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The security vulnerability could expose passwords and access tokens, along with blueprints for internal infrastructure and finding software vulnerabilities.
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Posts tagged "Microsoft"
Four Bugs in Microsoft Teams Left Platform Vulnerable Since March
Attackers exploiting bugs in the “link preview” feature in Microsoft Teams could abuse the flaws to spoof links, leak an Android user’s IP address and launch a DoS attack.
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One of the best Microsoft Edge features just got even better
Microsoft is currently working on a new update for its browser that will add even more functionality to the Web Capture tool which first appeared in Microsoft Edge last year.
For those unfamiliar, Web Capture allows you to take screenshots of either an entire webpage or just a portion of it directly from Edge's three-dot menu at the top right of the browser or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+S. Once you've take a screenshot, you can then draw notes, save it or even add it to one of your Collections.
Previously, Edge users were unable to take screenshots of certain types of content using the tool, specifically PDFs. However, it appears that Microsoft is now partially testing out this functionality in the latest Edge Canary build.
Using Web Capture with PDFs
Up until now, the Web Capture button and the option in Edge's three-dot menu has appeared grayed out when a tab in the browser is displaying a PDF.
In a recent post on Reddit, Leo Varela revealed that he has discovered that this is no longer the case in the latest Edge Canary build. However, unlike with a normal Web Capture, the dialog to choose between “Capture area” or “Capture full page” doesn't appear. Instead, you only have the option to select a region of the screen.
Hopefully this will change once the ability to use Web Capture with PDF files rolls out to the stable version of Microsoft Edge soon.
If you haven't tested out Edge before or even recently, Microsoft has continued to add new features like Vertical Tabs to its browser in an effort to entice users to make the switch from Google Chrome.
We've also highlighted the best anonymous browser, best VPN and best proxy
Via Windows Report
AT&T has sold its online advertising platform to Microsoft
Microsoft has announced that it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire the online advertising and analytics firm Xandr from AT&T.
The agreement builds on a decade-long relationship between Xandr, its predecessor companies and the software giant for delivering digital media solutions for advertisers on a global scale. Through its data-enabled technology platform, Xandr provides tools which power a diverse ecosystem that connects marketers and media owners through first-party, data-led advertising solutions across its network.
President of web experiences at Microsoft, Mikhail Parakhin explained in a press release how its acquisition of Xandr will help shape the digital ad marketplace of the future, saying:
“With Xandr’s talent and technology, Microsoft can accelerate the delivery of its digital advertising and retail media solutions, shaping tomorrow’s digital ad marketplace into one that respects consumer privacy preferences, understands publishers’ relationships with consumers and helps advertisers meet their goals.”
Shaping the future of digital advertising
Microsoft and Xandr have a shared vision for the digital ad marketplace of the future as well as complementary strengths to empower the open web so that everyone can thrive and do so in a way that is consistent with the software giant's commitment to strong data governance and consumer privacy practices.
Through the acquisition, Microsoft will be able to accelerate the delivery of digital advertising solutions for the open web by combining its audience understanding, technology and global advertising customer base with Xandr's large-scale, data-driven platforms for advertising.
The company brings a number of advertising platforms to the table including its cross-screen, first-party data-centered buying platform Xandr Invest as well as its full funnel marketing offering Xandr Monetize.
By acquiring Xandr, Microsoft aims to become organizations' media partner of choice for the open web and we'll likely hear more on its plans for the digital ad marketplace of the future once the transaction officially closes following regulatory review.
We've also featured the best online marketing services and best email marketing software
Microsoft Teams isn’t adding this terrible feature just yet
Video call users around the world may have breathed a big sigh of relief after the launch of filters for Microsoft Teams has been delayed.
The company had been working on a new feature for its online collaboration platform that would have allowed users to customize their appearance before joining a video conferencing call.
The tool was set for launch sometime in 2021, but its Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, simply entitled “Microsoft Teams: Video filters” now shows a release date of March 2022.
Lights, camera, filters
The roadmap entry explains that Teams users will soon gain access to a number of different video filters, which will give them the ability to dial up and down certain aspects of their feed.
“Before joining a meeting, you can use filters to subtly adjust lighting levels and smooth out facial features to customize your appearance,” wrote Microsoft.
The company first announced its intention to introduce Microsoft Teams video filters in summer last year, before then targeting an August 2021 release window until today's update.
It added that the feature could prove useful to a range of users, especially those working out of a dimly lit home office or using a poor-quality webcam.
Filters are also already present in competing offerings such as Google Meet, which recently revealed a new settings panel to help both you and your workspace look the best you can when joining video calls.
With Google Meet's new settings panel, users will be able to quickly access effects such as background blur, background images and styles before and during a video call.
- We’ve built a list of the best office desks and best office chairs around
This Microsoft Teams update will help enforce social distancing rules
Keeping control of your Microsoft Teams meetings could soon get a lot easier thanks to a new update aimed at limiting participant numbers.
The video conferencing service has announced new meeting room capacity notifications for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android, hopefully helping prevent virtual overcrowding.
The feature could also help in-office staff decide whether to move an in-person meeting online as concerns over Covid continue to rise.
Overcrowded
According to its entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap, users will now see a notification on the front of room display alerting in-room meeting participants if the room is over-capacity.
This decision is based on the capacity defined in a room account, which for Android users of Microsoft Teams can be limited in order to cope with computing power and battery life.
Microsoft notes that only cameras that support people counting will support this feature.
When a panel is deployed outside a Teams Room that supports this feature, an alert will also be visible on the Teams panel, notifying people outside the room that it has reached capacity.
Microsoft introduced people counting to Teams in 2020 as more and more users flocked to the platform after being told to work from home. Currently, up to 1,000 people can chat and call in to a Microsoft Teams meeting, although this number rises to up to 20,000 for view-only and listen-only calls, such as presentations or webinars.
The new meeting room capacity notifications are set to roll out in February 2022, with all Microsoft Teams on Android users around the world able to experience it.
Users will need to ensure their devices are running some of the latest Android builds, after Microsoft recently revealed it will soon revoke support for versions of Teams running on older versions of the software. Support will be pulled for Teams on Android 5 on March 1, 2022, while Android 6 and 7 will retain support until July 1 and September 1, respectively.
- Also check out our complete list of the best online collaboration tools
Microsoft is playing dirty in fight to squash Edge browser rivals
Microsoft has taken aggressive steps to drive users towards its web browser Edge as it looks to close the gap on established rivals.
Last month, we reported that members of the Windows 11 early-access program were finding the operating system would no longer allow links with a custom Microsoft Edge URI scheme to open in any other browser.
As part of the last round of Patch Tuesday updates of 2021, it appears Microsoft has quietly extended this policy to all Windows 10 and Windows 11 installations.
Although the firm has not gone as far as to force all web links to launch in Edge (only those housed within its own services, like the Start menu), the move is unlikely to prove popular with Windows users, the majority of whom use a third-party browser as their daily driver.
Microsoft Edge backlash
Until now, Windows users have been able to rely on a free service called EdgeDeflector to counteract the Edge URI scheme, and rival browsers Firefox and Brave feature similar in-built workarounds. However, following the latest update, none of these solutions remain viable.
When hints of a crackdown first emerged, the creator of EdgeDeflector was openly critical of Microsoft, which he believes has strayed the wrong side of antitrust law.
“These aren’t the actions of an attentive company that cares about its products any more,” he wrote in a blog post. “Microsoft isn’t a good steward of the Windows operating system. [It’s] prioritizing ads, bundleware, and service subscriptions over their own productivity.”
“For users, the best action is to complain to their local antitrust regulator or switch to Linux. Your web browser is probably the most important – if not the only – app you regularly use. Microsoft has made it clear that its priorities for Windows don’t align with its users’.”
Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, also voiced its concerns about the forcefulness with which Microsoft is pushing its service on Windows users.
“People deserve choice. They should have the ability to and easily set defaults, and their choice of default browser should be respected,” said a Mozilla spokesperson.
“We have worked on code that launches Firefox when the microsoft-edge protocol is used for those users that have already chosen Firefox as their default browser. Following the recent change to Windows 11, this planned implementation will no longer be possible.”
However, as reported by ghacks, there remains one viable workaround in the form of an open source tool called MSEdgeRedirect, which gets around the Edge URI scheme in a different fashion to EdgeDeflector and Firefox.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft will move to block this bypass as well.
- Protect your online privacy with the best VPN services and best privacy tools around
Via Neowin
Microsoft Teams update will help you see eye-to-eye with co-workers
Microsoft is readying an update for collaboration platform Teams that will supposedly help make video calls feel more natural in the world of hybrid working.
As per a new entry in the company’s product roadmap, Microsoft Teams users will soon benefit from an additional video call layout, called Front row.
“Front row is a new layout that enables better hybrid meetings,” explained Microsoft. “It brings remote participants to eye level with participants in [conference] rooms and adds additional data like chat to give in-room users better context of what’s happening in the meeting.”
The new layout is still under development, but should be available to all Teams users via the layout picker by the end of January.
Microsoft Teams calls
Since the start of the pandemic, vendors of video conferencing services like Teams, Zoom and Meet have fought to optimize call layout for maximum engagement and productivity.
Until now, the emphasis has been on creating new layouts that help remote workers present more effectively. In June, for example, Microsoft launched two new layouts for Teams, called Reporter and Side-by-Side. The former positions content above the presenter’s shoulder, as if they were a news anchor, and the latter displays content next to the presenter’s video feed.
On the side, there has also been a race to see who can support the largest number of video call participants on-screen at once. Currently, Teams and Zoom lead the way with massive 49-person gallery layouts.
Now, however, Microsoft appears to have turned its attention to augmenting its collaboration platform for hybrid working, whereby employees split their time between the home, office and any other location.
A major priority among businesses is to ensure meetings remain equitable when half the participants are in the room and the other half are dialling in remotely. According to Microsoft, a small change like the new Front row layout can help create “a more inclusive environment” and head off some of these potential issues.
- Get more out of your video calls with the best business webcams and best business headsets
Microsoft Outlook update wants to boost the hybrid working spirit
Keeping track of your team in this new hybrid working age should soon be more straightforward thanks to a new update to Microsoft Outlook.
The email service is working on a new feature that it says will allow workers more flexibility and efficiency when working away from the office.
According to an entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the update, simply entitled “working hours and location” will allow users to set a notice showing where they are working, whether that be at home, in the office, or anywhere else in particular.
Flexible working
“New working hours and location options in Outlook lets people set more flexible working hours each day and specify the location from where they plan to work,” the roadmap entry adds.
The update is scheduled for general availability for all Web Outlook users across the globe, with a targeted release date of June 2022.
The news does mean that Outlook is finally catching up to some of its rivals when it comes to having flexible working-linked tools enabled.
Google Calendar launched a similar feature in August 2021, allowing users to highlight exactly where they would be working, with the options of home, office, or a specific other location.
Users can also create a weekly working location routine if they plan on going into the office on certain days and working remotely on others, which can be updated at any time if plans change. There was no information as to whether Microsoft's Outlook update will do the same, but we're hopeful it will.
In July, Google Calendar also added an option that allows users to specify whether they would be attending a meeting in-person or virtually using video conferencing software.
Outlook has released a number of updates recently as it looks to maintain its place as a leading email service for users across the world. Most intriguingly, the company says it is working on a tool that will help users eliminate mistakes from their messages with the launch of spelling and grammar checks for its Outlook on mobile platform.
- To further boost your efficiency, check out our lists of the best productivity tools, best office software and best collaboration tools.
Actively Exploited Microsoft Zero-Day Allows App Spoofing, Malware Delivery
December’s Patch Tuesday updates address six publicly known bugs and seven critical security vulnerabilities.
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