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Microsoft has released a new device readiness test feature for its Windows Update for Business deployment service. This release allows organizations to evaluate their devices’ eligibility for Windows quality updates before the actual deployment process. The Windows Update for Business deployment service allows administrators to approve, schedule, and monitor updates delivered to managed devices through…

Microsoft has published a monthly roundup of all the new features and capabilities added to its Teams collaboration service in January 2024. The company highlighted enhancements like immersive spaces, improved collaborative notes, management features, and new Teams Rooms devices. Chat and meetings features Microsoft Teams has recently introduced a new feature that allows users to…

When newly installed, Active Directory’s (AD) default configuration is designed to be easy to use. As a result, attackers can exploit AD to take over your entire network with relative ease. Here’s what you can do to further protect your organization by reducing your Active Directory attack surface. Securing beyond the default settings to reduce…

Microsoft plans to release a new update that will allow users to switch from old Microsoft 365 Groups to a new Groups experience in the Outlook web app and the new Outlook for Windows. The new Groups experience will be available in the apps via a toggle button in mid-February. The Microsoft 365 Groups service…

Microsoft has released a new update for its Entra ID Conditional Access service that provides more granular controls over certificate-based authentication (CBA) methods. The advanced CBA options are currently in preview, allowing access to specific resources based on certificate Issuer or Policy Object Identifiers (OIDs) properties. Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access is a service that…

Microsoft announced the automatic rollout of new Conditional Access (CA) policies for select Microsoft 365 licenses in November 2023. As of today, these policies are only available in report-only mode, with the activation for commercial customers set for February and March 2024. The report-only mode enables policies to log policy results without enforcing them. Microsoft…

Audit your Active Directory environment to ensure the security of your company’s most valuable assets. Here are the top 10 events to audit in Active Directory to identify risks. Active Directory auditing involves more than tracking individual event IDs, it’s about understanding where privilege, persistence, and policy changes occur across the directory. This article focuses specifically on the most important…

Microsoft has recently announced the release of Windows Server Insider Preview Build 26040. The company also revealed the official branding for the upcoming Windows Server product called Windows Server 2025. In November, Microsoft announced that Windows Server 2025 should include several new capabilities for enterprise customers. The release will introduce features like SMB over QUIC,…

Microsoft has recently published an initial analysis of the cyber-attack that was carried out by Russian state-sponsored hackers in late November of 2023. The company has raised concerns that the same threat actor is currently targeting other organizations and has provided detailed guidance to help organizations strengthen their defenses. Last week, Microsoft disclosed that a…

In this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott Microsoft laying off 1,900 employees in its Gaming division, and Apple announcing big changes for iOS and the App Store in Europe to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

Microsoft has published a roundup of all the enhancements it made to its Microsoft Intune solution during the month of January 2024. The improvements include an updated device workload experience, new analytics capabilities, and mobile application management support for U.S. government cloud environments. Microsoft has updated the devices workload experience in Microsoft Intune. The company…

Microsoft has acknowledged a new issue in Windows 10 version 22H2, affecting users who installed the optional patch (KB5032278) released in November 2023. The company detailed on the Windows release health dashboard that the bug could trigger 0x80073cf2 errors when using the System Preparation (Sysprep) tool. The System Preparation tool (or sysprep.exe) is a utility…