16Feb 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Microsoft releases new driver and firmware updates for Surface Book and Surface Pro and Microsoft Build

Microsoft Development, News Items
Microsoft releases new driver and firmware updates for Surface Book and Surface Pro Microsoft released new driver and firmware updates for Surface Pro (Model 1796), Surface Pro with LTE Advanced (Model 1807) and Surface Book devices with Windows 10 Version 1703 (Creators Update) or above. These firmware updates improve system stability and on Surface Book devices provide improved battery reliability. Find the full change log from Microsoft below. Surface Pro (Model 1796): Surface System Aggregator Firmware (v233.2099.256.0) improves system stability. Surface Pro with LTE Advanced (Model 1807): Surface System Aggregator Firmware (v233.2102.1.0) improves system stability. Surface Book: Surface Embedded Controller Firmware (v90.2098.256.0) improves system stability. Surface Integration (v1.1.339.1) improves battery reliability. Microsoft has also released a new version of the Surface Dock Updater (v2.12.136.0) for IT professionals. This update includes fixes for external display stability…
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16Feb 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Google Chrome Browser to Start Blocking Certain Web Advertising

News Items, Software Events, Software Releases
Google Chrome Browser to Start Blocking Certain Web Advertising All Google Chrome Browser users starting on February 15, 2018, your Chrome browser will start blocking ads that don’t meet the standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads. The idea is to improve the browsing experience of web users by getting rid of the worst of the annoyances that they generally object to. These annoyances include ads that provide auto-playing video with audio, ads that block the site you’re trying to reach and ads that cover large areas of the screen.  I am not sure how this will handle something like CNN.com that is famous for putting up some of the worst possible ads.  Even if you hover over the ad it sometimes will automatically start. Remember that CNN as well…
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16Feb 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Microsoft Outlook could be affected by the Spectre-Meltdown bug

Microsoft Development, News Items
Microsoft Outlook could be affected by the Spectre-Meltdown bug The February updates address security flaws in Internet Explorer, Edge, Microsoft's ChakraCore JavaScript engine, Windows, and Office. Two worrying bugs fixed this month affected Outlook. One, a memory-corruption flaw, identified as CVE-2018-0852, could allow an attacker to run arbitrary code.   Microsoft says exploitation of this flaw is "less likely" and that an attacker would need to trick a victim into opening a file or visiting an attack site. However, it also notes that an attack vector is the Preview Pane. The second Outlook bug that could be worth patching immediately is elevation of privilege vulnerability CVE-2018-0850, which stems from Outlook insufficiently validating the formatting of incoming messages before processing them. An attacker could send a specially crafted email that forces Outlook…
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15Feb 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Apple April 2018 will force all Apps to be built with iOS 11

News Items, Software Releases
Apple April 2018 will force all Apps to be built with iOS 11. Beginning in April 2018 all new iOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with the iOS 11 SDK.  This is the method Apple uses to force developers to fall into line otherwise your app will not be in the store. For the average developer using either Rad Studio or Visual Studio they will have to hope their IDE's can be used and sent to the store.  There could be issues with the IDEs that Apple tends to wait until a few weeks prior to releasing the final version.  This alone may break the development cycle with your IDE. iOS 11 has brought innovative features and the redesigned App Store to hundreds of millions of customers…
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15Feb 2018 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Skype nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

Microsoft Development, Software Events
Skype nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite There is a major flaw or simply a bug within the Skype application during the update process.  The security of your system can allow an attacker to gain system-level privileges to a vulnerable computer. You can review the comments by clicking this link Skype's home-grown updater allows escalation of privilege to SYSTEM In simple terms the bug can allow an unprivileged user to the full SYSTEM level rights thus granting them access to every corner of the operating system.   Microsoft, which owns the voice and video-calling service, said it will not fix the flaw any time soon since the bug would require too much work and man-time. Possible turning off Skype updates Bug located by security Kanthak Security researcher Stefan Kanthak found…
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