CNBC: Microsoft indefinitely postpones return to U.S. offices as Covid cases surge. “Microsoft said Thursday it will indefinitely delay the reopening of its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and its other U.S. offices as the coronavirus continues to proliferate in the country. The software and hardware maker did not provide a new date to replace the Oct. 4 target it had announced in early August.”
Ars Technica: Windows Movie Maker Redux? Microsoft acquires web-based video editor Clipchamp. “Microsoft hasn’t updated its old Windows Movie Maker software since 2012, and it hasn’t even offered the old version for download since 2017, leaving Windows users to fend for themselves when it comes to beginner-friendly editing and sharing of video clips. That situation will hopefully change thanks to Microsoft’s acquisition of Clipchamp, a web-based video-editing tool. Clipchamp includes a variety of built-in templates for family-video editors, Twitch and YouTube streamers, and businesses putting together ads or other branded videos.”
CNET: Microsoft Start gives you a personalized news feed. Here’s how to use it. “A new website and app from Microsoft wants to help you cut down on the time you spend scrolling through different sites to find the news you need. Microsoft Start is a personalized news feed that builds on services like MSN.com, Microsoft News and Microsoft’s widgets, aiming to give easier access to the news you care about most across all your devices.”
VentureBeat: Bias persists in face detection systems from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. “Companies say they’re working to fix the biases in their facial analysis systems, and some have claimed early success. But a study by researchers at the University of Maryland finds that face detection services from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google remain flawed in significant, easily detectable ways. All three are more likely to fail with older, darker-skinned people compared with their younger, whiter counterparts. Moreover, the study reveals that facial detection systems tend to favor ‘feminine-presenting’ people while discriminating against certain physical appearances.”
Eurogamer: Xbox uses its social media reach to encourage players to get their COVID-19 vaccinations. “Xbox has teamed with the US’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to encourage more young people to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.”
Reuters: Microsoft : Researchers, cybersecurity agency urge action by Microsoft cloud database users. “Researchers who discovered a massive flaw in the main databases stored in Microsoft Corp’s Azure cloud platform on Saturday urged all users to change their digital access keys, not just the 3,300 it notified this week.”
MarketWatch: Microsoft warns cloud customers of flaw that may have exposed databases: report. “Reuters reported that Microsoft warned of a major flaw in its flagship Azure Cosmos DB database service, which could allow hackers to read, change or delete data. The vulnerability was discovered by cybersecurity company Wiz, whose chief technology officer used to be CTO for Microsoft’s cloud security unit. Microsoft agreed to pay Wiz $40,000 for reporting the flaw, Reuters reported, citing an email.”
ZDNet: Microsoft Teams just got new breakout room controls and better search. “The Microsoft Teams collaboration platform will soon gain improved AI-powered text-based search and more controls for presenters when using Teams Breakout Rooms.”
Ubergizmo: Microsoft, Google Release Urgent Update That Patches Browser Vulnerability. “If you are using either Microsoft Edge or Google’s Chrome, then you might want to update your browsers ASAP. This is because both companies have pushed out an urgent update for both their browsers due to a Level 4 Drive-by exploit that has been discovered that could lead to disastrous consequences.” I have yet to see a patch, but I’m on Linux, so YMMV.
ZDNet: How Internet Explorer really beat Netscape . “Here’s the real reason why IE beat Netscape: Microsoft strong-armed PC vendors into putting the new operating system and its browser on all their PCs. The goal was not so much to kill off other PC operating system vendors. There wasn’t any real competition in the mid-90s. The goal was to destroy Netscape.”
Ars Technica: The once-doomed MS Paint gets its first redesign in over a decade. “The latest Windows 11 app to get a coat of paint is Paint, everyone’s favorite meme-making sketching and doodling app. It’s not available for download for Windows Insiders yet, but Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay posted a brief video of the new design, showing off its updated look, a new dark mode, better text tools, updated brushes, and other tweaks that collectively serve to modernize the app a bit.”
Bleeping Computer: Microsoft: Evasive Office 365 phishing campaign active since July 2020. “Microsoft says that a year-long and highly evasive spear-phishing campaign has targeted Office 365 customers in multiple waves of attacks starting with July 2020. The ongoing phishing campaign lures targets into handing over their Office 365 credentials using invoice-themed XLS.HTML attachments and various information about the potential victims, such as email addresses and company logos.”
ThreatPost: Microsoft Warns: Another Unpatched PrintNightmare Zero-Day. “One day after dropping its scheduled August Patch Tuesday update, Microsoft issued a warning about yet another unpatched privilege escalation/remote code-execution (RCE) vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler. The zero-day bug, tracked as CVE-2021-36958, carries a CVSS vulnerability-severity scale rating of 7.3, meaning that it’s rated as ‘important.’”
