Security News
Microsoft is investigating an ongoing outage impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services after customers have reported experiencing connection issues."We're investigating issues impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services. We've identified a potential networking issue and are reviewing telemetry to determine the next troubleshooting steps," the Microsoft 365 team said in a Twitter thread. "We've isolated the problem to networking configuration issues, and we're analyzing the best mitigation strategy to address these without causing additional impact."
Microsoft has confirmed an issue causing the Windows Start menu to become unresponsive and some applications to no longer launch. The newly acknowledged issue affects only client platforms, including Windows 10 20H2, 21H2, and 22H2, and Windows 11, version 22H2. "The Start menu, Windows search, and Universal Windows Platform apps might not work as expected or might have issues opening," Redmond said.
Microsoft is working on adding XLL add-in protection for Microsoft 365 customers by including automated blocking of all such files downloaded from the Internet. "In order to combat the increasing number of malware attacks in recent months, we are implementing measures that will block XLL add-ins coming from the internet," Redmond says.
Microsoft's move last year to block macros by default in Office applications is forcing miscreants to find other tools with which to launch cyberattacks, including the software vendor's LNK files - the shortcuts Windows uses to point to other files. The files are also helping criminals gain initial access into victims' systems before running such threats as the Qakbot backdoor malware, malware loader Bumblebee, and IcedID, a malware dropper, according to the Talos researchers.
Threat actors now use OneNote attachments in phishing emails that infect victims with remote access malware which can be used to install further malware, steal passwords, or even cryptocurrency wallets. This comes after attackers have been distributing malware in emails using malicious Word and Excel attachments that launch macros to download and install malware for years.
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Microsoft released a new version of Notepad for Windows 11 on Thursday that will allow Windows Insiders in the Dev channel to use multiple tabs. [...]
A new critical remote code execution flaw discovered impacting multiple services related to Microsoft Azure could be exploited by a malicious actor to completely take control of a targeted application. "By abusing the vulnerability, attackers can deploy malicious ZIP files containing a payload to the victim's Azure application."
Microsoft is investigating an issue causing the Windows taskbar and Start Menu to become unresponsive and triggering Outlook and Teams login problems. Windows admins have told BleepingComputer that their users have been reporting issues not seeing the Windows Start Menu when clicking, not being able to launch modern apps, and that the Windows Search feature is broken.
Microsoft has acknowledged a new bug affecting some Windows 11 applications triggering launch issues and causing them to display errors after a system restore. The company said that "After running a System Restore to a previous restore point on a device that is running Windows 11, version 22H2, some Windows applications that use the MSIX Windows app package format may experience" various instability problems, including failures to launch, freezes, and crashes.