Microsoft calls the attack ‘MediaGet Update Poisoning’ and says the attempt mostly affected machines in Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia. The failed attack attempted to spread a cryptocurrency miner, confirmed the Windows Defender team. “This process is related to MediaGet, a BitTorrent client that we classify as potentially unwanted application (PUA). MediaGet is often used by people looking to download programs or media from websites with dubious reputation. Downloading through peer-to-peer file-sharing apps like this can increase the risk of downloading malware....

The attack is said to be perpetrated by the same state-backed Russian group that recently attacked cybersecurity company FireEye. Microsoft’s response to the report was a post featuring a guide for IT admins. In the guide, the company shows how they can “find and mitigate potential malicious activity”. Alongside the helpful guide, the company denies Microsoft 365 has been compromised: “We also want to reassure our customers that we have not identified any Microsoft product or cloud service vulnerabilities in these investigations....

Check Point Research shows that users are fairly blasé about connecting to Remote Desktop Protocol clients. However, a vulnerability in an RDP could give bad actors the means to connect to the client. By exploiting one of the newly discovered flaws, an attacker can branch out from the RDP and control an entire local network. In its research, Check Point found 16 major vulnerability from 25 security issues. These flaws were observed in the open source FreeRDP client and rdesktop....

If you are unfamiliar with Ethereum on Azure, it is a service for the easy deployment of Ethereum blockchain. Customers can deploy in minutes while providing reliability and deep analytics. In March, Microsoft made improvements to the service, including higher network presence, easier deployment, and further operational support. Microsoft explains how Proof-of-Work may function in some circumstance, in others POA is necessary: “Proof-of-Work is a Sybil-resistance mechanism that leverages computation costs to self-regulate the network and allow fair participation....

Gears 5 is the latest in the hugely popular Gears of War franchise. Microsoft has announced a limited-edition customer Xbox One X with the Omen Gears of War symbol frozen in ice and snow stamped on the front. There’s no doubt the console looks cool and it is also something of a unique release. It is the first limited edition Xbox One X Microsoft has ever produced. The company says the console was designed by “The Coalition” team and it available for pre-order today....

Power BI Report Server Features The new Power BI report publishing platform will support many, but not all of the regular reporting features, including: “Create reports in Power BI Desktop Connect to Analysis Services data models (Tabular or Multidimensional) Visualize data using built-in or custom visuals View and interact with reports in your web browser Export report data to CSV Print a report page View and interact with reports in Power BI Mobile”...

During the virtual event (due to the COVID-19 outbreak), Microsoft announced new features for its browser. Specifically, the company detailed Smart Copy, a new tool for Chromium Edge. According to Microsoft, the feature gives users the ability to maintain rich formatting when copying something from the web. Through Edge, Smart Copy can be used to preserve images in their real quality, maintain formatting, and keep links. Smart copy makes it easier to select, copy and paste the exact content you want from the web and preserve the rich web format....

ExFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) is a file system that Microsoft introduced in 2006. It is a system for SD cards and flash drives, but it has always been proprietary. In other words, mounting SD cards and flash drives with exFAT files onto Linux natively has been impossible. As you might expect, numerous third-party tools can be used to do the job but now Microsoft says it is supporting exFAT in the Linux kernel....

Announced on the official Ignite 2019 Twitter account, the schedule is now live on the official conference website. You can head there to browse the 469 sessions Microsoft has announced. As usual, this is just the preliminary schedule as Microsoft will add move over the two months leading up to Ignite 2019 in November. Indeed, the official website homepage promises there will be over 1000 sessions at the conference this year....

Lynx is a European brand that specializes in products such as shower gel, body spray, and deodorant. For consumers in most countries around the world, the brand is known as Axe. However, in Australia and New Zealand, it’s Lynx and that’s where the Xbox tie-in is happening. Other than slapping the Xbox brand on a bottle and creating a typically sweet Lynx scent, there’s nothing outwardly special about these products....

Microsoft is now defending itself in that case. One of the main concerns from regulators in the US, UK, and Europe – as well as Sony – has been what Microsoft plans to do with major Activision franchises, most notably Call of Duty. Sony believes Microsoft wants to make Call of Duty and brands such as Candy Crush and Warcraft exclusive to its Xbox Game Pass service. Microsoft has repeatedly said that is not its intention and has told the FTC that buying Activision Blizzard would actually benefit the gaming industry, especially consumers....

Project This month, the FCC approved Microsoft’s plans for proof-of-concept (PoC) tests of the technology. Microsoft has a six-month license that allows it to access imagery and communications data from a satellite and download it. In the FCC application, the company points out it will gauge market interest before pressing ahead with a wider project: “If the demonstrations result in significant market interest, Microsoft will file an application for regular earth station authority with the International Bureau (IB) to support future commercial operations, and that application will include a request for U....

Windows 10 users on the Windows Insider Release Preview ring are now receiving Chromium Edge automatically. This means they don’t have to manually download the browser as it is now the replacement for the old HTML5-based Edge. Microsoft says the rollout is gradual but should come to everyone on the Release Preview ring soon. Once that happens, a push to the end-user Windows 10 experience used by the general public should arrive shortly after....

As the Redmond tear down and rebuild is a multi-building plan, Microsoft will be demolishing and constructing in stages. After-all, the Redmond base will still be used as the company’s headquarters during the process. Microsoft confirmed this week that the deconstruction work has started, with workers now taking building apart ahead of demolition. The company says 13 building will eventually be destroyed this year and will be replaced by eco-friendly modernized structures....

The toolset allows for the easy creation of web services that automatically interact in conversational channels with contacts. Bots can be built with the C# SDK, Node.js SDK or the REST API and then be deployed to a cloud service such as the Microsoft Azure Bot Service which is currently in preview. With the current update, Microsoft introduces the Channel Inspector to its Bot Framework. The Channel Inspector is an interactive web-tool which allows to browse all available features of a specific chat client, offering a an easy way to understand the style and limitations of the selected platform....

IntelliCode is a suite of AI-assisted tools that Microsoft introduced at Build 2018 in April. The capabilities give developers more solutions for boosting productivity. Visual Studio has already seen the first of these features in preview, but now Microsoft is bringing machine learning to Python. The company says its AI has been trained on over 2,000 open-source repos. Developers using Python in Visual Studio Code can now leverage IntelliCode through the IntelliSense AI tool....

Windows 10X was different to the standard SKU in various ways as Microsoft sought a platform that could function across form factors. While Microsoft says it ditched 10X to focus on Windows 10 proper, the features from the modular version will live on. We already know that the upcoming Windows 10 21H2 (Sun Valley) will introduce a new look for the platform. It now seems Microsoft will also add some of the UI improvements from Windows 10X to the Sun Valley release....

“We’ve heard your feedback and are excited to bring back this fan favorite feature, re-engineered, and better than ever,” Microsoft says. This has been available since February 23 on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One. To access Twitch on the Xbox guide, head to the “Capture and Share” tab and select “Live streaming” from the list of options. There is a QR code that works with iOS and Android to link your Twitch account to the Xbox....

In its ruling the US Supreme Court found the department of homeland security violated federal law when ended the DACA program. President Trump had sought to stop the program, which was initiated during President Obama’s second term. Microsoft collaborated with Princeton University and a student in a filing complaint in the federal courts. While the organizations won the case, the government appealed. In 2017, President Trump revoked DACA and placed doubt on the country’s DREAMers....

It is worth noting the programs are not specifically new products, but more additional solutions within existing Microsoft Cloud. For example, they increase the capabilities of platforms such as Azure, Microsoft Teams, and Dynamics 365: Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing, And Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit “We created the Microsoft industry clouds by bringing together common data models, cross-cloud connectors, workflows, APIs, and industry-specific components and standards, with the breadth of Microsoft’s cloud services, including Microsoft 365 and Teams, Azure, Microsoft Power Platform, Dynamics 365 and security solutions....