news
Proprietary Failures and Microsoft TCO/Layoffs
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Tom's Hardware ☛ 9,000 Asus routers compromised by botnet attack and persistent SSH backdoor that even firmware updates can't fix [Ed: Proprietary junk with bad passwords]
The attack begins with threat actors targeting the routers through brute-force login attempts and exploiting authentication bypass techniques, some of which remain undocumented without assigned CVEs. Once inside, they target and exploit CVE-2023-39780, a known command injection vulnerability, to execute arbitrary system-level commands. This technique allows the attackers to manipulate the router’s configuration using legitimate functions within the firmware.
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LinkedIn joins wave of tech layoffs with announcement of hundreds of job cuts [Ed: More Microsoft layoffs]
Earlier this month, Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, also implemented layoffs impacting 86 employees across several Bay Area offices, reflecting wider corporate measures to optimise operations.
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Xbox Puts Handheld Console On Hold [Ed: XBox is dying, no need for this vapourware anymore]
Microsoft reportedly still plans to create a handheld Xbox device, but has put production on hold to improve performance first.
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Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets
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The Register UK ☛ Microsoft's May Patch Tuesday update fails on some Windows 11 VMs
Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday update is failing to install on some Windows 11 machines, mostly virtual ones, and dumping them into recovery mode with a boot error. Its only recommendation to avoid the problem for now is to dodge the update.
According to an advisory published on Wednesday, the problem affects Windows 11 versions 22H2 and 23H2, specifically during the installation of the May 13 update. Redmond says the issue is hitting a small number of devices, primarily virtual machines, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Desktop, and on-prem VMs hosted on Citrix or Hyper-V.
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