Tag

Microsoft

11 stories

Microsoft proposes voluntary buyouts for roughly 60,000 employees as it pivots toward AI

Microsoft has offered voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees, part of a broader effort to reshape its workforce and reduce costs as the company refocuses priorities around artificial intelligence. The program targets specific teams and levels across multiple countries and is framed as an option for employees considering a next step outside the company. The offer in brief The voluntary exit program was communicated to affected employees this week. Reports…

Saugata DattaOct 27, 20262 min read6

Cybersecurity

Microsoft’s Emergency .NET Fixes: Brotli Buffer Overflow and Linux Tarball Ownership Vulnerabilities

Microsoft has released out-of-band security updates for .NET to address a critical Brotli decompression buffer overflow and unsafe ownership metadata in Linux .NET tarballs. Published October 25, 2026, the fixes cover .NET 8, .NET 9, .NET 10, and .NET 11 Release Candidate 3 and complete remediation for issues that were not fully resolved in the October 13 updates. Microsoft urges administrators and development teams to apply these updates as soon…

Saugata DattaOct 27, 20263 min read8

Linux

Windows 11 KB5127936: Microsoft removes a hidden app-launch slowdown

Microsoft has quietly been squeezing more speed out of Windows 11, and one of the latest tweaks targets a small but perceptible friction point that slows app launches. In the newest Release Preview update, KB5127936, Windows will stop spawning a temporary process when you open a link or launch Edge from the Taskbar or Start menu if the browser is already running. That unnecessary detour lengthens the launch path; removing…

Saugata DattaOct 26, 20263 min read12

Cybersecurity

Microsoft Patches Windows Shell Zero-Day (CVE-2026-96951) Exploited to Bypass Mark of the Web

Microsoft released an urgent patch in the October 2026 Patch Tuesday cycle to address an actively exploited Windows Shell zero-day that allows attackers to bypass Mark of the Web (MOTW) protections. Tracked as CVE-2026-96951 and rated Important with a CVSS score of 8.8, Microsoft confirmed exploitation had already occurred when the update shipped. The vendor’s “Exploitation Detected” assessment raises this from a theoretical risk to an immediate operational concern for…

Saugata DattaOct 14, 20264 min read120

Cybersecurity

Attackers Exploit SharePoint Authentication Bypass After Public PoC Release

Microsoft’s SharePoint platform is facing active exploitation following the public release of a proof-of-concept (PoC) for a critical authentication bypass vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-55040. Patched in July’s Patch Tuesday, the flaw allows unauthenticated actors to impersonate SharePoint users by forging JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). Since the PoC surfaced, security researchers and telemetry providers have observed real-world attempts that underscore the urgency for administrators to apply updates and audit their environments.…

Saugata DattaAug 13, 20263 min read229

Azure

Microsoft removes Support and Recovery Assistant from Windows — what it means

Microsoft has removed the Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) from Windows, according to recent reports. Once a handy troubleshooting companion for Office and other Microsoft products, SaRA helped users diagnose and fix a variety of common issues. Its absence changes the options available to end users and IT teams when problems arise, but there are practical alternatives and steps you can take right now. What SaRA did and why it…

Saugata DattaApr 7, 20263 min read387

Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Links Medusa Ransomware Affiliate to Zero-Day Exploitation Campaign

Microsoft’s recent analysis tying a Medusa ransomware affiliate to a campaign that leveraged zero-day vulnerabilities has put a renewed spotlight on the evolving tactics of extortion groups and the threat posed by previously unknown software flaws. For security teams and executives, the announcement is a reminder that threat actors are combining rapid vulnerability exploitation with tried-and-true ransomware playbooks to increase both speed and impact. What Microsoft reported and why it…

Saugata DattaApr 6, 20264 min read400

Azure

Microsoft Forces Upgrades on Unmanaged Windows 11 24H2 PCs Amid Rapid Emergency Fixes

Microsoft has begun rolling out forced upgrades for unmanaged Windows 11 devices running the 24H2 build, a move aimed at keeping consumer and unmanaged enterprise machines on supported and secure versions of the OS. The company is giving users a short grace period to pause the automatic update, but administrators and everyday users should be prepared to install the latest updates once that pause expires. At the same time, Microsoft…

Saugata DattaApr 4, 20264 min read424

Microsoft

Microsoft issues emergency Windows 11 update KB5086672 to fix broken March preview (KB5079391)

Microsoft has released an out-of-band (OOB) emergency update—KB5086672—to address installation problems introduced by the March 2026 non-security preview update (KB5079391). The optional cumulative preview, which shipped for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, was pulled after users began reporting installation failures with the error code 0x80073712. KB5086672 was published on March 31, 2026 as a replacement that both restores the functionality of the preview and includes the fixes and protections…

Saugata DattaApr 1, 20263 min read427

Artificial Intelligence

AI for Nuclear Energy — Powering an Intelligent, Resilient Future

The world’s surge in power demand is colliding with an energy infrastructure that was largely designed for an analog age. Meeting that demand with clean, reliable power requires more than ambition; it requires faster, repeatable delivery of complex projects. Nuclear energy is central to that future, but development timelines, fragmented data, and heavy regulatory processes create persistent bottlenecks. Artificial intelligence, applied thoughtfully across the project lifecycle, offers a path to…

Saugata DattaMar 28, 20265 min read457

Artificial Intelligence

Two Words, One Deal: How “Stateful” vs “Stateless” Could Decide a $50 Billion Cloud Dispute

Last week’s reporting brought into sharp relief a narrowly technical — but potentially enormous — dispute between Microsoft, Amazon and OpenAI over a reported $50 billion commercial arrangement. At the center of the controversy are two terms engineers use every day: “stateful” and “stateless.” Depending on how those words are interpreted, Microsoft may have grounds to claim a breach of its exclusivity agreement with OpenAI, or Amazon and OpenAI may…

Saugata DattaMar 18, 20265 min read488

Free Tools: IP, DNS, SSL