General Discussions

[elstaci]

Seems like every day a new Windows Security Risk is discovered or a Windows Bug. This is the latest from ZDNET: New Windows 10 bug hits home working: Outlook, Office 365, Teams can't access internet | ZDNet 

As if working from home wasn't challenging enough, Microsoft has now warned that a Windows 10 bug is preventing Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and other critical work apps from reaching the internet.

The Windows 10 connectivity bug couldn't come at a worse time and is probably causing real pain for the millions of employees worldwide working remotely amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Many of these workers are running a Windows 10 PC and accessing work resources remotely via a virtual private network (VPN) connection. And millions of workers will be relying on Microsoft's productivity apps, such as Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Internet Explorer, and Outlook to get work done.

But a bug affecting all supported versions of Windows 10 that have applied the February 27 cumulative update KB4535996 – or any of the three subsequent cumulative updates – is preventing these core productivity apps from connecting to the internet. 

Making matters worse for Windows 10 users, connectivity is more likely to be disrupted when using or connecting and disconnecting from a VPN, which many employees are likely to be doing a lot under the current conditions.      

"Devices using a manual or auto-configured proxy, especially with a virtual private network (VPN), might show limited or no internet connection status in the Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) in the notification area. This might happen when connected or disconnected to a VPN or after changing state between the two," explains Microsoft. 

"Devices with this issue might also have issues reaching the internet using applications that use WinHTTP or WinInet. Examples of apps that might be affected on devices in this state are as follows but not limited to Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office, Office365, Outlook, Internet Explorer 11, and some version of Microsoft Edge."

Microsoft says Windows 10 users "might be able to mitigate the issue by restarting your device", but that's still going to be a drain on productivity and a source of frustration.

Suggesting Microsoft considers the bug a severe issue, the company is planning to release an out-of-band fix in "early April". The update will only be made available on the Microsoft Update Catalog. 

[pokester]

Our parent corporation is really struggling with this right now. Been down pretty much all week. People can't log in or get emails. Another large cloud email service we us is Hover.com (the old Tucows) and they have had hit and miss issues all week too, due to saturation and DOS attacks. It is an unprecedented time with this sudden strain on the internet. Unfortunately the bad guys have to make it even worse. 

[hardcoregames_]

I use remote desktop secured with one of those free certificates massaged for windows use

have not had issues that way

[kenyomurabu]

Suggesting Microsoft considers the bug a severe issue, the company is planning to release an out-of-band fix in "early April". The update will only be made available on the Microsoft Update Catalog.  

The creepy part is, I read that middle of April, there is gonna be an Attack on Windows... Which just so 
happens to also be reported by Microsoft, with a possible fix being the whole Removing Preview Pane, 
Making only ICONS showing in File Explorer, & something to do with Disabling something on your Internet... 

Hmmmm... What a coincidnce, Microsoft is fixing a Server Error with a Patch right around 
the time, this Attack on Windows is due to happen... 

Hmmmm? No one thinks this is too much of a coincidence? Or possibly Suspicious in any way? 

Here is an Article, it might not be the exact same Article I read, but 
this is basically the Article here... A Patch To Attack Windows April 14th

Microsoft Says Hackers Exploit Windows Bug to Attack Users, Fix Coming in April 

I dunno about any of you? But i've tried nearly everything, & cannot seem to get Windows 10 to stop Updating, 
anything I try to do, it just Updates anyways, Microsoft has told me that Windows can be Deactivated from Auto-Updates, 
but so far? I've not seen anyway to Permanently Disable this, & somehow think Microsoft was lying about it... 

If you go into Services, scroll down to Windows Update, & hit Properties. Followed by Disable Update & Stop Function of Windows Updates, 
Windows 10 the Very Next Day will just randomly reactivate the feature, & you have to Disable it all over again... & Eventually when 
your not looking, it just Updates anyways... 

Windows 10 Pro Edition, or not? If you got a better solution? I'd be all for trying out anything any of you might suggest trying... 

PS: Black Friday, I dunno if anyone remembers? But this is when all the Crazy stuff started happening, STEAM had a giant backlash for an Update, 
Windows 10 had an Update for that 1903 / 1909 thing that sounded very Fishy, because in this Update of Windows 10, it specified a change in 
Windows Defender Application Guard... I asked Microsoft if this would actually allow leaks of Hacks into Windows, because of the way that it connects 
Application Guard to Windows, where as the Old one had 0 Connection to Windows... They denied it, but I didn't like the idea of how it worked anyways... 

This Application Guard Change was to also include SandBox Mode? Doesn't Sand Box usually mean people can customize it how they like? 
Why would you want that for Security? If you have it, so do Hackers... To me that whole Update thing just felt a bit fishy to me
this is also the same Update introducing Microsoft Edge 2.0 through Chromium & the talk about getting rid of Flash over the Internet... 

There is also the fact that, lately i've been running Windows on my Desktop, & for instance last night? I would go & just mess around, & 
randomly my Desktop would glitch, & something would move weir, my mouse would move, or my Desktop Screen would change so that 
the screen doesn't fit my Display... Trying to look for Solutions? I really haven't found anything... My Defender found no traces of Viruses, 
& I have not downloaded, Installed, or even was doing anything on the Internet when this started happening... Could I have been hacked? 
No idea, but how would they of hacked me? I don't even see any Viruses, or any kind of Files being effected by anything either, no problems, 
other then this weird Display issue being weird... 

Lastly, I noticed that with Cookies Enabled in Browser (I can't get my Micrsooft Account to stay Logged-Out) I had to Disable this, just so 
My Account would Log-Out, & not be on the Internet... But doing this causes most of the Web Broswer to not function at all... 

What do you all think is really going on? Mean while? A Pandemic happens not long afterwards, & to make matters worst, 
the News Reported an Attack on Mobile Phones is suppose to hit as well (COVID-19 Reporting A Hack, & Requires The User To Press Link To Stop Attack) 
When the Link the User Presses causes the Hack to Happen, Taking Personal Data, Privacy, & Bank Accounts, o_@ 

Do you believe something much bigger is actually, happening here, something we are not aware of yet?
I am not a Conspiricy Theororist, but this is gotta be too coincidental, no?

[black_zion]

They released a fix, but it's pretty obtuse to get to if you're not at least moderately tech savvy.

https://wccftech.com/out-of-band-windows-10-update-kb4554364-fixes-connectivity-issues/