical". Manifest members get a pair of 5K wallpapers every month. You also get instant access to a growing library of 5K wallpapers; there's currently 12 ready to download. An extra perk is early access to icons I design that you can use to customize your Mac or reduce eyesores. And hey, maybe some more cool things in the future. If you like de With's work, and want to help support his new agency, head on over and sign up! Continue reading...

It looks like Siri could be picking up a few new languages soon. According to a recent report, several text strings in iOS 8.1.2 show that everyone's favorite digital assistant could be picking up support for Czech, Slovak, and Polish in the near future. Joe Rossignol at 9to5Mac reports: A series of text strings discovered within iOS 8.1.2, and included on software versions dating back to at least iOS 8.1, suggest that Siri could soon receive expanded language support on iPhone and iPad. The localized strings provide translated references to how Siri would display things like settings toggles, restaurants and reservations, and sports information in Czech, Slova…

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in France, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has come out in support of banning encrypted messaging apps. According to a new report, Cameron alluded that he would be for banning encrypted communication apps, which could include iMessage, WhatsApp, and Snapchat. From The Independent: The Prime Minister said today that he would stop the use of methods of communication that cannot be read by the security services even if they have a warrant. But that could include popular chat and social apps that encrypt their data, such as WhatsApp. To justify such an action, Cameron was quoted by Ars Technica as saying the followin…

If you consider yourself a news junky, that addiction may have just gotten a tad easier to satisfy. The CBS News app scored a pretty big update today that brings a redesign and several new features. However, the most notable addition is full in-app access to CBSN, the network's 24-hour streaming news channel. Here's what's new in version 3.0: CBS News has been completely redesigned and is now a single iOS 8 compatible universal app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Now featuring CBSN: a 24/7 streaming video news channel that features original CBS News reporting, live anchored coverage and on-demand news segments. Expanded video offering from the CBS News program…

The IDC just released its predictions for fourth quarter 2014 PC shipments, and things are looking good for Apple. Overall, the IDC shows that the tech giant maintained its 5th place position, but showed steady growth by shipping a total of 5.75 million units and growing 18.9 percent year-over-year. As far as domestic shipments are concerned, Apple managed to hold onto its third-place standing, right behind HP and Dell. Its Mac shipments grew 18.1 percent year-over-year with a total of 2.24 million units shipped in the United States. These numbers, if correct, are a sizable jump over Apple's previous quarter, which saw the company shipping 4.98 million units w…

After seeing an initial release on Android last year, Google has finally brought its Chrome Remote Desktop app to the iOS masses. When paired with the corresponding Chrome web app, Chrome Remote Desktop for iOS will allow users to access their computers from an iPhone or iPad. The app will work for accessing both Macs and PCs. If you want to get in on the action, here's a quick run-down from the app description on how to set things up: On each of your computers, set up remote access using the Chrome Remote Desktop app from Chrome Web Store. On your iOS device, open the app and tap on any of your online computers to connect. Finally, below you'll find the do…

Oculus has come a long way. It's better looking, smoother, and more immersive than ever. From alien encounters to polygon landscapes, T-Rex attacks to Unreal 4 assaults, impossible vertigo to unbelievable action, at CES 2015 virtual reality got one step closer to reality. And Serenity and I were there to try it. You can watch Ren's reaction in the video up top, and here's my take — Yes, it still compresses and goes jagged around the edges, but when the alien is greeting you, the dinosaur is roaring in your face, shrapnel is streaking by your head, or you're looking down into the abyss, your body thinks and reacts as though it's real. And that is amazing. …