August 2024
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As mentioned last month, Windows 11, version 24H2, will be out later this year. We recommend not installing it until others have found the bugs. Microsoft will be enabling drive encryption by default in version 24H2 and later.
Microsoft Mail and Outlook
Starting September 16, 2024, basic authentication (username and password) for Outlook clients will be phased out for all Outlook personal accounts, including Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and Live.com.
Microsoft is requiring modern authentication for all Outlook customers. “… to make sure you are ready and using modern authentication … download one of the free Outlook apps.”
App passwords or Application passwords will also stop working.
“…users signing into Outlook.com through Basic Authentication may experience recurring password prompts in Outlook and other third-party email applications. This is a known issue. After September 16th, users attempting to connect their Microsoft accounts through Basic Authentication will fail to do so.”
Microsoft Mail and Calendar Apps will no longer be supported at the end of 2024 and will be replaced by the New Outlook for Windows.
Outlook Lite for the web will be discontinued Aug 19, 2024. This is intended to force users to use a current (more secure) web browser. Outlook Web access is a separate product and will continue to work. Outlook Lite, the Android app, is not affected by these changes.
Microsoft is pushing users toward “New Outlook,” which we still do not recommend. “New Outlook” is missing many features in “Classic Outlook” – the Outlook Desktop program that comes with Microsoft Office. Outlook Classic will remain supported until 2029.
New Outlook may require a Microsoft 365 license for some email accounts– see details. Outlook for Mac licensing details.
Microsoft is also removing the ability to access Gmail accounts in Outlook.com at the end of the month. Gmail still works with Outlook Desktop (Classic).
Massive computer shutdown caused by faulty Antivirus software:
This was not caused by malware. It was poor software testing – a bug in an update to CrowdStrike Falcon software. Only users of CroudStrike Falcon were affected.
Faulty Windows cybersecurity update takes out banks, airlines and other major companies worldwide.
The ripple effect is massive, hitting CrowdStrike, Microsoft, AWS, Azure, Google, and beyond.
Post Incident Review from CroudStrike.
$5.4 billion in losses and counting.
Official Microsoft Blog post: Helping our customers through the CrowdStrike outage – less than one percent of all Windows machines were affected (It could have been much worse).
Hackers are creating fake CrowdStrike recovery resources.
Opinion: Today’s internet systems are too complex to hope that the sum total will work right if we are smart and build each piece correctly.
Customers with 13th and 14th-generation Intel gaming CPUs have had problems for months.
On July 22, Intel finally admitted that 13th and 14th-generation CPUs weren’t handling the voltage correctly and that they would push out a microcode patch in the middle of August that would fix the issue. The problem is that voltage issues like this can permanently damage a chip.
Unified Smart Homes: How Matter is Setting a New Standard.
If you want to see just how much you’re being tracked online, check out the EFF’s Cover Your Tracks tool. EFF’s Privacy Badger blocks web trackers.
Bio-hybrid robots, which merge living materials and organisms with synthetic components, are progressing rapidly. These robots, utilizing living muscles, can perform various functions such as crawling, swimming, gripping, and sensing their surroundings. Advances include sensors made from sensory cells or insect antennae for improved chemical detection and living neurons used to control mobile robots.
AI
How AI is Amplifying the Danger of Phishing and What You Can Do
Google unveiled a new AI-powered video creation service as part of its Workspace Labs program, which allows users to try out new AI features. More.
Microsoft Bing is adding AI-powered summaries to search results. More on Bing generative search.
Apple is testing their Apple Intelligence AI features, set to release later this year: Apple Intelligence Arrives but Only in Developer Beta for Now – CNET
SECURITY
Remote work is still causing security headaches.
Hackers are increasingly targeting remote desktop tools in their attacks
Digital Defense: Essential Security Practices for Remote Workers
HealthEquity disclosed a data breach.
Infosys McCamish Systems (IMS) Hacked.
IMS provides services to banks, insurance and financial service companies. About 6 million accounts were compromised. The data confirmed as compromised varies but includes some of the following: Social Security Number (SSN); Date of birth; Medical treatment/record information; Biometric data; Email address and password; Username and password; Driver’s License number or state ID number; Financial account information; Payment card information; Passport number.
AT&T already faces more than 30 class actions from a breach of the personally identifiable information of 70 million former and current customers, which was announced in March.
Pinterest data leak exposes email addresses, usernames, user IDs, and IP addresses.
Snowflake breach at Advance Auto Parts affects 2.3 million people.
Nearly 7% of Internet Traffic is now malicious.
Malware-based threats are up by 30% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Secure Boot can be bypassed on 200+ models from 5 big device makers.
This requires being physically in control of the computer – It’s an issue for laptops with sensitive data.
OneDrive Phishing Scam tricks users into running malicious PowerShell script.
HUMOR
TORIAN GROUP
As mentioned for the past few months, the price for the workstation agents we use for managed services increased from $6.50 to $7 starting in July.