Security News
Microsoft announced that optional non-security preview updates would be released during the fourth week of the month starting in April 2023. "Starting in April 2023, we now target optional non-security preview releases for the fourth week of the month. We have found this to be the optimal time for us to publish and for you to consume these updates," said Chris Morrissey, Windows and Devices Senior Director of Communications at Microsoft.
Hackers continue to target zero-day vulnerabilities in malicious campaigns, with researchers reporting that 55 zero-days were actively exploited in 2022, most targeting Microsoft, Google, and Apple products. According to Mandiant, most of last year's zero-day flaws were exploited by Chinese state-sponsored actors and most concerned operating systems, web browsers, and network management products.
CISA warns CI operators about vulnerabilities on their networks exploited by ransomware gangsOrganizations in critical infrastructure sectors whose information systems contain security vulnerabilities associated with ransomware attacks are being notified by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and urged to implement a fix. Kali Linux 2023.1 released - and so is Kali Purple!OffSec has released Kali Linux 2023.1, the latest version of its popular penetration testing and digital forensics platform, and the release is accompanied by a big surprise: a technical preview of Kali Purple, a "One stop shop for blue and purple teams." The company has also updated its Penetration Testing with Kali Linux course to incorporate the latest ethical hacking tools and techniques.
The Emotet malware is now distributed using Microsoft OneNote email attachments, aiming to bypass Microsoft security restrictions and infect more targets. Emotet is a notorious malware botnet historically distributed through Microsoft Word and Excel attachments that contain malicious macros.
Microsoft is working on a non-custodial built-in Ethereum crypto wallet for Microsoft Edge to allow users to send and receive cryptocurrency and NFTs. Public keys can be shared with others to receive payments, while private keys should be kept secret and can be used to authorize transactions when you want to spend your cryptocurrency. Microsoft sleuth Albacore who first spotted the new Edge Crypto Wallet tweeted some screenshots and expressed his puzzlement about the possibility of it ending up as a new Microsoft Edge feature.
Microsoft has released a script to make it easier to patch a BitLocker bypass security vulnerability in the Windows Recovery Environment. This PowerShell script simplifies the process of securing WinRE images against attempts to exploit the CVE-2022-41099 flaw that enables attackers to bypass the BitLocker Device Encryption feature system storage devices.
Microsoft has announced a new assistant powered by artificial intelligence to help boost productivity across Microsoft 365 apps, currently being tested by select commercial customers. Known as Copilot, the new AI feature helps create and manage documents, presentations, and spreadsheets, as well as triage and reply to emails.
In an unexpected twist, a Microsoft support engineer resorted to running an unofficial 'crack' on a customer's Windows PC after a genuine copy of the operating system failed to activate normally. A South-Africa based freelance technologist who paid $200 for a genuine copy of Windows 10 was startled to see a Microsoft support engineer "Crack" his copy using unofficial tools that bypass the Windows activation process.
Last month, Microsoft dealt with three zero-days, by which we mean security holes that cybercriminals found first, and figured out how to abuse in real-life attacks before any patches were available. Intriguingly for a bug that was discovered in the wild, albeit one reported rather blandly by Microsoft as Exploitation Detected, the Outlook flaw is jointly credited to CERT-UA, Microsoft Incident Response, and Microsoft Threat Intelligence.
Security researchers have shared technical details for exploiting a critical Microsoft Outlook vulnerability for Windows that allows hackers to remotely steal hashed passwords by simply receiving an email. The issue is a privilege escalation vulnerability with a 9.8 severity rating that affects all versions of Microsoft Outlook on Windows.