Microsoft has announced plans to discontinue Windows RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits. The company explains that this step aims to prompt organizations to abandon weaker encryption methods in favor of stronger ones for server authentication. Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) keys are the cryptographic keys used in the RSA encryption algorithm. RSA involves the use of a...
Last Update: Mar 13, 2024
Windows PCs may sometimes encounter issues during startup, and that can happen when Windows fails to load properly. In this post, we’ll explain how you can use Windows Boot Manager to troubleshoot boot errors and get your PC up and running again. What is Windows Boot Manager? Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr.exe) is Microsoft’s proprietary Unified Extensible Firmware…
Last Update: Mar 13, 2024
The “trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed” error means that the computer cannot access a network because it is offline, or that it has lost its membership to the Active Directory (AD) domain. This guide will help you understand what’s happening behind the scenes when this error occurs, and we’ll go…
Microsoft has recently addressed a zero-day vulnerability within the Windows AppLocker driver. The security flaw has been exploited by the North Korean threat group Lazarus for privilege escalation to carry out rootkit attacks. The security flaw (tracked as CVE-2024-21338) was first discovered by the cybersecurity firm Avast last year. The Avast researchers created a proof-of-concept…
Last Update: Feb 22, 2024
Windows allows users to assign permissions to files and folders, for added security and to control which users can perform specific actions on files and folders. Learn all you need to know about basic permissions, folder permissions, user permissions, explicit permissions, and much more. What are NTFS permissions? NTFS permissions, first introduced with Microsoft Windows…
Last Update: Feb 19, 2024
Icacls is a Windows command-line utility that IT admins can use to change access control lists on files and folders. One of the most common tasks that an IT Pro or system administrator performs is modifying permission on a file server. Using the icacls command is a very efficient way to do that, and we’ll…
Microsoft has announced its plans to update Secure Boot on Windows Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) PCs. The company is collaborating with its equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners to issue new Secure Boot keys starting this year. Secure Boot is a security feature that was first implemented in Windows 8 machines, particularly those running on the…
Last Update: Jan 30, 2024
Environment variables are essential for accessing command line tools and controlling program execution in operating systems. In Windows, PowerShell provides a convenient way to manage and access environment variables. You can set the environment path, edit existing paths, and handle the user profile on your computer. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll explore what environment variables…
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a serious threat to Windows users, as hackers exploit a Windows Defender SmartScreen bypass vulnerability to deploy the Phemedrone Stealer malware. It could enable hackers to harvest sensitive information (such as cookies, passwords, and authentication tokens) from Windows machines. The security flaw, which is tracked as CVE-2023-36025, has a CVSS score…
Microsoft has released yesterday the January 2024 Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 devices. This month’s Patch Tuesday includes fixes for 49 security vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft Office, Azure, SQL Server, and more. Microsoft also announced the end of mainstream support for Exchange Server 2019 on January 9. However, it will continue…