Tag Archives: Microsoft

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Microsoft Teams: Complete Starter Guide for Business Owners

For organizations that are settled into Microsoft’s family of apps and services, the obvious collaboration platform is Microsoft Teams. And the killer feature is that Teams supports a robust API for add-ins.  The more far-flung your organization is, the more your people need software to help them communicate and collaborate.  … Teams integrates a collection of Microsoft 365 online services, making it possible for members of your organization to talk face to face, chat, hold virtual meetings, share files, and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and other projects in real time. The chat capabilities cover the same ground as those found in Slack, while the meeting and video conferencing features compare favorably with those available in Zoom and other video conferencing tools. And the killer feature for Microsoft Teams is that it supports a robust API for add-ins …

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Cortana’s Promotion Is Tied To Microsoft 365

Today, if you click the Cortana button on a Windows 10 PC, you still get the “Ask Cortana” prompt, and you can click the microphone button to start talking. But saying “Hey Cortana” does nothing. All those third-party skills are no longer operative, and Cortana’s notebook has officially been tossed into the digital dumpster. … Cortana is “Your personal productivity assistant in Microsoft 365,” and the tasks are no longer about music and fitness and home automation. Instead, the skill set includes things like catching up with your email, coordinating meetings, and filing expense reports. …

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Microsoft’s Firmware Scanner Takes Security to a Whole New Level

Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (Microsoft Defender ATP) is extending its protection capabilities to the firmware level with a new Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) scanner.  Hardware and firmware-level attacks have continued to rise in recent years, as modern security solutions made persistence and detection evasion on the operating system more difficult. Attackers compromise the boot flow to achieve low-level malware behavior that’s hard to detect, posing a significant risk to an organization’s security posture.  Windows Defender System Guard helps defend against firmware attacks by providing guarantees for secure boot through hardware-backed security features…

Microsoft.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Microsoft Teams: Free version can now create video meetings

Users of the free version of Teams, the Microsoft 365 online collaboration platform, can now create video meetings.  The change, spotted by OnMSFT, means Teams free users can create a Teams meeting from their account, rather than only being able to join a meeting created by paying customers. … Microsoft Teams, which launched in 2017, has grown from 44 million daily active users in March, 2020 to 75 million in April, 2020. …

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Microsoft Teams: Now free version lets you create video meetings

Users of the free version of Teams, the Microsoft 365 online collaboration platform, can now create video meetings.  … The move is likely to be another effort from Microsoft to go to battle with Zoom, the biggest winner in video calling and conferencing since the global coronavirus pandemic shoved the world toward teleworking. …

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Microsoft Teams will be bigger than Windows

Microsoft is very excited about Microsoft Teams, their fastest-growing business app ever, even before the COVID-19 crisis, but according to Jeff Teper, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, the app is just getting started.  “It’s a platform that transcends operating systems that will be even bigger than Windows,” Jeff Teper told Venturebeat. This is because Teams is seeing application well beyond the 1 billion Daily Active Windows users. … Teams has become more than an app – it is also increasingly a platform.Teams has become more than an app – it is also increasingly a platform.Teams has become more than an app – it is also increasingly a platform.

mspoweruser-com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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​Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) for business: Everything you need to know

In this guide, we cover the multitude of Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise editions… The exact mix of apps and services available with a Microsoft 365 subscription depends on which edition you’ve chosen. The following five services are common to all business and enterprise plans.

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Zoom vs Skype: Can Microsoft offer ‘hassle-free’ video calls?

Skype has now used Twitter to promote a recently added feature that offers users “a simple, hassle-free way to connect with the important people in your life on #Skype, no sign-ups or downloads required”.

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Working from home? Stay connected using Microsoft Teams, for free

Microsoft Teams is a collection of online services that you can access through a web browser (at https://teams.microsoft.com) or through the Teams app, which is available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. … That combo of apps and services gives you the ability to invite people to join your organization and create teams for different groups; everyone in your organization can chat, with Slack-like channels within each team for group conversations; and private chat capabilities allow 1:1 and group conversations, with the option to add audio and video and share screens.

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Microsoft case study: customer under attack by 6 hacker groups

Imagine discovering six threat actors all at the same time!  Recently, Microsoft’s Detection and Response Team (DART) was engaged by a large, multinational company that faced a sophisticated, state sponsored advanced persistent threat.

Microsoft.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Microsoft Issues Excel Security Alert

A well-known hacking group called TA505 is weaponizing Microsoft Excel to spread a malware payload. Researchers from Microsoft Security Intelligence have this week taken to Twitter to warn users to be alert to the ongoing campaign.

Forbes.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Patch the top ten software flaws used by crooks

The most commonly exploited vulnerabilities – and the technology they target … patch these now!  Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft WinRAR

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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Meet the new Microsoft Edge: Your move, Google

Google Chrome and the new Microsoft Edge browser are siblings, but that doesn’t mean they’re equal. Far from it.  The most important difference between the new Edge and Google Chrome strikes right at the heart of Google’s business model. By default, the new Edge turns on tracking protection and sets it to Balanced, which blocks many ads and almost all third-party tracking code. …

ZDNet.com click the link to read the rest of the story.  Get our free tools here.

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What will happen January 15, 2020 – to your Windows 7 PC

Microsoft has been warning Windows 7 users for the past year-plus that after January 14, 2020, they’ll get no more security updates to the operating system for free. Even though users will be able to continue to run Windows 7 after that date, they’ll be more susceptible to potential security problems. To hammer that point home, Microsoft is planning to deliver a new pop-up notification to Windows 7 users on January 15, 2020.

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Windows Hack Attackers! Microsoft Responds With Powerful Counterpunch

It has been confirmed that the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) has been tracking a hacking campaign against Windows users. … The threat group behind these cyber-attacks is thought to be based in North Korea and has been named as “Thallium” by Microsoft and is also known as APT37. …

Forbes.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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So you want to keep running Windows 7? Good luck with that, small businesses

The end of Windows 7 support is weeks away. Microsoft says small businesses can pay for extended security updates just like their enterprise cousins. … Support for Windows 7 ends in just a few weeks. After Jan. 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide free security updates and bug fixes for the venerable operating system to the general public.  The … upgrade tools still work, and the end result is an apparently valid digital license. But those offers could end soon.  Those updates will be available, however, to Microsoft customers who are willing to pay for the privilege.

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

We can sell you updates, if you wait!

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Microsoft: New Dexphot malware has infected 80,000+ computers

Microsoft security engineers detailed today a new malware strain that has been infecting Windows computers since October 2018 to hijack their resources to mine cryptocurrency and generate revenue for the attackers.  Named Dexphot, this… botnet reached almost 80,000 infected computers. …

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Is Microsoft OneDrive confusing? Start with this cheat sheet

For Windows 10 and Office 365 users, the default cloud storage service is Microsoft OneDrive. Use this guide quickly get up to speed on Microsoft’s cloud storage app. …

TechRepublic.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Here’s how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade

Microsoft’s much-hyped free upgrade offer for Windows 10 ended in 2016, right? Not exactly. The GWX tool may be gone, but all the other upgrade tools still work. The end result is an apparently valid digital license, and there’s no evidence that the free upgrades will end any time soon. …

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Microsoft to apply California’s privacy law for all US users

Microsoft‘s chief privacy officer promises to apply the CCPA to all US users, not just Californians. … The California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, is currently set to go into effect on January 1, 2020. The upcoming law is considered one of the most restrictive privacy legislations in the world world. … Under the CCPA, companies must be transparent about the type of data they collect from users and how they use it. In addition, companies must also provide users with the option to prevent their personal information from being sold.

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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This free Windows 10 upgrade offer still works. Here’s why — and how to get it

The vast majority of Windows PCs sold in the past four years included Windows 10 licenses, and businesses who have stuck with Windows 7 have typically done so by exercising downgrade rights. They’re free to install Windows 10 anytime, without having to jump through any hoops. On PC’s that were originally sold with older versions of Windows, Microsoft’s calculus is pretty straightforward: It’s in the company’s best interests to see those old Windows versions retired. …

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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OneDrive adds Personal Vault option for private files and photos

A new feature in the consumer version of Microsoft’s OneDrive lets you store sensitive files in the cloud with extra encryption and authentication options. But you’ll need an Office 365 subscription for unlimited access. …

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Facebook, Microsoft: We’ll pay out $10m for tech to spot deepfake videos

If AI-generated ‘deepfake’ videos are going to spread like wildfire and cause social chaos in the future, it’s probably going to happen on Facebook… The aim is to create tech that everyone can use to detect when a video has been manipulated with AI.  However, to do that, it needs to have a larger dataset of deepfake content to work with, and so far the industry doesn’t have it or a benchmark for detecting deepfakes, according to Facebook.

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Here’s how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade

Microsoft’s much-hyped free upgrade offer for Windows 10 ended in 2016, right? Not exactly. … In this post, I’ll cover the basics of a Windows 10 upgrade. I’ll also talk about the licensing issues involved, which are (as always) confusing. …

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

Are you still waiting to upgrade?  What is your biggest concern?

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Microsoft Warned 10,000 Users Targeted By State-Sponsored Hackers

Microsoft is warning customers that they are being targeted by state-sponsored hackers. Over the last year, the software giant said it had notified 10,000 users that they had been targeted by adversaries working for foreign governments. Some people had also been compromised as a result of these attempts…

Forbes.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Microsoft fixes zero-day flaw exploited by Russian hackers

This month, Microsoft patched 77 vulnerabilities, including two zero-days — security flaws that were being actively exploited in the wild. … The zero-day was discovered by ESET as part of the attack chain of a group of Russian state-funded hackers. The company told ZDNet it plans to publish an in-depth blog post about these attacks…

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Microsoft adds OneDrive Personal Vault to secure your critical files

Microsoft’s OneDrive Personal Vault locks down a portion of your OneDrive cloud storage with time-limited two-factor authentication.  Personal Vault is designed for files you really hold dear: tax information, scanned passports, that sort of thing.  … Microsoft says that Personal Vault applies an extra layer of protection, essentially by reducing the timeout period. …

PCWorld.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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How to Avoid Windows 7’s End-of-Support Nags

Windows 7 has begun nagging you to upgrade to Windows 10—again. Specifically, you’ll see a message informing you that Microsoft will officially stop supporting Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. Here’s how to avoid it.  You can just click “Do not remind me again” and close the window to stop the nags. But you should think seriously about upgrading your computer… now!

Howtogeek.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Windows 10 is finally getting the ever popular “PowerToys”

Microsoft is rebooting and open sourcing PowerToys, the Windows 95 utilities that brought power users the popular Tweak UI, which allowed users to manipulate the Windows user interface, and over a dozen other tools. Microsoft is planning to publish previews of PowerToys utilities via GitHub this summer…

ZDnet.com click the link to read the rest of the story. Our FREE Tools can help!

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Microsoft: We promise you’ll get better controls over your data

Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it will change how it collects data from devices when customers use its services, introducing the new ‘required’ and ‘optional’ categories for data collected, say, when enterprise customers use Office 365.

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