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Windows 10 is all set to launch on July 29 and will also be available on USB drives for purchase in retail channels. So, if you are planning to install Windows 10 Home , one thing you must keep in your mind – You wish or not, the software updates for Microsoft's new operating system will be mandatory. Microsoft is planning to make a significant change to its software update policy by " removing the option to DISABLE software updates in Windows 10 Home ". This clearly indicates that all users of Windows operating system must agree to allow Microsoft to install software updates automatically. In Windows 8.1 , users get four options for Windows Update's behavior, which include: Download and Install Windows Updates Automatically Download Windows Updates automatically but Choose when to Install them Check for Updates but Choose when to Download and Install them Never check for, Download, or Install Updates From a Security point of view, the last...

One of the world's largest smartphone makers is being sued by the Dutch Consumers' Association (DCA) for its lack in providing timely software updates to its Android smartphones. This doesn't surprise me, though. The majority of manufacturers fail to deliver software updates for old devices for years. However, the consumer protection watchdog in The Netherlands, The Dutch Consumentenbond, filed a lawsuit against Samsung, due to the manufacturer's grip over the local market compared to other manufacturers. Last year, the discovery of the scary Stagefright Security Bug , which affected over 1 Billion Android devices worldwide, forced Samsung to implement a security update process that " fast tracks the security patches over the air when security vulnerabilities are uncovered a security update process that " fast tracks the security patches over the air when security vulnerabilities are uncovered, " and that the security updates will...

A previously undocumented China-aligned threat actor has been linked to a set of adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks that hijack update requests from legitimate software to deliver a sophisticated implant named NSPX30. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET is tracking the advanced persistent threat (APT) group under the name  Blackwood . It's said to be active since at least 2018. The NSPX30 implant has been observed deployed via the update mechanisms of known software such as Tencent QQ, WPS Office, and Sogou Pinyin, with the attacks targeting Chinese and Japanese manufacturing, trading, and engineering companies as well as individuals located in China, Japan, and the U.K. "NSPX30 is a multistage implant that includes several components such as a dropper, an installer, loaders, an orchestrator, and a backdoor," security researcher Facundo Muñoz  said . "Both of the latter two have their own sets of plugins." "The implant was designed around the attackers...

After installing Windows 10, Feeling like your Internet Bandwidth is dropping away? Windows 10 is stealing your network bandwidth. Along with the privacy features related to Wi-Fi Sense , Windows 10 users should check for another hidden by default feature that uses your network bandwidth to share updates with other Windows 10 users across the Internet. Microsoft launched Windows 10 on July 29 and offered a free upgrade to Windows 7,8 and 8.1 users , and for anyone who wants to download it. But, handling millions of simultaneous 3.5GB downloads is quite difficult for the company. So, in order to cope up with the issue, Microsoft has baked a new feature into its latest desktop operating system that uses the torrent-style approach to obtain software updates , allowing Windows 10 users to download updates from other users. Also Read:  How to Fix 35+ Windows 10 Privacy Issues With Just One Click . Windows 10 is Stealing your Internet Bandwidth The feature, kn...

Do you always think twice before installing Windows updates worrying that it could crash your system or leave it non-working the day after Patch Tuesdays? Don't worry. Microsoft has addressed this issue by adding a safety measure that would from now onwards automatically uninstall buggy software updates installed on your system if Windows 10 detects a startup failure, which could be due to incompatibility or issues in new software. A new document published by Microsoft on Monday, a day before this month's Patch Tuesday, says just like Windows "automatically installs updates to keep your device secure and running at peak efficiency," the OS will now run another automatic process to uninstall problematic updates. From now on, if you receive the following notification on your device, that means your Windows 10 computer has recently been recovered from a startup failure,first sighted by Windows Latest blog . "We removed some recently installed updates...

It's time for another batch of "Patch Tuesday" updates from Microsoft. Microsoft today released its March 2019 software updates to address a total of 64 CVE-listed security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and other products, 17 of which are rated critical, 45 important, one moderate and one low in severity. The update addresses flaws in Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, MS Office, and MS Office SharePoint, ChakraCore, Skype for Business, and Visual Studio NuGet. Four of the security vulnerabilities, all rated important, patched by the tech giant this month were disclosed publicly, of which none were found exploited in the wild. Microsoft Patches Two Zero-Day Flaws Under Active Attack Microsoft has also patched two separate zero-day elevation of privilege vulnerabilities in Windows. Both flaws, also rated as important, reside in Win32k component that hackers are actively exploiting in the wild, including the one that Google warned of last w...

Microsoft today released its April 2019 software updates to address a total of 74 CVE-listed vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and other products, 13 of which are rated critical and rest are rated Important in severity. April 2019 security updates address flaws in Windows OS, Internet Explorer, Edge, MS Office, and MS Office Services and Web Apps, ChakraCore, Exchange Server, .NET Framework and ASP.NET, Skype for Business, Azure DevOps Server, Open Enclave SDK, Team Foundation Server, and Visual Studio. None of the vulnerabilities addressed this month by the tech giant were disclosed publicly at the time of release, leaving the two recently disclosed zero-day flaws in Internet Explorer and Edge browsers still open for hackers. However, two new privilege escalation vulnerabilities, which affect all supported versions of the Windows operating system, have been reported as being actively exploited in the wild. Both rated as important, the flaws ( CVE-2019-0803 ...

The investigation into how the attackers managed to compromise SolarWinds' internal network and poison the company's software updates is still underway, but we may be one step closer to understanding what appears to be a very meticulously planned and highly-sophisticated supply chain attack. A new report published by ReversingLabs today and shared in advance with The Hacker News has revealed that the operators behind the  espionage campaign  likely managed to compromise the software build and code signing infrastructure of SolarWinds Orion platform as early as October 2019 to deliver the malicious backdoor through its software release process. "The source code of the affected library was directly modified to include malicious backdoor code, which was compiled, signed, and delivered through the existing software patch release management system," ReversingLabs' Tomislav Pericin said. Cybersecurity firm FireEye earlier this week  detailed  how multiple SolarWin...

The China-linked threat actor known as Evasive Panda compromised an unnamed internet service provider (ISP) to push malicious software updates to target companies in mid-2023, highlighting a new level of sophistication associated with the group. Evasive Panda, also known by the names Bronze Highland, Daggerfly, and StormBamboo, is a cyber espionage group that's been active since at least 2012, leveraging backdoors such as MgBot (aka POCOSTICK) and Nightdoor (aka NetMM and Suzafk) to harvest sensitive information. More recently, the threat actor was formally attributed to the use of a macOS malware strain called MACMA, which has been observed in the wild as far back as 2021. "StormBamboo is a highly skilled and aggressive threat actor who compromises third-parties (in this case, an ISP) to breach intended targets," Volexity said in a report published last week. "The variety of malware employed in various campaigns by this threat actor indicates significant ef...

Does downloading Windows updates from Microsoft's servers and waiting too long really annoy you? It might not be with the arrival of Windows 10 . Microsoft seems to make a major change in Windows 10 to the way it delivers updates for the software. The leaked version of Windows 10 build 10036 (the current version is build 9926) allows you to grab OS updates from Microsoft as well as other computers, whether they're on your local network or on the Internet. Yeah, it's a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology Microsoft is going to use in order to deliver both app and operating system updates. Peer-to-Peer , or P2P Technology is usually associated with file sharing services like BitTorrent to download illicit copies of movies and albums, and of course, those endless Linux ISOs you've been downloading. However, Redmond is embracing the technology as an efficient means to deliver software updates to its users around the globe. Peer-to-Peer downloads will be o...

On the surface, Salesforce seems like a classic Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. Someone might even argue that Salesforce invented the SaaS market. However, the more people work with the full offering of Salesforce, the more they realize that it goes beyond a traditional SaaS platform's capabilities. For example, few people talk about managing the security aspects of  Salesforce Release Updates.  By understanding what Release Updates are, why they pose a security risk, and how security teams can mitigate risk, Salesforce customers can better protect sensitive information. How to ensure the right configurations for your Salesforce security What are Salesforce Release Updates? Since Salesforce does not automatically update its platform, it does not follow the traditional SaaS model. For example, most SaaS platforms have two types of releases, security, and product improvements. Urgent security updates are released as soon as a security vulnerability is known, and prod...

If you spend more than a few hours a month doing patching; if you stay up until the middle of the night one Saturday each month doing patching; if you just flip on automatic updates and hope for the best; or if you email your users instructions on how to update their machines – then you're doing it wrong. Patching shouldn't be something that takes multiple days, nor is it something that should ruin one weekend a month. But it is critical and needs to be done right. If you think you're spending way too much time on patching, and have actually considered skipping a month because things didn't sound "that bad," then here's a post just for you. In it, we'll look at seven tips to save you time (and money) taking care of patch management. 1. Have a plan: First of all, you have to have a plan. Management has to support it, and you need to make sure it covers all the systems on your network. You don't want to patch at random, or try to remember every system that you have. Create a plan that...

It's Patch Tuesday—the day when Microsoft releases monthly security updates for its software. Microsoft has software updates to address a total of 79 CVE-listed vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and other products, including a critical wormable flaw that can propagate malware from computer to computer without requiring users' interaction. Out of 79 vulnerabilities, 18 issues have been rated as critical and rest Important in severity. Two of the vulnerabilities addressed this month by the tech giant are listed as publicly known, of which one is listed as under active attack at the time of release. May 2019 security updates address flaws in Windows OS, Internet Explorer, Edge, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Office Services and Web Apps, ChakraCore, .NET Framework, and ASP.NET, Skype for Android, Azure DevOps Server, and the NuGet Package Manager. Critical Wormable RDP Vulnerability The wormable vulnerability ( CVE-2019-0708 ) resides in Remote Desktop...

It's no secret that keeping software up to date is one of the key best practices in cybersecurity. Software vulnerabilities are being discovered almost weekly these days. The longer it takes IT teams to apply updates issued by developers to patch these security flaws, the more time attackers have to exploit the underlying vulnerability. Once threat actors gain access to corporate IT ecosystems, they can steal or encrypt sensitive data, deploy ransomware, damage systems, and more. When there's a known exploit for a critical vulnerability, the need to deploy patches becomes critical. At the same time, while IT teams race to keep their operating systems, business applications, and web browsers up to date and fully patched, they have to exercise caution, since applying patches without proper testing can introduce more problems than it solves. The reality is, many organizations are struggling to maintain the upper hand against threats. According to Action1's  2021 Remote IT ...

So, is your Safari Web Browser Updated?? Make sure you have the latest web browser updated for your Apple Macintosh systems, as Apple released Safari 6.1.3 and Safari 7.0.3 with new security updates. These Security updates addresses multiple vulnerabilities in its Safari web browser, which has always been the standard browser for Mac users. This times not five or ten, in fact about two dozen. Apple issued a security update to patch a total of 27 vulnerabilities in Safari web browser, including the one which was highlighted at Pwn2Own 2014 hacking competition. The available updates replace the browser running OSX 10.7 and 10.8 with the latest versions of browser 6.1.3, and OSX 10.9 with 7.0.3. Among the 27 vulnerabilities, the most remarkable vulnerability addressed in the update is CVE-2014-1303 , a heap-based buffer overflow that can be remotely exploited and could lead to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via unspecified vector. This vulnerability is ...