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Hello from the team @ Technology Tree
Last week, ahead of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released emergency patches to address four previously undisclosed security flaws in Exchange Server that it says are being actively exploited by a new Chinese state-sponsored threat actor with the goal of perpetrating data theft.
Describing the attacks as "limited and targeted," Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) said the adversary used these vulnerabilities to access on-premises Exchange servers, in turn granting access to email accounts and paving the way for the installation of additional malware to facilitate long-term access to victim environments.
The three-stage attack involves gaining access to an Exchange Server either with stolen passwords or by using previously undiscovered vulnerabilities, followed by deploying a web shell to control the compromised server remotely. The last link in the attack chain makes use of remote access to plunder mailboxes from an organisation's network and export the collected data to file sharing sites like MEGA.
Although the vulnerabilities impact Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, Microsoft Exchange Server 2016, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, Microsoft said it's updating Exchange Server 2010 for "Defense in Depth" purposes.
To all our Cloud-based clients, luckily, this won’t affect you as only on-premise servers were targeted; one of the many benefits of implementing a Cloud-based system.
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Did you know that 88% of the 4 million computers and 3 million TVs purchased in Australia every year will end up in landfill? This contributes to the 140,000+ tonnes of electronic waste generated by Australians every year.
Although 98% of the components in your computer or television can be fully recycled through dedicated facilities, fewer than 1% of TVs and approximately 10% of PCs and laptops are recycled in Australia. eWaste can cause serious environmental problems due to toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury and arsenic polluting our soil and water and disrupting our ecosystem and our health.
eWaste can be recycled through organised drop-offs like the eWaste Drop-off Day held by the Town of Cambridge on Saturday 6th March. Initiatives like this will take your old TVs, DVD players, cameras, printers, speakers, laptops, computers, monitors, and any computer parts you have lying around. Keep an eye out for an organised drop-off in your area!
Feature Update: Modern comments in Word
Microsoft are rolling out a new comments experience in Word with improved keyboard shortcuts as well as improved @mentions and notifications. This experience unifies how comments work across Word, Excel, and PPT.
When this has rolled out to Microsoft users, you will see the modern comments experience, which allows you to @mention and post comments without worrying that co-authors will see their comments before they are complete.
Modern comments provides a consistent commenting experience across Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Users will be able to respond to comments directly from an email notification. The new design provides a focused view of comments as well as an optional all comments view via the Comments pane. With the new post model, Ctrl+Enter is a keyboard shortcut for posting comments.
The new experience shows comments to the right of the page by default. This default focused view hides all resolved comments so you can focus on active comments. The Comments button in the upper right corner of your Word window lets you switch to the Comments pane. This shows all comments in the document including resolved comments.
Learn more: Using modern comments in Word
REMINDER!
Windows Users
It is very important to ensure your devices are being updated which should be happening automatically even whilst working from home, depending on your home internet. Most of you should have the latest Windows 10 version 2009 (20H2). If you want to know more about what is new in this version click here. We are now seeing that most modern devices are now supported including the new Surface models.
Patch Tuesday: Microsoft regularly releases software patches usually every second Tuesday of every month for its software products. Please make sure you apply and restart you computer this week to have these updates applied to your device. For those of you who we managed under a service agreement we will be monitoring and will be in touch if they’re not being applied.
How to update: Allow yourself at least 10 – 15 minutes to fully shutdown and restart your system. This ensures patches are applied, this can also address (and solve) some problems you may be having with your system. You can also manually check by following steps that can be found here.
Apple Users
Mac users: the latest version of macOS is 11.2.3.
iPhone users: the latest version of iOS is now 14.4.1.
iPad users: the latest version of iPadOS is 14.4.1.
Apple TV users: The latest version of tvOS is 14.4.1.
Apple Watch users: The latest version of watchOS is 7.3.2.
As always, feel free to contact us at the office on 08 6161 7113 or email the team at support@techtree.com.au for any assistance with your queries.
For any after hours support (charges may apply), please contact Derek Stewart directly on 0412 000 063.