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    7Dec, 2023
    Microsoft Will Eventually Start Charging You for Windows 10 Security Updates

    All good things must come to an end, and a decade after its first release, Windows 10 will finally be sent to a farm upstate. It had a good run, though Microsoft plans to keep dropping security updates after the OS’ demise on Oct. 14, 2025. Just be aware that the tech giant will force you to dip into your wallet to keep accessing security fixes and small bug hunts.

    That date is two years in the future, but Microsoft explained more of its plans in a Tuesday blog post. The current version, 22H2, will be the last of its kind for Windows 10, though it will still get monthly security updates all the way through the OS’ planned death date.

    After that, it will enter the “Extended Security Update” program that will allow both companies and individual users to purchase subscriptions to access monthly security updates. Businesses can purchase yearly ESU subscriptions, though Microsoft still has yet to detail how individual users can buy into the program. More importantly, we still don’t know how much it will cost individual users to avoid making the switch.

    It’s very much not recommended to keep using any software after it loses security updates, though, of course, you can keep accessing it at your own risk. The company last employed an ESU for Windows 7, which lasted from 2019 up to January of this year. That popular version of the OS received security updates all the way into 2020, even though it was released back in 2009.

    If a company pays for Windows 365 on a Windows 10 device that connects to a cloud PC that runs Windows 11, they’ll be able to access the ESU for free. Otherwise, Microsoft is really, really emphasizing that users should move on to Windows 11. It’s still free to switch to the newer operating system, but users wanting to avoid Microsoft’s big Copilot AI push or those increasingly annoying messages and ads to buy into Microsoft’s other software subscriptions may have had a good reason to delay.

    Windows 8 lasted about 10 years before it stopped receiving free security updates, but the company decided not to provide ESU service to the much less popular OS. Windows 10, on the other hand, is still much more widely used than the company’s latest version of Windows. Data from Statcounter shows Windows 10 still makes up close to 70% of the market share worldwide compared to just below 27% of Windows 11.

    Resource : https://gizmodo.com/microsfot-windows-10-charging-2025-1851074975

    25Oct, 2023
    India targets Microsoft, Amazon tech support scammers in nationwide crackdown

    India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided 76 locations in a nationwide crackdown on cybercrime operations behind tech support scams and cryptocurrency fraud.

    The police operation, part of Operation Chakra-II, aims to dismantle cyber-enabled financial crime rings and is a collaborative effort involving international law enforcement agencies and tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, working alongside the Indian federal enforcement agency.

    In raids spanning multiple Indian states, including Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Bihar, Delhi, and West Bengal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) confiscated 32 mobile phones, 48 laptops and hard disks, and 33 SIM cards.

    Additionally, Indian authorities took action by freezing “numerous” bank accounts and seizing emails linked to 15 accounts, providing critical information on the alleged scam operations.

    Long-running tech support scams

    As a result of Operation Chakra-II, the CBI discovered two tech support scam operations running for at least five years, impersonating customer support agents working for “two well-known multi-national companies.”

    “The illegal call centers raided by CBI were set up to impersonate Microsoft and Amazon customer support. They targeted over 2,000 customers across Amazon and Microsoft primarily based in the U.S., but also in Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, and the UK,” said Amy Hogan-Burney, the General Manager of Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit.

    “This operation was supported by a joint criminal referral made by Amazon and Microsoft through joint prosecution agreements in the U.S. and India, as the same cyber criminals were targeting both our customers,” Amazon added.

    The tech support scam rings used various international payment gateways and channels to facilitate the movement of funds illicitly acquired from foreign nationals, mainly from the U.S., U.K., and Germany.

    “These scammers would contact the victims via internet pop-up messages that falsely appeared to be security alerts from these MNCs (Complainants). The pop-up messages fraudulently claimed that the consumer’s computer was having various technical issues,” said the CBI.

    “A toll-free number would be given, where the victim would contact, and call would land up in their e-call centres (of accused). These companies would then take remote access of the victim’s computer & convince the victim of presence of non-existing problems and then allegedly make them pay hundreds of Dollars for unnecessary services.”

    According to the FBI’s 2022 Internet Crime Report, tech support scams ranked among the top five reported crime types from 2018 to 2022.

    In the past year alone, these scams led to losses exceeding $800 million for more than 32,000 victims across the United States.

    Cryptocurrency fraud operations also targeted

    Additionally, the CBI uncovered a cryptocurrency fraud ring associated with a fake crypto-mining operation that targeted Indian nationals, resulting in losses of at least Rs. 100 crore (1 Billion Indian Rupees), worth approximately $12 million.

    During the investigation, Indian authorities identified 150 accounts linked to this cryptocurrency crime ring, comprising accounts from 46 shell companies, 42 proprietorship firms, and 50 individual accounts, all used to collect illegally obtained funds.

    The CBI says the scammers developed a fake cryptocurrency token, luring investors with promises of significant profits from investments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

    They allegedly created a website to mislead investors into believing their funds would be used to acquire mining machines, with the profits generated from the mined cryptocurrency to be distributed among investors.

    While, initially, the investors received returns to establish trust, the operation stopped running in August 2021 after collecting payments from unsuspecting Indian citizens who invested through various payment gateways.

    “Based on evidence gathered during Operation Chakra-II, law enforcement agencies internationally are being notified of details of identified victims, Shell companies, identified money mules, identified proceeds of crime, details of co-accused/ support elements for comprehensive action to dismantle these criminal networks,” the CBI said.

    “We are proud of our long-standing collaboration with law enforcement to combat Tech Support Fraud, which has resulted in 30-plus call center raids and 100-plus arrests to date,” Hogan-Burney said.

    “Through our continued commitment to protect consumers from impersonation scams, we initiated takedowns of more than 20,000 phishing websites and 10,000 phone numbers being used as part of impersonation schemes in 2022. We also have referred hundreds of bad actors across the globe to law enforcement authorities, which have resulted in arrests and raids on scam operations,” Amazon added.

    Resource : https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/india-targets-microsoft-amazon-tech-support-scammers-in-nationwide-crackdown/?&web_view=true

    14Jul, 2021
    Microsoft to acquire cybersecurity firm RiskIQ as cyber threats mount

    Microsoft on Monday announced that it’s buying cybersecurity firm RiskIQ to help companies better protect themselves as ransomware and other cyber attacks become increasingly disruptive. 

    Microsoft (MSFT) said the acquisition will help its customers address the unique risks created by remote work and relying on cloud computing amid “the increasing sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks.” 

    RiskIQ’s software allows organizations to monitor their entire networks — including operations running on various cloud providers — and its threat intelligence research helps businesses understand and mitigate potential risks. 

    “We couldn’t be more excited to join forces to enable the global community to defend against the rising tide of cyberattacks,” RiskIQ Founder and CEO Elias Manousos said in a blog post Monday. 

    The announcement comes at a time when cybersecurity is top of mind for many business leaders, following a string of recent ransomware attacks that temporarily took out a major fuel pipeline, meat supplier  and IT vendor, among others. 

    Microsoft has also had its own cybersecurity challenges this year: Chinese-linked group Hafnium breached the company’s Exchange email service in March, potentially giving the group access to data from tens of thousands of organizations, including state and local governments, academic institutions, infectious disease researchers and businesses. 

    Microsoft declined to disclose the financial terms of the acquisition. Bloomberg on Sunday reported that Microsoft paid more than $500 million in cash to buy RiskIQ. 

    Prior to the acquisition, RiskIQ had raised more than $80 million from investors. Most recently, it raised a $15 million Series D round announced last June aimed at helping integrate the company’s software into critical infrastructure, including to protect against nation-state adversaries. At the time, RiskIQ said it served 30% of the Fortune 500 and 6,000 organizations globally. 

    Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/12/tech/microsoft-riskiq-acquisition/index.html