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Windows

Chinese firewall maker booted from Microsoft sharing program

Dan Kaplan May 03, 2012

The leak of details regarding a major Windows bug, which resulted in the removal of DPTech Technologies as a trusted Microsoft partner, calls into question how impervious a vulnerability sharing program can be.

When signature-less security requires signatures

Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research, Damballa April 25, 2012

The recent outbreak of the Flashback trojan on Mac computers is a case study in how unprepared security professionals are for dealing with malware that's not specific to Windows.

Adobe researcher creates open-source malware analyzer tool

Dan Kaplan April 02, 2012

An Adobe security researcher has released an open-source analyzer tool that can determine whether a Win32 binary file contains malware.

Exploit for gaping Microsoft RDP hole may have gotten help

Dan Kaplan March 16, 2012

A proof-of-concept that has emerged and takes advantage of a very serious Windows vulnerability may have been the result of a leak, said the researcher who first discovered the bug.

Microsoft to patch seven security issues with six bulletins

Dan Kaplan March 08, 2012

Microsoft next week plans to release six patches, including one for a "critical" vulnerability affecting all supported versions of the software giant's operating system.

Best practices to secure the mobile enterprise

Scott Emo, head of endpoint product marketing at Check Point Software Technologies • January 30, 2012

The threats associated with mobile devices can come in many forms, so there are a number of best practices one can put in place to thwart potentially disastrous consequences.

Microsoft preps seven security patches

Dan Kaplan January 05, 2012

The security update, which plans to address eight vulnerabilities, will include one "critical" fix.

Thirteen patches from Microsoft, including Duqu fix

Dan Kaplan December 13, 2011

Tuesday's baker's dozen of security patches from Microsoft includes a fix for a vulnerability that helped spread the dangerous information-stealing Duqu trojan, which targets industrial control systems.

Microsoft to make updates less disruptive, more predicatable

Dan Kaplan November 15, 2011

In an effort to smooth the patching process for users, Microsoft plans to improve its updating mechanism in Windows 8, due out next year.

Microsoft releases four security patches, one critical

Angela Moscaritolo November 08, 2011

Microsoft on Tuesday patched one "critical" vulnerability, plus three other less-severe flaws. Not patched, as expected, is a bug related to the Duqu trojan.

Microsoft's October update to fix 23 flaws

Angela Moscaritolo October 06, 2011

The Patch Tuesday bulletins, of which two are rated "critical" and six deemed "important," are due Oct. 11 at about 2 p.m. EST.

Microsoft Windows 8 will ship with built-in anti-virus

Angela Moscaritolo September 14, 2011

Microsoft may face challenges from anti-virus rivals after announcing this week that the next version of Windows will come with built-in AV protection.

Podcast Episode No. 3: Microsoft's Blue Hat competition

Dan Kaplan August 18, 2011

Katie Moussouris, senior security strategist lead at Microsoft, discusses the software giant's recently announced Blue Hat competition, which offers $250,000 in cash and prizes to the winning researchers who develop advanced technologies to defend Windows against entire classes of vulnerabilities that can be exploited to bypass the platform's existing mitigations. Moussouris describes how Microsoft came up with the idea, why defensive research is just as important as one-off vulnerability discoveries and how the oft-cynical research community is reacting to the contest.

Black Hat: Find the next, great security technology, and Microsoft will pay you $200,000

Dan Kaplan August 03, 2011

Microsoft is breaking out the piggy bank to incentivize researchers to develop advanced technologies to defend Windows and the applications that run on top of the world's most popular operating system.

Microsoft to plug 22 holes with four patches

Dan Kaplan July 07, 2011

Microsoft expects to release four patches next week to address 22 vulnerabilities in Windows and Office, the company said Thursday.

Microsoft distributes Windows, PowerPoint patches

Dan Kaplan May 10, 2011

Microsoft on Tuesday delivered two patches to address three vulnerabilities, but because of default settings, built-in protections and unaffected newer versions, experts don't anticipate widespread attacks ensuing.

Microsoft readying fixes for Windows, Office flaws

Angela Moscaritolo May 05, 2011

Following a record-breaking security update last month, Microsoft is planning just two fixes for its June update, plus a revamped exploitability index.

Microsoft's April patch batch to address 64 flaws

Angela Moscaritolo April 07, 2011

Microsoft's planned security update for next week likely will include a fix for a vulnerability that is being actively exploited.

Microsoft fixes coming for Office, Windows flaws

Dan Kaplan March 03, 2011

Three fixes from Microsoft await security administrators next week, the software giant announced Thursday.

Microsoft's monthly update to include two zero-day fixes

Dan Kaplan February 03, 2011

Microsoft next week plans to push out 12 patches to close 22 vulnerabilities as part of its monthly security update.

Microsoft releases advisory for Windows scripting bug

Dan Kaplan January 28, 2011

Microsoft on Friday warned of a new Windows scripting vulnerability that could result in information disclosure.

Fixes for two Windows flaws coming from Microsoft

Dan Kaplan January 06, 2011

Microsoft is letting administrators ease their way into the New Year, with plans to issue only two patches next week.

Microsoft advises of zero-day flaw in its Graphics Engine

Dan Kaplan January 05, 2011

Microsoft is warning of an unpatched vulnerability in its Windows Graphics Rendering Engine that could lead to remote code execution.

Ten years of evolving threats: A look back at the impact of notable malicious wares of the past decade

Derek Manky, project manager, Fortinet Fortiguard Labs November 15, 2010

As security firm Fortinet celebrates 10 years in business, Fortiguard Labs took a look at the 10 most intriguing threats during the past decade and showed how their feature sets have evolved, Darwin-like, over time.

Amsterdam Win2008 Servers: PWNed by the Jarhead Clan

Charles Jeter, ESET cybercrime investigator November 05, 2010

Aruba, Belgium, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Suriname, and Netherlands Antilles all may want to check out this .nl Windows Server 2008 vulnerability.

Microsoft to issue nine patches, four for "critical" bugs

Dan Kaplan September 09, 2010

Microsoft is planning to release nine patches on Tuesday to plug 13 holes as part of the software giant's monthly security update.

DLL hijacking issue prompts Microsoft advisory, tool

Dan Kaplan August 24, 2010

Microsoft is alerting the public about a new vector that can be used to infect PCs when an application is tricked into loading a malicious library. The major question is: What applications are vulnerable?

Microsoft lists 4 of its record 14 patches as high priority

Dan Kaplan August 10, 2010

Microsoft's record-breaking month of patches includes fixes for 34 flaws across the software giant's product line.

Google: Plug critical holes within 60 days across industry

Dan Kaplan July 21, 2010

Fresh off the controversy of one of its researchers publicly dropping a Microsoft zero-day vulnerability, Google now is hoping to lead the development of industry-accepted standards for vulnerability disclosure.