windows security

Microsoft has issued a platform-level warning: the Secure Boot certificates first issued around 2011 that underpin Windows’ pre-boot trust model begin expiring in June 2026, and although most updated systems will continue to boot, devices that do not receive the replacement certificate family...

Use Windows Security Protection History to Review, Restore, or Remove Quarantined Files Difficulty: Beginner | Time Required: 5–10 minutes Windows Security (formerly Windows Defender) actively protects your PC by scanning files, blocking threats, and quarantining suspicious items. Occasionally...

Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) is no longer a theoretical red-team trick — it has become a practical, high-impact play in real-world intrusions that turns Windows’ own trust model into an offensive asset. Over the past two years operators from commodity ransomware groups to...

Microsoft is moving Windows toward a tighter, more consent-driven security posture — and if you wait until one of your favorite apps breaks, you’ll be reacting under pressure instead of controlling the outcome. The change isn’t a sudden ban on freedom; it’s a multi-year shift that layers...

If your Windows Security app reports that the Windows Security Center service is turned off or missing, Windows will not reliably show your protection status — even when Microsoft Defender or another antivirus is actually running — and that mismatch can hide real problems and leave you exposed...

Security researchers have publicly released a working proof‑of‑concept (PoC) that reliably forces a Windows host into an unrecoverable Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) by abusing a logic bug in the Common Log File System driver (CLFS.sys), tracked as CVE‑2026‑2636 — a locally‑triggerable...

Microsoft has quietly begun a platform-level refresh of the cryptographic anchors that protect Windows’ pre‑boot environment, delivering new Secure Boot certificates through Windows Update and coordinated OEM firmware work to head off a calendar‑driven failure when Microsoft’s original UEFI...

Windows already ships with a surprisingly capable security baseline—Microsoft Defender and SmartScreen together stop a huge volume of commodity threats—but for anyone who treats a fresh install as “configuration in progress,” adding a small set of open‑source tools will materially raise privacy...

Microsoft’s quietly powerful Vulnerable Driver Blocklist now sits among the least flashy — but most consequential — defenses in Windows, preventing known‑weak kernel drivers from loading before they can be abused to escalate privileges, disable security software, or crash systems. m] Background...

Microsoft’s Windows already runs dozens of security checks before a program touches the kernel, but one of the least obvious — and quietly powerful — defenses is the Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist, a managed list that stops known-weak or malicious drivers from loading and protects the...

A subtle but important security gap in Werkzeug’s path-joining logic has resurfaced: attackers can craft filenames that exploit Windows’ legacy device-name semantics and cause web servers using Werkzeug’s safe_join/send_from_directory helpers to hang. This vulnerability, tracked as...

Microsoft appears to be turning Notepad into something closer to a lightweight Markdown notebook: Windows Latest reports that Microsoft is testing image support in the Windows 11 Notepad app, with the feature integrated into the app’s existing Markdown/formatting experience, and — importantly —...

Installing McAfee on a Windows 11 PC usually takes only minutes — but the real work that prevents most failures happens before you click “Install.” This guide walks you, step-by-step, through a reliable, technician-tested installation process for McAfee on Windows 11 and Windows 10, explains the...

The arrival of a Windows runtime sensor in the cloud-native security arsenal marks a consequential step for organizations operating mixed Linux and Windows estates: Wiz has opened a Public Preview of the Wiz Runtime Sensor for Windows, bringing runtime monitoring, detection, and active response...

A privilege‑escalation vulnerability in the QEMU Guest Agent for Windows — tracked as CVE‑2023‑0664 — allows a local, unprivileged user inside a Windows virtual machine to manipulate the QEMU Guest Agent installer’s repair custom actions and obtain SYSTEM privileges inside the guest; the issue...

Millions of Windows 10 users are being urged to act now after security researchers and national incident response teams flagged a pair of escalating threats: a widespread fake browser update campaign delivering remote-access malware and an ongoing stream of high‑severity Windows vulnerabilities...

Most Windows laptops that refuse to boot unless a particular USB stick is inserted are not haunted — they’re protected by BitLocker’s startup key mechanism, a deliberately blunt but effective way to turn a machine into a physical key-and-lock system that prevents a thief from even reaching the...

Microsoft’s shift toward a mobile-style, consent-first security model for Windows 11 marks one of the most fundamental changes to the platform’s security posture in years, blending default runtime integrity with smartphone-like permission dialogs and a stronger emphasis on transparency for apps...

Set Up Windows 10/11 Remote Assistance with Quick Assist + Unattended Access Safely Difficulty: Intermediate | Time Required: 20 minutes Remote help is one of those things you only really need when something’s broken—then you need it now. Windows 10/11 includes Quick Assist, a built-in Microsoft...

Microsoft has quietly started the work that will prevent a class of very old Secure Boot signing certificates — the ones first shipped in 2011 — from being usable after they expire between June and October 2026, and that work matters for anyone who cares about boot‑time integrity on Windows...