Security News
Microsoft is finally adding a built-in screen recorder to Windows 11 through the Snipping Tool, enabling users to capture videos of their desktop without the need for a third-party app. The update is being pushed as part of a phased roll-out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel and will be available once Snipping Tool version 11.2211.35.0 is installed.
Microsoft Edge will drop support for Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 after the release of version 109 on January 12th, 2023. The decision to no longer provide Windows 7 / 8.1 support for Edge users almost perfectly aligns with the end of support for Windows 7 Extended Security Update and Windows 8/8.1 on January 10th, 2023.
To help combat the constant risk of password theft, Microsoft added phishing protection in Windows 11 Version 22H2. When enabled, Enhanced Phishing Protection is offered through Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. If Enhanced Phishing Protection detects a user entered their Windows password into a website or an application, an alert and prompt are shown warning the user to change their password.
A Barcelona-based surveillanceware vendor named Variston IT is said to have surreptitiously planted spyware on targeted devices by exploiting several zero-day flaws in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Windows, some of which date back to December 2018. "Their Heliconia framework exploits n-day vulnerabilities in Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Defender, and provides all the tools necessary to deploy a payload to a target device," Google Threat Analysis Group researchers Clement Lecigne and Benoit Sevens said in a write-up.
A Barcelona-based surveillanceware vendor named Variston IT is said to have surreptitiously planted spyware on targeted devices by exploiting several zero-day flaws in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Windows, some of which date back to December 2018. "Their Heliconia framework exploits n-day vulnerabilities in Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Defender, and provides all the tools necessary to deploy a payload to a target device," Google Threat Analysis Group researchers Clement Lecigne and Benoit Sevens said in a write-up.
According to research from cybersecurity company ESET, the APT 37 threat group used the newly discovered malware against very specific entities. The researchers say that the hackers delivered their commands to Dolphin by uploading them on Google Drive.
Security researchers found a previously unknown backdoor they call Dophin that's been used by North Korean hackers in highly targeted operations for more than a year to steal files and send them to Google Drive storage. According to research from cybersecurity company ESET, the APT 37 threat group used the newly discovered malware against very specific entities.
Google's Threat Analysis Group has linked an exploit framework that targets now-patched vulnerabilities in the Chrome and Firefox web browsers and the Microsoft Defender security app to a Spanish software company. While TAG is Google's team of security experts focused on protecting Google users from state-sponsored attacks, it also keeps track of dozens of companies that enable governments to spy on dissidents, journalists, and political opponents using surveillance tools.
Microsoft has addressed a known issue leading to significant performance hits when copying large files over SMB after installing the Windows 11 2022 update. "There is a performance reduction in 22H2 when copying larger files from a remote computer down to a Windows 11 computer or when copying files on a local drive," explained Microsoft's Ned Pyle when acknowledging the issue more than a month ago in early October.
Password salting is a technique for making passwords more difficult to crack by adding random values to the stored password hash. In order to understand password salting and its benefits however, it is necessary to understand how Windows stores passwords and some of the risks that are associated with storing passwords in that way.