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Privileged access workstations are used, as the name suggests, with privileged accounts, like users in the Domain Admins group, to manage sensitive resources in your environment such as Active Directory (AD) domain controllers (DCs). If an attacker is able to get access to a privileged account, they can move laterally throughout your network, escalate privileges,…

Microsoft has rolled out the Access Review Agent in public preview for Microsoft Entra ID customers. Integrated into Microsoft Teams, this new tool provides reviewers with AI-driven guidance, recommendations, and insights, allowing them to make faster and more informed decisions. Access reviews often become a tedious and error-prone process due to the volume of decisions,…

Microsoft has avoided a potentially costly antitrust probe by the European Commission over its bundling of Teams with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 subscriptions. To address regulators’ concerns, the company will now offer stripped-down versions of its Office suite without Teams at a reduced price. In July 2020, Slack filed an official antitrust complaint against…

On this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott discuss OpenAI reaching a non-binding deal with Microsoft to transition its for-profit arm into a Public Benefit Corporation.

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a critical flaw in the Google Drive Desktop app for Windows. The vulnerability allows any logged-in user on a shared device to access another person’s data without re-entering credentials. How does the Google Drive flaw work? This vulnerability (CVE-2025-5150) in the Google Drive desktop app arises from how the application handles…

Terraform is a platform used for provisioning, deploying, and managing various resources and services across public clouds (AWS, Google Cloud Platform, or Microsoft Azure), private clouds, network infrastructures, and more. It allows cloud architects and developers to manage external resources by using the code defined in Terraform configuration files. In this article, I’ll explain everything…

Microsoft has rolled out new AI-powered enhancements to Sentinel’s User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), giving security teams deeper insights into user and entity activity. These updates improve threat detection by analyzing behavioral anomalies across users, devices, and services. Microsoft Sentinel UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics) is a security feature that uses advanced analytics…

The FBI has issued a warning about a Chinese-backed hacking campaign that has breached at least 60 organizations across more than 80 countries. Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered 45 malicious domains linked to Salt Typhoon and other China-sponsored threat groups. Earlier this week, researchers from cybersecurity firm Silent Push published an in-depth report with details about…

Group Policy security filtering is a helpful feature within Active Directory that allows administrators to fine-tune the application of Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to specific users, groups, and computers. In this article, we go through the fundamentals of Group Policy security filtering, explores its benefits, and provides practical examples and best practices for implementation. Common…

Microsoft is taking another step toward a cloud-first future by giving IT admins the ability to restrict new Office file creation to approved cloud storage only. The company has announced on the Microsoft 365 admin center that this change only applies to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in Microsoft 365 enterprise apps. This new policy enables…

Microsoft has released the September 2025 Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10. This month, the company has fixed 80 vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Microsoft Edge, Azure, Hyper-V, and other components. This month’s Patch Tuesday serves as a reminder for organizations to prepare for two key changes coming in October: the end-of-support for…

Microsoft is making hybrid cloud management easier with the introduction of Auto Agent Upgrade in public preview for Azure Arc-enabled servers. This new feature automatically keeps the Azure Connected Machine agent up to date and saves administrators from manual updates. What is the Azure Connected Machine Agent? The Azure Connected Machine agent is a lightweight…