Software & Apps - Page 11

A group of cyber criminals have claimed responsibility for a hack that resulted in 1.469 terabytes (TB) of data being stolen from the American Associated Pharmacies (AAP).

The AAP has taken to its website to post a notice informing its customers that the passwords to their accounts have been reset as the APP suspects its servers have been compromised. The AAP wrote that all existing credentials will no longer be "valid to access the sites" and that users will need to navigate to "forgot password" and follow the prompts accordingly. The group called Embargo has claimed responsibility for the attack, writing on its website the AAP paid $1.3 million to have their systems decrypted, but now the group is demanding an additional $1.3 million not to release the stolen data.

Notably, as always with ransomware stories, take the claims by the hacking group with a healthy amount of skepticism as sometimes they aren't exactly what is being alleged or completely false. As for what Embargo wants ransom for, it isn't exactly clear as details, such as the type of stolen data, haven't been released to the public. However, Embargo has given the AAP until November 20 to pay the additional $1.3 million, and if that date is exceeded, the hacking group will leak the stolen data online.

Microsoft is taking its traditional break from updates in December, so Windows 11 and 10 users will only get a monthly cumulative update next month - and no preview release.

November updates are happening as usual, what with the Patch Tuesday release just having landed, and there's going to be a preview update (of the non-security variety) that'll be deployed late in the month for those brave enough to download an optional upgrade.

However, in December, there won't be any such preview update at the end of the month due to it being the holidays, with Microsoft staff taking a break. As noted, Windows 11 and 10 PCs will still receive the main monthly cumulative update for December (of course).

Microsoft appears to be up to old tricks again in terms of pushing its Edge browser, and in this case, apparently poaching data from Chrome - something which has happened in the past.

The Verge's Tom Warren reports that a colleague on the tech site, Richard Lawler, ran into an odd situation with Edge where the browser fired itself up on boot-up of their PC.

Specifically, this was a Microsoft pop-up promising Windows 11 users the opportunity to 'enhance' their browsing by setting up the Edge web browser (with Copilot).

Microsoft has announced it will end support for Windows Mail, Calendar, and People on December 31, 2024. After this date, users can no longer send and receive emails or make changes using these apps. With that, Microsoft recommends that Windows Mail users jump to the new Outlook for Windows.

The good news is that locally stored emails, events, and other information in these three apps will remain exportable. Microsoft offers users a guide on exporting emails and contacts and importing them into the new Outlook - which you can read here.

For those wondering, the "new" Outlook is Microsoft's revamped web-based version of its popular and long-running email platform. It will eventually replace the desktop version of Outlook; however, support there is expected to continue until at least 2029.

Simple text editors offer a way to edit or write plain text without fancy formatting or other features usually associated with word processors. Generally used by coders and programmers, there are several text editors on the market, with Microsoft's Notepad being one of the most well-known.

Windows Notepad has been part of Microsoft's popular operating system since version 1.0 and has received numerous updates. While its core functionality has remained the same, new features and tools have been added. During the Windows 10 era, Microsoft added zoom capabilities to Notepad and the ability to highlight text and search for that phrase or text string on Bing.

Now, Microsoft is adding generative AI tools and features, currently available in Notepad version 11.2410.15.0 for Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels for Windows 11.

Microsoft has again kicked off another initiative to get Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, extolling the virtues of the latest 24H2 take on the newer desktop OS.

Windows Latest spotted the new banner that Microsoft is pushing (via a server-side update) to Windows 10 users, on the Windows Update panel.

The banner proclaims that "Windows 11 version 24H2 is ready - and it's free" in an effort to persuade those with a Windows 10 PC that's compatible with the newer operating system to hit the upgrade button, which, of course, is right there in the advert.

Microsoft released a statement over the weekend on its Release Health Dashboard that acknowledges the company is aware of some instances of Windows Server 2019 and 2022 automatically updating to Windows Server 2025.

The Redmond company explained that systems and servers experiencing this problem were using third-party software to manage updates, and the recent update that sparked the problem was marked as "Optional." However, third-party patch management software must not have flagged the update as such, which Microsoft highlights in the following statement, "Feature update metadata must be interpreted as Optional and not Recommended by patch management tools."

Unsurprisingly, it appears it isn't that simple either, as reports indicate the update was originally mislabeled by Microsoft, resulting in the Redmond company pulling it. Moreover, The Register reports a reader saying a standalone server not running any third-party patch management software was also subjected to the automatic update. What does this all mean?

Windows 11 (and 10) users have been in a bit of an odd place with the lock screen after Microsoft brought widgets to it - but that'll change soon enough, with a proper set of customization options apparently being readied.

Windows Latest has the details on this one, having been digging around in a preview build of Windows 11.

Currently, as you may be aware, Windows 11 and Windows 10's lock screens have an all-or-nothing situation for MSN widgets - you get the lot, or you can turn them all off, but nothing in-between.

It's no secret that Microsoft wants Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 - what with the end-of-life of the older OS coming round in less than a year - and the campaign to push this is seemingly being cranked up a notch.

As Neowin observes, there has been an uptick in Microsoft placing messaging on various official web pages reminding people that Windows 10 is on its way out, and that they should be looking to migrate to Windows 11 ideally.

The tech site has spotted another banner urging said upgrade, when you go to the Microsoft web page telling you how to create installation media for Windows. In the section for Windows 10, there's now a warning that states:

CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and Windows are making headlines again, but this time, the issue is nowhere near as severe as the last CrowdStrike Falcon sensor issue, which caused millions of PCs to BSOD (blue screen of death) earlier this year. Theo ne that impacted airlines, travel, banks, and other infrastructure around the globe.

This time, an issue with Windows 11 24H2 is causing apps like Microsoft Office to hang or crash. Windows 11 24H2 is one of the most significant updates to the operating system to date, with Microsoft calling it a full OS swap, so teething issues are expected. And, yes, one of the teething issues involves the CrowdStrike Falcon sensor.

It all comes down to policy settings, such as the Enhanced Exploitation Visibility Prevention Policy. This doesn't affect home users as CrowdStrike Falcon is a business-facing cybersecurity solution. CrowdStrike has already provided a statement confirming that the issue is Windows-related and unrelated to its software or any recent update.

The City of Columbus has confirmed that at least 500,000 people have been affected by a ransomware hack that potentially leaked a collection of personal information.

Ransomware traced back to the group known as Rhysida was detected on systems over the summer and now the City of Columbus, Ohio, has confirmed at least 500,000 people's data such as first and last names, dates of birth, home addresses, bank account information, and more, were leaked online. Reports indicate that Rhysida published approximately 3TB of stolen files on its blog after it failed to obtained a ransom from the city for the stolen data.

Letters were sent to the potentially affected individuals and were delivered to addresses around October 7. Notably, the confirmation didn't state how many victims received letters, or the specifics of the data that was leaked online, and is more than likely accessible somewhere on the dark web. Furthermore, security researcher Connor Goodwolf, legally called David Leroy Ross, said after downloading the stolen data from Rhysida he discovered one of the sources for the hack was the city's prosecutor.

Microsoft has been put in a tough position as the severance date for support for the world's most popular operating system is approaching, and users don't seem to be upgrading at the rate the Redmond company would like.

We have known for quite some time that Microsoft plans to officially cut support for Windows 10, the world's most popular operating system, in October of next year. Following the cut-off date, Windows 10 machines will no longer receive security updates from Microsoft, putting them at exponential risk of security breaches. It was only recently that Microsoft began offering users a $30 one-year continuation of Microsoft updates, with Enterprises needing to pay $61 and the education sector $1 (for the first year).

There is also the massive looming issue of what happens to all of the Windows 10 machines that don't meet the system requirements for Windows 11. Those machines will effectively be rendered useless as they will no longer be eligible to receive critical security updates. There are an estimated 240 million working computers soon to be thrown into landfills, according to technology firm Canalys, which issued a warning about this very problem back in December 2023.

Windows 11 24H2 is turning out to be quite the bug-fest, with some odd glitches popping up, and here's another one, this time hitting File Explorer.

Windows Latest reports that there's a serious issue in File Explorer with the three-dot (ellipsis) menu when you're using it in a full-screen window.

That's the button with three dots on it (also called meatballs) on the toolbar along the top of the File Explorer window, which when you click on it, summons a flyout menu below with extra options on it.

Microsoft is offering a prize of $1,000,000 as a fresh incentive to switch over to use its search engine, Bing, or web browser, Edge, or indeed other services.

This is part of the Microsoft Rewards loyalty program, a scheme whereby you pick up reward points by using Microsoft services such as the aforementioned products.

Windows Central flagged up the new million-dollar sweepstakes program, which was announced via an email from Microsoft that the tech site received, and is also detailed on an official website.

According to sources like StatCounter, which covers all PCs, Windows 10 is still by far the most used Windows operating system among PC users, with a 60% market share. However, looking at PC gamers - specifically, the data supplied by Valve as part of its monthly Steam Hardware & Survey Results - Windows 11 is pulling ahead.

According to Valve's latest data, which now includes October 2024 data, 51.97% of all Steam users are on Windows 11. With Windows accounting for 96.61% of PC gamer operating systems, Windows 10 has dropped to second place with 45.95% - a figure that is 2.71% lower than September's data.

Why are PC gamers adopting or making the jump to Windows 11 versus the rest of the PC community? It comes down to the operating system's more robust integration of DirectX 12 technologies like DirectStorage and cutting-edge visual effects like ray tracing. Plus, gamers are more likely to upgrade regularly versus businesses and those simply using their PCs for day-to-day tasks like shopping and checking emails.

If you've been worrying about what you're going to do in a year, when support runs out for Windows 10 - and you really don't want to upgrade to Windows 11 (or hardware requirements mean that you can't) - then Microsoft has thrown you a lifeline.

Albeit a lifeline with a cost attached, but this is the first time that Microsoft has actually made the scheme to pay for extended support available to the average consumer - with a charge of $30.

Previously, Microsoft has enacted ESU (Extended Security Update) programs for enterprise and education users, with subscriptions per user, but this personal individual option is new.

Microsoft's new super resolution ability - which was recently applied (in preview) to the Photos app in Windows 11 - has suffered from a seemingly botched rollout by the software giant.

This is a new AI ability - one for Copilot+ PCs, as it requires a beefy NPU for acceleration - and it allows for enhancing or enlarging images, by a factor of up to 8x. The idea is you can blow up a photo for a large print, or improve very low quality photos to something a bit sharper and more palatable.

This was supposed to be in testing for Windows Insiders, but as leaker PhantomOfEarth reports, super resolution was appearing on some devices that it wasn't supposed to be on. Presumably, that means non-Copilot+ PCs, rather than the feature coming to users outside of the Windows Insider programme.

It's officially less than a year until the world's most popular operating system loses support from Microsoft, in an event that is being described as "The biggest Ctrl-Alt-Delete" in history.

That operating system is none other than Windows 10, which, according to data from Statcounter, currently holds approximately 65% of the operating system market, with Windows 11 only recently bumping up past the 30% market. Notably, Windows 11 is being adopted at a rate much slower than previous operating system generations, and with Microsoft announcing the end-of-support date for October 2025, it's a real possibility that millions of Windows 10 users will have an increased security risk following the official end of support date.

Each PC no longer receiving security updates from Microsoft will be exponentially vulnerable to breaches or be rendered obsolete if it doesn't meet the hardware requirements for Windows 11. Microsoft has stated users with Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) editions of Windows 10, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC will all have extended support durations. However, any other version of Windows 10 will no longer receive support from Microsoft post-October 14, 2025.

Microsoft has recently published a paper and patent for a new form of video streaming called 'Gaze Based Video Stream Processing.' It's a simple but impressive software tool powered by AI that would bring the concept of foveated rendering to video meeting and chat applications like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Discord.

It's technology based on how we see as humans where objects within 5-10 degrees of our main focus are viewed with the most detail, with that quickly falling off by 20% outside of this 10 degrees.

Foveated rendering for VR gaming involves using eye-tracking to ensure that the areas or objects you're directly looking at are rendered at the highest quality with all the effects and detail settings cranked. At the same time, areas or objects not being looked at have reduced quality to boost performance. With its new patent, Microsoft is bringing this concept to video streaming.

If you own certain models of Western Digital SSDs then the company is 'highly recommending' that you install a new firmware update that resolves a bug in Windows 11 24H2.

As you may have seen yesterday, the issue pertains to the Host Memory Buffer feature (for more details, read our previous article), and the resulting bug means that some SSDs are affected by repeated crashing (with some ending up in a boot loop of BSoDs, in fact - really nasty).

WD tells us that the affected models are as follows: