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A now-patched security flaw in Microsoft Outlook could be exploited by threat actors to access NT LAN Manager (NTLM) v2 hashed passwords when opening a specially crafted file. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-35636 (CVSS score: 6.5), was addressed by the tech giant as part of its  Patch Tuesday updates  for December 2023. "In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file," Microsoft  said  in an advisory released last month. "In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) containing a specially crafted file designed to exploit the vulnerability." Put differently, the adversary would have to convince users to click a link, either embedded in a phishing email or sent via an instant message, and then deceive them into opening the file in question. CVE-202...

Microsoft today rolling out its October 2019 Patch Tuesday security updates to fix a total of 59 vulnerabilities in Windows operating systems and related software, 9 of which are rated as critical, 49 are important, and one is moderate in severity. What's good about this month's patch update is that after a very long time, none of the security vulnerabilities patched by the tech giant this month is being listed as publicly known or under active attack. Moreover, there is no roll-up patch for Adobe Flash Player bundled in Windows update for this month. Besides this, Microsoft has also put up a notice as a reminder for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 users, warning them that the extended support for these two operating systems is about to end in the next two months and that they will no longer receive updates as of January 14, 2020. Two of the critical vulnerabilities patched this month are remote code execution flaws in the VBScript engine, and both exist in the way VBS...

Are you using the cloud or thinking about transitioning? Undoubtedly, multi-cloud and hybrid environments offer numerous benefits for organizations. However, the cloud's flexibility, scalability, and efficiency come with significant risk — an expanded attack surface. The decentralization that comes with utilizing multi-cloud environments can also lead to limited visibility into user activity and poor access management.  Privileged accounts with access to your critical systems and sensitive data are among the most vulnerable elements in cloud setups. When mismanaged, these accounts open the doors to unauthorized access, potential malicious activity, and data breaches. That's why strong privileged access management (PAM) is indispensable. PAM plays an essential role in addressing the security challenges of complex infrastructures by enforcing strict access controls and managing the life cycle of privileged accounts. By employing PAM in hybrid and cloud environments, you're not...

It's Patch Tuesday once again…time for another round of security updates for the Windows operating system and other Microsoft products. This month Windows users and system administrators need to immediately take care of a total of 63 security vulnerabilities, of which 12 are rated critical, 49 important and one moderate and one low in severity. Two of the vulnerabilities patched by the tech giant this month are listed as publicly known at the time of release, and one flaw is reported as being actively exploited in the wild by multiple cybercriminal groups. Zero-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited by Cyber Criminals The zero-day vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2018-8589 , which is being exploited in the wild by multiple advanced persistent threat groups was first spotted and reported by security researchers from Kaspersky Labs. The flaw resides in the Win32k component (win32k.sys), which if exploited successfully, could allow a malicious program to execute arbitrary code...

For the last Patch Tuesday for this year, Microsoft has released 12 security bulletins, half of which are rated 'critical' as they give attackers remote code execution capabilities on the affected computers. The security bulletins address vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Windows, Office, Internet Explorer and Edge. The first critical security bulletin, MS16-144 , patches a total of 8 security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, 3 of which had publicly been disclosed before Microsoft issued patches for them, though the company said they're not being exploited in the wild. The 3 publicly disclosed vulnerabilities include a Microsoft browser information disclosure vulnerability (CVE-2016-7282), a Microsoft browser security feature bypass bug (CVE-2016-7281) and a scripting engine memory corruption vulnerability (CVE-2016-7202) that allow remote code execution on the affected computer. The remaining 5 security flaws include a scripting engine memory corruption b...

Microsoft on Friday quietly urged its users to uninstall the most recent round of security updates, after reports emerged that it crippled their computers with the infamous " Blue Screens of Death " (BSoD), which is really a matter of shame for one of the largest technology giants. Microsoft released security updates on its August Patch Tuesday that addressed privilege escalation vulnerabilities but an apparent font cache clearing issue caused Windows boxes to turn the colour of the screen to Blue. The tech giant forced to make this decision after hundreds of complaints, regarding the infamous Blue Screen of Death error, were sent to the company. This was not the only update to be made last week. The offending Microsoft patch identified as MS 14-045 , one of the nine updates which fixes three security issues including one in the Windows kernel - the heart of the operating system - can cause system crashes forcing users to reboot it. Soon after the initial release o...