U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack

Amid an unprecedented cyberattack on telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, U.S. officials have recommended that Americans use encrypted messaging apps to ensure their communications stay hidden from foreign hackers.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694

The correct version is 5.2.3.156
The component package is 1.0.5108.
I'm in the process of updating 4 computers.

Malwarebytes 5.0.17.99 component package 1.0.1169 released.

From Malwarebytes 5:

Features and improvements

All new reimagined UI:

• Unified user experience redesigned to provide a more user-centric experience across all platforms
• Improved UI speed and responsiveness
• Accessibility improvements
• Improved experiences for high resolution monitors

Modern security and privacy integrations:

• Our industry-leading scanning and active protection now bundled with our next-gen VPN to keep you safer online

Trusted Advisor

• Empowers you with real-time insights
• Easy-to-read protection score and expert guidance that puts you in control over your security and privacy
• Trusted Advisor issue tracking for all account-registered devices

* At this time Malwarebytes 5 is available to all directly from our download site.

• Currently we are doing a slow rollout of Malwarebytes 5 via automatic updates as we are working on improving support for some non-standard licensing use cases before rolling out to a wider audience.
• Please note that if the Malwarebytes Privacy VPN app is currently installed, the Malwarebytes 5 installer will only install Malwarebytes 4.
• If you are using both Malwarebytes 4 and Malwarebytes Privacy VPN, and your products are activated with two different subscriptions or license keys, we recommend that you do not install Malwarebytes 5 at this time.

7-Zip 24.09

https://7-zip.org/

https://7-zip.org/history.txt

Yes, happy Thanksgiving.


 

Mozilla sent Firefox Version 133.0 to the release channel.  Firefox ESR was updated to Version 128.5. 

Note: For Firefox users on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, Firefox Version 115 is the last supported version for those operating systems and will be moved to the latest ESR version by automatic update.  See Firefox users on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 moving to Extended Support Release.

The update includes seventeen security updates of which two (2) are rated high, nine (9) are rated moderate, and six (6) are rated low.

Update: To get the update now, select "Help" from the Firefox menu, then pick "About Firefox".  Mac users need to select "About Firefox" from the Firefox menu.  For non-English versions, Fully Localized Versions are available for download.

References

• Security Updates
• Release Notes
• Rapid Release Calendar

Today Microsoft Edge Game Assist was introduced, described as the first in-game browser that delivers a rich gaming-centric browsing experience—including access to your browser data from your PC and mobile devices.

Learn about the details of Microsoft Edge Game Assist at Introducing Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview)—a seamless, full-featured in-game browser.

Note that Game Assist requires the Beta or Preview channel of Microsoft Edge and it is important that Windows 11 and Game Bar are up to date.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4515 (Beta Channel)

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle

Ability to seamlessly resume OneDrive files in 1-click from your phone to PC
We are gradually rolling out the ability to seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you will get a notification asking you if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file like a Word doc that you last viewed or edited on your phone within a 5-minute time window preceding unlocking your PC.

Upon clicking on this notification, the same file that you were viewing or editing previously on your phone will open in your default browser on your PC.

Here are some important details about how this feature works:

• This feature works only when signing into OneDrive with a Microsoft account. Work and school accounts are not supported. And you need to be using the same Microsoft account signing into OneDrive on your phone and signing into your Windows 11 PC.
• This feature supports Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, OneNote notebooks/pages, and PDFs.
• The OneDrive file must be opened on your phone when your PC is locked. If you then unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone, you will receive the resume notification as noted above.
  
• For the best experience using this feature, you should be logged into OneDrive in your default browser on your PC.
• Your PC should be on Build 22635.4515 and higher in the Beta Channel.

This feature can be managed and turned off via Settings > Apps > Resume.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers -> Linked Phone.

Passwordless Improvements

As part of Microsoft's commitment to a passwordless future, on Windows, we are launching API support for third-party passkey providers. Microsoft has been engaging with passkey manager partners on developing this capability. We are committed to bringing a passwordless future to all customers – together with third-party credential providers, we will raise the bar on login security with passkeys for all users on Windows.

WebAuthn Plugin Authenticator APIs

We are releasing updates to WebAuthn APIs to support a plugin authentication model for passkeys. In the coming months, Windows customers will be able to choose a third-party provider as an additional choice alongside the native Windows passkey provider while maintaining the Windows Hello user experience. Messages in WebAuthn flows will be forwarded to the plugin and responses are returned to the WebAuthn client applications. This enables plugins to create and authenticate with passkeys when requested by the customer. This model allows plugins to use Windows Hello as a user verification mechanism to enable a seamless passkey experience. You will notice additional user experience updates to the passkey flows and Settings alongside the new capabilities.

If you are a developer for third-party passkeys, we invite you to integrate with Windows 11 to support customers in their passkey journey. To find out more about implementation detail, go to https://aka.ms/3P-Plugin-API.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passkey.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Start menu]

• We are rolling out the ability to right-click and share local files under the Recommended section of the Start menu.

[Magnifier]

• We're adding a new keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus for Magnifier users to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue where sometimes you would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar.
• Fixed an issue where the File Explorer address bar was unexpectedly overlapping with content while in full screen (F11) view.
• Improved performance of context menu launch for people when right-clicking on cloud files.
• Made a change to help ensure thumbnails for cloud files are displayed more consistently in search results within File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue which was causing some explorer.exe crashes in the last couple flights, including when trying to create new folders in certain locations.