KVM bug: Windows VMs can hang at boot after 11 days

Posted on 2023-04-04 by guenni

Stop - Pixabay[German]Over the past few months, some administrators have complained of Windows virtual machine boot issues in conjunction with the monthly security updates. In many cases, this could be traced back to VMware products such as ESXi – or turning off Secure Boote helped get VMs booting again. But there is a bug in certain versions of the virtualizer KVM, which affects e.g. QUEMU or Proxmox users from version 7.x on. Then Windows virtual machines no longer boot if they have been running for more than 11 days. I'll pull this issue out separately.

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Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital victim of cyber attack (March 2023)

Posted on 2023-04-03 by guenni

Sicherheit (Pexels, allgemeine Nutzung)[German]Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital admitted to a cyber attack on its IT networks on April 3, 2023. An unauthorized person was able to gain access to the internal IT networks probably already in March this year. The whole thing was noticed on March 26, 2023, the company announced in a message to the public. Whether data has been leaked is currently unknown.

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Windows 11 22H2: Fix for script error in Group Policy Preferences (GPP)

Posted on 2023-04-03 by guenni

Windows[German]Good news for Windows 11 client administrators (version 22H2). Microsoft has fixed the script error in Group Policy Preferences (GPP) in the preview updates from the end of March 2023 and will generally roll out this fix on Patchday in April 2023. This should eliminate the annoying crashes, for example in the Task Scheduler or Group Policy Management Editor.

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Design flaw in WiFi protocol allows attackers to intercept network traffic

Posted on 2023-04-02 by guenni

Sicherheit (Pexels, allgemeine Nutzung)[German]Another small addendum from the end of March 2023. Security researchers have discovered a serious design weakness in the IEEE 802.11 WiFi protocol standard. This weakness could allow attackers to eavesdrop on WLAN access points and transmit network frames in plain text. This could, for example, inject malicious JavaScript commands into the network packets. It is an academic finding, and there is no evidence yet that this flaw is being exploited.

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Hackers attack WordPress via unpatched Elementor Pro plugin

Posted on 2023-04-02 by guenni

WordPress administrators using the Elementor Pro plugin should urgently check if it is up to date and if WordPress has already been compromised (e.g. check urlscan.io to see what connections are going down). On March 18, 2023, NinTechNet security researcher Jerome Bruandet had discovered a vulnerability that can be exploited if the plugin is installed together with WooCommerce. Hackers are now actively exploiting the highly dangerous vulnerability in WordPress plugin Elementor Pro. The plugin for creating WordPress pages is used by over eleven million websites. Details have been summarized by the colleagues from Bleeping Computer here (thanks to the reader's tip).

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Why ISL Online: Critical factors when choosing a remote desktop solution

[Sponsored Post]In the rapidly evolving IT world, choosing the right remote desktop software is critical for organizations that value security, ease of use and reliability. One provider of secure remote access that has been on the market since 2001 is ISL Online, which presents some considerations for choosing such software below. More ...

.NET updates: UUP distribution; preview updates finally optional, installation error fixed for KB5022729

Posted on 2023-04-02 by guenni

Update[German]Today another article summarizing issues around the topic "Installation of .NET Framework Updates", in which I also revisit some older points. For example, Microsoft already fixed the annoying automatic installation of .NET Preview updates in January 2023, so they are now really optional. Robert informed me that the .NET Framework installation issue with .NET update KB5022729 was fixed. And Microsoft is distributing .NET updates for Windows 11 22H2 via UUP.

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March 2023: What's going up with AnyDesk?

Posted on 2023-04-02 by guenni

Stop - Pixabay[German]I'm picking up on a topic and posting it here on the blog for information purposes with a request for feedback from those affected. It's about the provider AnyDesk and its remote maintenance software of the same name. A reader pointed out to me that there were problems with the renewal of AnyDesk licenses. According to the reader, attempts to contact the sales or support department of this vendor have been "going nowhere" for 2-3 weeks. I did a little search on the Internet and followed the reader's advice. There are some sites where people share similar experiences.

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Is the Search in Outlook for Microsoft 365 broken? (March 2023)

Posted on 2023-04-02 by guenni

[German]A short note and also a question to the readers for those affected. I have information that the search no longer works for Outlook users from the circle of Microsoft 365 customers. Microsoft is aware of the problem, but nothing can be done, according to support.

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Windows 7/8.1: Firefox will be support until 3. Q. 2024 at least

Posted on 2023-04-01 by guenni

Mozilla[German]Good news for users of Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 who want to continue using these operating systems, which have (largely) fallen out of support with Microsoft, for a while longer. Mozilla has announced that they plan to support these operating systems for at least another year.

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Posted in browser, Software, Update, Windows | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Leaked Microsoft mails provide interesting insights

Posted on 2023-04-01 by guenni

[German]I wrestled with myself a bit about what to do with the material, but then decided to publish the blog post after all. An anonymous source has send me leaked data that must have come from the "Microsoft universe" (maybe have been pulled as part of the Bing BigBang incident). Snippets of communications from Microsoft's mangement provide interesting insights into how Nadella and Co. conduct themselves publicly and how they act internally.

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