[German]I just reported how the Store team has started repackaging Store apps. An executable .NET wrapper is slapped around the store apps, which smuggles telemetry and other code into the app. This is intended to simplify the installation of store apps and save a click. And by the way, the Microsoft strategists have also opened up a DLL hijacking gap that can serve as a gateway for malware.
[German]The old print spooler vulnerability CVE-2022-38028 in Windows is probably the preferred target of the Russian hacker group Fancy Bear. This was revealed by Microsoft's analysis of an attack tool ('GooseEgg' malware). However, this attack vector can no longer be exploited on currently patched Windows operating systems, as Microsoft revealed in a blog post.
[German]CrushFTP is a proprietary file transfer server with multiple protocols and platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows) that is available as shareware with a tiered pricing model. It is aimed at home users through to corporate users. As of April 19, 2024, the provider has published a security warning that a critical vulnerability (CVE-2024-4040) has been discovered in the software, which is being exploited by attackers.
[German]Lousy security culture, products as full of holes as a Swiss cheese, but "to big to fail and everyone is dependent". That's a description of Microsoft – not mine, but the tenor of the statements made by the former White House Director of Cyber Policy, Andrew J. Grotto, in an interview with the British newspaper The Register.
[German]The move from Microsoft, which has just been uncovered and is causing anger among developers. Their Store team has started to secretly repackage Store apps. The apps are provided with an executable .NET wrapper that adds telemetry and other code into the app. Furthermore, .netfx 4.7.2 is currently being used – regardless of what .netfx version the app uses. The explanation I read, is that Microsoft now wants to offer .exe applications for download directly from the store in a simple way. Here is some information on this.
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A Chinese manufacturer has inadvertently disclosed the data of surveillance devices. An unsecured database, which was freely accessible on the internet, contained 3 billion data records with details of surveillance systems from Chinese manufacturer Raysharp.
[German]A short addendum or information for administrators in companies who are responsible for Microsoft Office. There will be a Microsoft Office 2024 in 2024, and a preview was announced for April 2024 (see Microsoft Office Office 2024 and Microsoft Office LTSC Office LTSC 2024: Preview in April 2024). Microsoft has now officially released the Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 version as a preview for the macOS and Windows operating systems. Interested administrators from the corporate environment can now test this Office version, which is aimed at corporate environments. The preview is explicitly not aimed at private users. Continue reading
[German]Users of Windows 10 22H2 must be prepared to be annoyed by various prompts soon. Firstly, there is the full-screen notification that support will end in October 2025. And there is probably a request to finally switch from a local account to a Microsoft account. According to my information, these two annoying notices will be unleashed on users in the future.
[German]An "accidental" update to the Microsoft Edge browser at the end of March 2024 led to parts of the Copilot app being installed on Windows 10/11 and Server. Microsoft states that this was not intentional and emphasizes that this app "does not perform any spying functions" – a remarkable statement. They want to correct this with the next update.
[German]The free software PuTTY can be used to establish connections via Secure Shell, Telnet, remote login or serial interfaces with a server. However, there is a critical vulnerability in the software in question (CVE-2024-31497) that can be used to reconstruct private SSH keys. PuTTY versions 0.68 to 0.80 as well as other products (FileZilla for example) are affected. However, it is not enough to update the products to a patched version, as the keys may already be reconstructed.
MVP:
2013 – 2016
WIMVP:
2017 – 2020
