Microsoft Windows | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Google has once again publicly disclosed a zero-day vulnerability in current versions of Windows operating system before Microsoft has a patch ready. Yes, the critical zero-day is unpatched and is being used by attackers in the wild. Google made the public disclosure of the vulnerability just 10 days after privately reporting the issue to Microsoft, giving the chocolate factory little time to patch issues and deploy a fix. According to a blog post by Google's Threat Analysis Group, the reason behind going public is that it has seen exploits for the vulnerability in the wild and according to its internal policy , companies should patch or publicly report such bugs after seven days. Windows Zero-Day is Actively being Exploited in the Wild The zero-day is a local privilege escalation vulnerability that exists in the Windows operating system kernel. If exploited, the flaw can be used to escape the sandbox protection and execute malicious code on the compromised system. ...

In Brief Microsoft's August Patch Tuesday offers nine security bulletins with five rated critical, resolving 34 security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (IE), Edge, and Office, as well as some serious high-profile security issues with Windows. A security bulletin, MS16-102 , patches a single vulnerability (CVE-2016-3319) that could allow an attacker to control your computer just by getting you to view specially-crafted PDF content in your web browser. Users of Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 systems are at a significant risk for remote code execution (RCE) attacks through a malicious PDF file. Web Page with PDF Can Hack Your Windows Computer Since Edge automatically renders PDF content when the browser is set as a default browser, this vulnerability only affects Windows 10 users with Microsoft Edge set as the default browser, as the exploit would execute by simply by viewing a PDF online. Web browsers for all other affected operating systems do not automatically ...

The problem is simple: all breaches start with initial access, and initial access comes down to two primary attack vectors – credentials and devices. This is not news; every report you can find on the threat landscape depicts the same picture.  The solution is more complex. For this article, we'll focus on the device threat vector. The risk they pose is significant, which is why device management tools like Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) are essential components of an organization's security infrastructure. However, relying solely on these tools to manage device risk actually creates a false sense of security. Instead of the blunt tools of device management, organizations are looking for solutions that deliver device trust . Device trust provides a comprehensive, risk-based approach to device security enforcement, closing the large gaps left behind by traditional device management solutions. Here are 5 of those limitations and how to ov...

Microsoft just announced in its Ignite 2015 conference in Chicago that Windows 10 is set to be " the last version of Windows. " "Right now [we are] releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, [we are] all still working on Windows 10," said Microsoft's developer evangelist Jerry Nixon while speaking at the conference this week. What exactly does it mean? Will Microsoft not launch Windows 11 next? Is Windows 10 actually the end of Microsoft's Windows operating system? These are some questions that were ongoing in the mind of the audience when Nixon gave this statement during his speech. The reaction from Microsoft was really alarming though you do not have to panic, as Windows OS is not dying. Windows 10 — Brand Name of Microsoft's OS For the moment, Microsoft will stick with Windows 10 and focus on smaller and faster updates to its Windows 10 platform, instead of launching new stand-alone ve...

Recently discovered FREAK  vulnerability that apparently went undetected for more than a decade is reportedly affecting all supported versions of Microsoft Windows, making the flaw more creepy than what we thought. FREAK vulnerability is a disastrous SSL/TLS flaw disclosed Monday that allows an attacker to force SSL clients, including OpenSSL, to downgrade to weaken ciphers that can be easily broken and then supposedly conduct Man-in-the-Middle attacks on encrypted HTTPS-protected traffic passing between vulnerable end-users and Millions of websites. Read our previous post to know more about FREAK vulnerability . FREAK IN MICROSOFT RESIDES IN SECURE CHANNEL Microsoft issued an advisory published Thursday warning Windows users that Secure Channel ( Schannel ) stack — the Windows implementation of SSL/TLS — is vulnerable to the FREAK encryption-downgrade attack , though it said it has not received any reports of public attacks. When the security glitch first dis...

While the whole world was waiting for the next generation of Windows operating system , i.e. Windows 9, but skipping right over 9, Microsoft has announced the next version of its Windows is Windows 10 , disclosing its first details on Tuesday at an event in San Francisco. The latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system, which will be available for everyone next year, brings back the popular Start Menu, which had been removed from Windows 8. Windows 10 will be Microsoft's single platform for developing apps across all devices, from Smartphones and tablets to desktop PCs. However, Windows 10 will not be a one-size-fits-all operating system and instead will vary a bit from device to device. " Windows 10 will run on the broadest amount of devices. A tailored experience for each device ," Microsoft's executive VP of operating systems, Terry Myerson said at a press event here Tuesday. " There will be one way to write a universal application, one ...

While US government is always prohibiting the purchase of Huawei products due to suspected backdoors from the Chinese government, China also keep itself totally apart from the US productions. China is a bit famous for using its own operating systems, smartphone application services and lots more, rather than using the US developed Operating Systems, and now China has reportedly banned the installation of Microsoft Corporation's latest operating system, Windows 8 on any of its government computers. The Central Government Procurement Center issued a notice that was posted on its website last week prohibiting the use of Microsoft's latest operating system and the reason behind it is to support the use of energy-saving products, the report said. But the state news agency ' Xinhua ' pointed out a different reason for the ban saying the country wants to avoid any further losing of the support for an operating system like it did recently by pulling out its support from t...

Microsoft has announced   Patch Tuesday for this July Month, with seven bulletins. Out of that, one is important kernel privilege escalation flaw and six critical Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities . Patch will address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, .Net Framework, Silverlight and will apply to all versions of Internet Explorer from IE6 on Windows XP to IE10 on Windows 8 . Often targeted by attackers to perform drive-by malware download attacks, remote code execution flaws allow an attacker to crash an application and launch malware payloads often without any sort of notification or interaction form the user. The Windows 8 maker is also patching a kernel vulnerability disclosed at the beginning of June by Google researcher Tavis Ormandy . The issue is to do with Windows kernel's EPATHOBJ::pprFlattenRec function (CVE-2013-3660) and after Ormandy released the exploit code, Metasploit module was developed to exploit the bug. The company is planning to release the updat...

Google has made its most direct challenge to Microsoft with the launch of its new operating system, Chrome OS, which aims to surpass Windows. This marks a significant move in the battle for the future of personal computing. With Chrome OS, users can get online much faster. The system powers up instantly and logs onto the web within seconds. During the first public demonstration in San Francisco, Google showcased that a user could be surfing the net within 60 seconds of turning on their computer. Chrome OS also brings users closer to storing all their photographs, music, and emails online instead of on a hard drive. These files would be kept in the "cloud" on the internet and accessed from any device with an internet connection. Eric Schmidt, Google's Chief Executive, stated, "Cloud computing will define computing as we know it." The first computers running Chrome OS, made by Acer and Samsung, will go on sale in mid-next year—more than six months behind schedule....