You may recall from our previous blog post in October that Microsoft will replace the core terms of their customer agreement for all existing and new Microsoft customers after January 31, 2020. This new Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) is said to improve the purchase experience to better support all customers.
I am pleased to announce the recent promotions of two of our most influential employee-owners to our senior leadership team. These individuals have been an integral part of our company and culture since the day they arrived. They have repeatedly demonstrated what it means to be a good leader and a valued partner.
Yesterday Microsoft announced and delivered a fix for a serious vulnerability in Windows 10 cryptography function (CVE-2020-0601). The NSA had previously discovered and notified Microsoft to develop a solution. Microsoft also stated that they had seen no exploit of this vulnerability to date. The vulnerability would allow an attacker to disguise their malicious software as a valid and certified piece of code; thereby spoofing the Windows 10 PC or Windows Server 2019 into thinking it is legitimate code that can be trusted and therefore executed.
The time for planning has ended. Microsoft will no longer provide extended support for Windows 7. While Extended Security Updates (ESU) may be available for Professional and Enterprise editions of Windows 7 (for a maximum of three years from January 14, 2020), this option will come at an increasing cost to organizations.
Citrix recently published a critical security bulletin (CVE-2019-19781) advising users of a vulnerability in the Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) device formerly known as NetScaler ADC, Citrix Gateway, and NetScaler Gateway. If exploited, it can allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute code on the appliance that can lead to possibly compromising a critical perimeter security component. Many organizations rely on these devices as load balancers to control access from the outside to internal Citrix Servers and to terminate SSL VPNs.
In light of the uptick in breaches at small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) in the last 12-months, I wanted to briefly review the cyberthreat landscape and offer some cybersecurity best practices organizations can implement to better position their businesses against the bad guys.
Have you noticed consumer and business sites including mobile applications requiring multiple steps to verify who you are? Perhaps you’ve set-up a multi-step verification method to access your bank or Google email account? This security measure is growing in popularity as most data breaches today begin with a set of compromised credentials. From financial institutions to online stores to social media sites, many businesses are now requiring multiple factors of verification to ensure a user is who they say they are, reducing the chances of a cybercriminal successfully gaining access to their networks.
Today, your applications and files are no longer all contained within your four walls. Your staff may work from home or is on the move which means they are accessing your company's data and apps from multiple locations and on multiple devices. To keep your data secure, you need to know who is knocking at the door before you let them in. Your business might require complex passwords, but in reality, your staff is most likely using the same passwords across personal and business accounts, and the cybercriminals know it.
Systems Engineering is aware of an issue impacting some Microsoft 365 services. Microsoft is investigating and will be providing updates. You can find updates below or check their service health status page.
ISSUE RESOLVED
Microsoft's Final Status: We've monitored the service for an extended period of time and worked with some of the affected users to confirm that impact has been mitigated following our redirection of the affected traffic.
Every year, Cyber Monday brings us incredible deals and discounts; however, it's also the time of year when cybercriminals increase their efforts to steal our money and confidential information. To stay safe while shopping online, keep the following cybersafety tips in mind.
