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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally given the go ahead of the acquisition of Avast by NortonLifeLock. It said the merger won't give the firm a monopoly position.

Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) claims it caught an Austrian company selling spyware called Subzero. The malware relied on zero-day vulnerabilities, which have been patched.

Microsoft is soon ready to start blocking Office macros once again. The company has updated its support documentation with clear explanations and step-by-step instructions for users and IT admins.

A newly discovered zero-day vulnerability in modern Windows versions allows bad actors to launch a Windows Search window and connect to infected directories using a single Word file.

Microsoft has issued a warning about the growing threat posed by human-operated ransomware in the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) gig economy. It has also provided some guidance for organizations.

A new Magniber ransomware campaign is here that is infecting potential victims using fake Windows updates. Upon successful infection, the threat actors are asking for payment of around $2,600 in BTC.

Google Drive users are warned about suspicious files that may have been laced with malware. The banners alerting about viruses has now been extended to each file in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Google has revealed that it banned over 190,000 malicious and spammy developers from the Play Store last year. Similarly, 1.2 million apps that violated Play Store policies were also removed.

Microsoft has outlined some steps that organizations can leverage to manage their IoT security. These involve threat modeling and building a Zero Trust solution, among many other things.

A security company has published details about Hive ransomware currently targeting vulnerable Microsoft Exchange servers and encrypting environments with a "windows.exe" file containing ransomware.

Google's Project Zero team has published its findings for 0-day exploits in the year 2021. It detected the most 0-days in this year but some positive insights that can be drawn too.

Similar to many previous campaigns of this nature, a fake Microsoft lookalike Windows 11 download website has been found to infect victims' computers with a novel Inno info stealer malware.

In our latest recap for the Microsoft-verse, we have lots of stuff to talk about including tons of Windows updates, recent cybersecurity incidents, and some useful features being added to Edge.

Microsoft has publicly revealed the identity and location of a perpetrator behind ZLoader in order to deter others. The person had developed a ZLoader component that is used to distribute ransomware.

The infamous Hafnium group which successfully targeted on-premises Microsoft Exchange servers is now going after Windows using Tarrask malware which evades detection by cleaning its activities.

The US Department of Justice has released a statement about a secret FBI operation that removed a bot network controlled by the Russian Federation's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) last month.

A new stealer malware called Vidar has been discovered. Vidar is distributed via emails and disguised as Microsoft CHM help or support file that goes on to steal user data and information.

A new remote access trojan (RAT) or BitRAT has been found which is being distributed through fake Windows product license key activation tools. It is able to bypass detections by Windows Defender.

A new malware campaign, dubbed CryptoRom, is sneaking malware onto iPhone and iPad devices through apps and services that Apple itself offers to users who are willing to test unvetted apps.

A new crypto wallet information stealing Kraken botnet has been discovered by ZeroFox. The malware is able to easily bypass Windows Defender scans by simply adding itself as an exclusion.

A fake Microsoft lookalike website has been discovered recently which is distributing a dangerous RedLine malware in the form of a Windows 11 installer package. The RedLine malware is a stealer.

Microsft said earlier today via a blog post that it will block all Office files (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and Word), that contain VBA Macros, by default, to protect users from malware.

Microsoft has shared some details about a trojan dubbed "UpdateAgent", which is targeting Mac devices. It is becoming more sophisticated in each campaign and may distribute dangerous payload.

Google Drive can now display warning banners to alert users of potentially malicious files. The new resource is available to all Google Workspace, G Suite Basic, and Business users.

A malicious email that claims to be an employee termination letter is doing the rounds on the internet. This email is actually a Dridex malware attack and hopes to trick its potential victims.

Google says it is working with partners to disrupt the resilient Glupteba botnet. It is also taking legal action against the suspected botnet operators to put a permanent stop to the botnet.

It's been a relatively slow week due to the holidays in the U.S., but there are still notable news items you might want to catch up on including a complaint against Microsoft in the EU.

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