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Microsoft is preparing to phase out its own SMS and voice-based authentication services, forcing organizations that still rely on telephony-based multifactor authentication (MFA) to rethink how those users will sign in. The company continues to promote phishing-resistant methods such as passkeys, but some businesses face regulatory, operational, or technical requirements that make SMS and voice…

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a campaign that abuses sponsored search results for “Amazon Business” to lure users to a convincing fake Amazon login page. After entering their details, victims are presented with a fraudulent CAPTCHA that secretly copies a command to their clipboard and instructs them to paste it into the Windows Run dialog. This…

Microsoft Sysinternals Active Directory Explorer is a tool for quickly inspecting Active Directory attributes, tracing unexpected directory changes, reviewing permissions, and comparing the directory at two points in time.   Without a baseline comparison, you can’t easily determine what changed.  What is Active Directory Explorer?  Active Directory Explorer is an investigation and comparison tool, not the…

Microsoft has announced a new OneDrive Sync Client Command Line Interface (CLI) designed to simplify OneDrive administration in enterprise environments. This new tool aims to reduce the manual effort IT teams often face when troubleshooting sync issues and investigating device compliance problems. Large organizations rely on OneDrive to keep files synchronized across thousands of devices….

As Azure environments grow, organizations collect increasing amounts of monitoring data, but many teams struggle to understand which metrics are consuming Azure Monitor workspace capacity, why ingestion volumes are changing, and where optimization opportunities exist. It becomes difficult to control observability costs, manage workspace limits, and investigate unexpected spikes in metrics usage without that visibility….

When a faulty update, driver, or configuration change causes large numbers of servers to fail during startup, IT teams often face a time-consuming recovery process. Administrators may need to manually access affected systems, troubleshoot boot issues, and apply fixes one machine at a time, which can significantly extend downtime during widespread outages. Critical boot failures…

Microsoft is repositioning Windows as a platform for “hybrid intelligence,” where AI workloads can move between local hardware and cloud services depending on the task. The company argues that the next generation of AI agents will need access to both powerful local computing resources and cloud-scale intelligence, while remaining secure and manageable for organizations. As…

Organizations running on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server encountered unexpected stability issues after installing October 2026 Windows Server updates. Microsoft has acknowledged that the updates could cause Exchange services to become unreliable in certain environments, particularly those handling heavier workloads. Administrators reported problems ranging from Outlook on the web connectivity failures to broader mail flow disruptions, which…

Many organisations still rely on Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Server to deliver Win32 applications without installing them locally. Microsoft ended support for App-V Server in April 2026, but some customers had not yet completed their transition to newer application delivery technologies. Microsoft’s decision to restore the product to extended support suggests that migration timelines proved…

One question I still hear regularly from IT pros planning a new rollout is whether it’s acceptable to install a certificate authority (CA) on a domain controller.  The short answer is yes. Microsoft fully supports installing Active Directory Certificate Services on a domain controller, and the setup process doesn’t prevent you from doing so. However,…

Organizations have spent years strengthening endpoint and network defenses, but attackers are increasingly bypassing those controls by targeting identities, trusted cloud services, and everyday collaboration tools. A new study found that phishing campaigns, token theft, session hijacking, and fake IT support scams delivered through platforms like Microsoft Teams have become some of the most effective…

Organizations frequently need to evaluate how database changes will affect performance, but creating realistic test workloads and reproducing production scenarios can be difficult with older tools. As SQL environments become more complex, traditional testing approaches may not provide the flexibility or visibility needed to accurately assess performance before making significant changes. The result is that…