My last IT Hour post! I have had a lot of fun hosting The IT Hour and I hope to stay connected to everyone! 🙂 Take care!
Community Update
- At the end of next week (after I’m back from vacation), I’ll add the Core Certification badges. Keep an eye out for that (I’ll announce it, though) and if you don’t see a badge on your profile, it’s likely I couldn’t match your community email with what you used to get certified. If you can verify what email you got certified with, we’ll get you the badge!
IT Trending Updates “Rapid Fire Round”
- Some Macs are getting fewer updates than they used to. Here’s why it’s a problem (ars Technica)
- When macOS Ventura was announced earlier this month, its system requirements were considerably stricter than those for macOS Monterey, which was released just eight months ago as of this writing. Ventura requires a Mac made in 2017 or later, dropping support for a wide range of Monterey-supported Mac models released between 2013 and 2016.
- As Mac sales in China increase, government wants the country to use its own OS (9to5 Mac)
- Mac sales in China have been growing in recent years, with Apple Silicon models accelerating their popularity. But the Chinese government has a plan to reduce its reliance on US tech from Apple and Microsoft: creating its own operating system …
- Windows Defender Bug Could Be Slowing Down Your PC (Gizmodo)
- The pre-installed antivirus tool is reportedly reducing Intel CPU performance by 6%.
- Your Intel-powered PC might not be running at full speed right now, and you can blame Windows Defender, the anti-malware tool that is preinstalled on your system. A bug, discovered by TechPowerUp associate software author Kevin Glynn, causes Windows Defender to “randomly start using all seven hardware performance counters provided by Intel Core processors.” A utility Glynn created that monitors and logs performance counters on Intel Core CPUs since 2008 found that the strange behavior results in significantly reduced performance.
- What’s coming in Windows 11 22H2
- Windows 11 version 22H2, the first feature update to Windows 11 since its introduction in October 2021, is expected to be officially released sometime this fall, likely in October. (The “22” stands for the year 2022, and “H2” means it’s being released in the second half of the year.) Microsoft has already issued a version of it to the Release Preview Channel of the Windows 11 Insider Program; Build 22621 is expected to be close to the final version, if not the final one.
- New Task Manager
- Start Menu Tweaks
- Drag and drop to the taskbar
- Settings Adjustments
- File Explorer Facelift
- New touchscreen gestures
- There are also new policies that help IT admins control start menu, task boar and system tray
- New 'SessionManager' Backdoor Targeting Microsoft IIS Servers in the Wild (The Hacker News)
- A newly discovered malware has been put to use in the wild at least since March 2021 to backdoor Microsoft Exchange servers belonging to a wide range of entities worldwide, with infections lingering in 20 organizations as of June 2022.
- Black Basta ransomware – what you need to know (Trip wire)
- making secure offsite backups.
- running up-to-date security solutions and ensuring that your computers are protected with the latest security patches against vulnerabilities.
- using hard-to-crack unique passwords to protect sensitive data and accounts, as well as enabling multi-factor authentication.
- encrypting sensitive data wherever possible.
- reducing the attack surface by disabling functionality that your company does not need.
- educating and informing staff about the risks and methods used by cybercriminals to launch attacks and steal data.
- Black Basta is a relatively new family of ransomware, first discovered in April 2022.
- Although only active for the past couple of months, the Black Basta ransomware is thought to have already hit almost 50 organisations – first exfiltrating data from targeted companies, and then encrypting files on the firm’s computer systems.
- Victims have reportedly been hit in countries around the world including the United States, UK, India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and UAE.
- The best advice is to follow the same recommendations we have given on how to protect your organisation from other ransomware. Those include:
- Nearly 1 Million Misconfigured Kubernetes Instances Found Vulnerable
- Metaverse Standards Forum Announced
- Ubuntu Core 22 Has Finally Arrived
- Samsung Gaming Hub rolls out today, bringing Xbox Game Pass to Samsung 2022 smart TVs (June 30th)
