{"id":5899,"date":"2022-10-26T08:30:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T12:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nexela.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=5899"},"modified":"2023-03-20T15:24:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T19:24:15","slug":"microsoft-may-have-opened-up-millions-of-pcs-to-a-potential-cybersecurity-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft May Have Opened Up Millions of PCs to a Potential Cybersecurity Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft generally takes security very seriously, and for the most part, if you keep your Windows and Server operating systems updated, you can generally depend on some base-level security and stability. Unfortunately, it was recently discovered that, for almost two years, a very critical defense mechanism within Windows wasn\u2019t being properly secured.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Microsoft\u2019s \u201cBring Your Own Vulnerable Driver\u201d Exploit<\/h2>\n<p>Microsoft\u2019s Windows Update tool is supposed to automatically add vulnerable software drivers to a blocklist.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, a driver is a piece of software on your computer that controls hardware. While your computer is first being built and set up, it requires proper drivers for each individual piece of equipment on it. Like all software, a driver can have a vulnerability in it that allows bad actors to exploit it. This tends to give them some level of access to your PC, which allows them to cause trouble.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Microsoft\u2019s Windows Update tool hasn\u2019t been managing this block list, despite the fact that Microsoft has been adamant about it over the last few years. While you might be getting security updates and patches, this one particular line of defense hasn\u2019t been getting fortified, and it\u2019s been causing issues over the last few months for a lot of people.<\/p>\n<p>This allows bad actors to push any known vulnerable driver to the PC and then utilize those vulnerabilities to get whatever access they want.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t something new either. This type of exploit has been around for over a decade, but there has been a huge increase over the last few years, and broad scale attacks often target this type of vulnerability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft is scrambling to work on a fix and claims that something is coming in an upcoming Windows Update to address this.<\/p>\n<p>For many businesses, the best way to ensure that their PCs are safe involves preventing users from being able to install and configure things on their work devices. While it won\u2019t protect your organization from every vulnerability under the sun, it does offer a very solid baseline of protection. If a user can\u2019t install software on a device, there are fewer opportunities for vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>We can help lock down your network to make it much easier to keep it secure, and our ongoing management and maintenance will keep every device on your network updated and as secure as possible.<\/p>\n<p>If you are concerned about your cybersecurity, give us a call at (215) 525-3223 today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft generally takes security very seriously, and for the most part, if you keep your Windows and Server operating systems updated, you can generally depend on some base-level security and stability. Unfortunately, it was recently discovered that, for almost two years, a very critical defense mechanism within Windows wasn\u2019t being properly secured.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,61],"tags":[87,67,125],"class_list":["post-5899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-security","tag-malware","tag-security","tag-windows"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Microsoft May Have Opened Up Millions of PCs to a Potential Cybersecurity Threat | Philadelphia, PA | Nexela<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Microsoft May Have Opened Up Millions of PCs to a Potential Cybersecurity Threat | Philadelphia, PA | Nexela\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Microsoft generally takes security very seriously, and for the most part, if you keep your Windows and Server operating systems updated, you can generally depend on some base-level security and stability. Unfortunately, it was recently discovered that, for almost two years, a very critical defense mechanism within Windows wasn\u2019t being properly secured.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| Philadelphia, PA | Nexela\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhiladelphiaITsupport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-26T12:30:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-20T19:24:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/malware_297604361_400.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Disengof\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NexelaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NexelaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Disengof\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899\",\"name\":\"Microsoft May Have Opened Up Millions of PCs to a Potential Cybersecurity Threat | Philadelphia, PA | Nexela\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-26T12:30:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-20T19:24:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5435031473121f8542dd2002ae241a9d\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/\",\"name\":\"| Philadelphia, PA | Nexela\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5435031473121f8542dd2002ae241a9d\",\"name\":\"Eric Disengof\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85f06e5e0c52138765f1a62466ec5a0779caee9daf1f1a3e2eca775fef7006e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85f06e5e0c52138765f1a62466ec5a0779caee9daf1f1a3e2eca775fef7006e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eric Disengof\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Microsoft May Have Opened Up Millions of PCs to a Potential Cybersecurity Threat | Philadelphia, PA | Nexela","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nexela.com\/?p=5899","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Microsoft May Have Opened Up Millions of PCs to a Potential Cybersecurity Threat | Philadelphia, PA | Nexela","og_description":"Microsoft generally takes security very seriously, and for the most part, if you keep your Windows and Server operating systems updated, you can generally depend on some base-level security and stability. 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