PatchTuesday
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Cortana can be used to hack Windows 10 PCs
Cortana might be super helpful at keeping track of your shopping lists, but it turns out it's not so great at keeping your PC secure. Researchers from McAfee have discovered that by activating Cortana on a locked Windows 10 machine, you can trick it into opening up a contextual menu which can then be used for code execution. This could deploy malicious software, or even reset a Windows account password.
Windows 8 gets automatic updates, enforced restarts after 72 hours of polite harassment
Windows 8 is renaming the second week of every month. After "Patch Tuesday" comes "Gentle reminder Wednesday," "Polite yet firm suggestion Thursday" and "Automatic restart Friday". In order to keep everyone's system secure, Windows Update will download patches in the background before adding a notification on your lock screen that you're due a restart. If you haven't managed it within 72 hours, you'll be given a 15 minute warning to save your work and close up before it forces the shutdown -- unless you're watching a movie or conducting a presentation, it'll lie in wait for your next idle period to do it. With this system, you'll only have to complete the procedure once a month and can plan your schedule accordingly. The only time the system will deviate is when a security threat like a blaster worm appears, at which point Microsoft will ensure you're restarting as soon as a fix is available. What, you didn't know that "keeping end-users on their toes" was a feature?
Patch for ancient DOS bug in latest Windows XP update causing blue screen errors
Looks like Patch Tuesday turned into BSOD Tuesday for some Windows XP users -- Microsoft's latest security updates for the venerable OS are causing blue screens and endless reboots for people. That's the word according to a growing support thread on Microsoft's site -- and making matters just slightly worse / funnier, it's apparently the patch for that 17-year-old DOS vulnerability that's causing all the trouble. You win some, you lose some, right? Microsoft's identified a fix for those with access to an XP install disc and an optical drive, but that leaves most netbook users out in the cold -- and considering netbooks are where most of the recent XP action's been going down lately, we're hoping a better solution comes down the pike soon. P.S.- That's the BSOD tattoo guy in the photo -- remember him? [Thanks, HyperSl4ck3r]
