Windows is one of the most popular operating systems around and, as it’s a Microsoft product, you would like to think it’s safe. But this isn’t quite true.

As part of their January 2022 ‘Patch Tuesday’ report, Microsoft announced that 97 new security vulnerabilities had been discovered across its range of operating systems. And with an estimated 1 billion Windows PCs in use across the globe, this is very concerning. Any operating system, of course, is a highly complex piece of software. The sheer amount of coding required, to deliver high quality functionality, means that mistakes are inevitable. And then there are the hackers, individuals who are determined to find new and innovative ways to breach Windows.

What Were the Vulnerabilities?

Nine of the reported vulnerabilities were classed as critical by Microsoft, with the remaining 88 being classed as significant threats. Technical details are yet to be released, but it’s known that some of the critical vulnerabilities were associated with Microsoft Exchange Servers and the HTTP Protocol Stack. And, in particular, the HTTP Protocol Stack vulnerabilitiy is one which would allow hackers to allow remote code execution i.e. taking control of an affected PC from a remote connection.

Six of the vulnerabilities discovered have also been categorized as zero-day vulnerabilties. These affect a range of Windows background processes and, as they are classed as zero-day, it’s believed that they were known to hackers before Microsoft’s announcement. Collectively, the 97 vulnerabilities are believed to have impacted the security of major Microsoft applications including Excel, Word, Edge, Windows Defender and all manner of network tools. As a result, it’s believed that users of Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2019 and even Windows Server 2022 are all at risk.

How Can Windows Users Stay Safe?

Naturally, any user of Windows is likely to be very concerned after reading the above. But the good news is that Microsoft’s January 2022 patch addresses all of these vulnerabilities. Installing it, therefore, should be the number one priority for any PCs running Windows. And that will be nearly all of them. Unfortunately, for those running Windows Server 2019 and Server 2022, this patch was withdrawn due to bugs it was generating in these environments. Users of these operating systems should remain extra vigilant and ensure that automatic Windows updates are in place.

Final Thoughts

The last few months have been relatively poor for Microsoft when it comes to patching vulnerabilities. In September 2021, it was revealed that their patch for the ‘PrintNightmare’ flaw contained bugs which negatively affected numerous printers. And, now, it appears to be history repeating itself with Windows Server users left vulnerable to both security risks and buggy updates. These issues will, no doubt, be rectified quickly but, as ever, time is of the essence when it comes to PC security. Ultimately, installing each and every security update remains the very best practice for protecting your IT devices.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Make Windows 8 Look Like Windows 8

Are you disappointed with the new unfamiliar Windows 8 or 8.1 interface? Here’s how you can make Windows 8 look like Windows 7.

Fortunately, there are ways to get Windows 8 to act like the Windows interface you know and love.

Probably the most off- putting aspect of Windows 8 is the lack of a Start Menu. With that in mind, the first order of business is installing a third- party  Start Menu program. We recommend Classic Shell. Aside from being free, it offers one of the closest approximations to the Windows 7 Start Menu obtainable from any third- party app. It can be downloaded here.

When setting up Classic Shell, go to the Start Menu Style tab and select Windows 7 Style.

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Under the Basic Settings tab, check the Skip Metro Screen box.

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This will ensure that you will go straight to the desktop without having to view the media saturated greeting screen that looks like this:

metro-screen

As annoying as that greeting screen is the charms bar shown below.

Windows-8-Charms-Bar

To disable this, download the free Winaero Charms Bar Killer. Launch the application. It will go to the notification area. Right click the program’s icon in the notification area and select Kill Charms Bar.

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This will disable all those annoying charms and allow your computer to behave like a desktop rather than a tablet.

For more information on this or other things affecting your PC, consult your local IT professionals.

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System commands saved by Bing, will show up as ‘search suggestions’.

Windows 8 users need to be aware that Bing will record system commands inputted locally.  This is a big problem for businesses (and even individuals) if the commands are unique and track-able, as the commands are publicly displayed for anyone using the Bing via the ‘search suggestions.’

Pros and Cons

Companies like Google and Microsoft will, one way or another, find ways to track your user data, and it’s crucial that people are aware of what is being extracted from a computer console every time the power switch is flipped on.

By integrating Bing into the OS itself, the results may be beneficial as well as detrimental.  When users search for something on a computer, those same keywords are recorded so that Bing can help other users find things on the internet quicker.  For sensitive and private data (in this case system commands pointing to your network), the threat of hackers obtaining such information can become a major problem.

How to Disable

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How to disable it

To prevent Bing from recording your system command inputs, go to your Search options in Windows 8 by pressing Windows + C, clicking on “Settings”, then “Change PC Settings”, “Search and Apps” and sliding the ‘Use Bing to search online’ to ‘Off.’

For more tips on how you can keep your information safe while using a connected device, contact your office IT professionals.

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