Microsoft Server and Tools Blog

Microsoft Security Blog Launches “Targeted Attacks Video Series”

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:28:00 GMT

“Many of the CISOs I talk to tell me that “Advanced Persistent Threats” (APT) style attacks are among their top concerns. As I have written about before, the problem with the term APT is that it doesn’t describe this category of threats very accurately. This makes it harder to understand and mitigate this type of threat. At Microsoft we find that a more accurate and useful term for this category of threat is “targeted attacks by determined adversaries”.

See the remainder of the blog post by Tim Rains at http://blogs.technet.com/b/security/archive/2013/06/13/targeted-attacks-video-series.aspx.

SMB Shares with Hyper-V Replica

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:07:00 GMT

SMB is getting a lot of attention with Windows Server 2012, and we’ve had questions from a few customers regarding the inter-play between SMB shares and Hyper-V Replica. In this post we’ll share our experience around setting up and using various configurations involving SMB shares and Hyper-V Replica. The issue we were expecting to run into is the apparent lack of authorization to use the SMB share, when using remote management. MORE

The Modern Datacenter with Software-Defined Networking (SDN)

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:57:00 GMT

Software-defined networking is about enabling software – rather than the hardware – to dynamically manage the network in a way that helps you better meet the requirements of your applications and workloads. Microsoft’s approach to SDN is grounded in our experiences designing, building and operating global-scale datacenter networks for services like Windows Azure. MORE

Social Bots and Malware on the Rise

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:00:00 GMT

Malware authors and distributors follow the money. When you consider the growing popularity of social networking websites, it should come as no surprise that malware continues to maintain its presence in this area. Every year we are spending a growing proportion of our time online using social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. What does this mean for the malware ecosystem? MORE

Bonjou! TechEd North America 2013 Recap

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:53:00 GMT

TechEd North America 2013 took place last week in New Orleans, Louisiana. There were many announcements, sessions and other activities taking place around this wonderful conference. For those of you who visited New Orleans for the first time, we certainly hope you enjoyed the information, entertainment and local cuisine.

Having said all that, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that a vast portion of the conference is available on-demand so you can go back and watch the keynote and other important sessions. Here are some important references as a starting point: MORE

Operation b54 Disrupts Cybercrime Ring

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:46:00 GMT

In our most aggressive botnet operation to date, the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit worked with leaders of the financial services industry, other technology industry partners and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to disrupt a massive cyber threat responsible for stealing people’s online banking information and personal identities. With a court ordered civil seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Microsoft executed a simultaneous operation to disrupt more than 1,400 Citadel botnets which are responsible for over half a billion dollars in losses to people and businesses worldwide. MORE

90% of the Worlds Data Has Been Created in the Past Two Years - TechEd Day 3 Highlights

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:47:00 GMT

We are entering the dog days of summer here in the south, but don’t let that fool you. TechEd North America 2013 is still in full swing with breakout sessions, hands on labs, Ask the Experts sessions, and more. We want to draw your attention to some fresh blog posts from the Windows Server, SQL, and Intune teams as well as some sessions for day three. MORE

After Today, Cloud Computing is No Longer a Spectator Sport

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:13:00 GMT

Technology leaders love talking about the promise of technologies that are just over the horizon, but Microsoft is now in the unique position of doing much better than that. We are now delivering on our vision with a wave of enterprise products built with this cloud-first approach: Windows Server & System Center 2012 R2 and the update to Windows Intune bring cloud-inspired innovation to the enterprise, and enable hybrid scenarios that cannot be duplicated anywhere in the industry.

See Brad’s full blog post at http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud/archive/2013/05/31/after-today-cloud-computing-is-no-longer-a-spectator-sport.aspx.

Transforming Our Products, Culture and Practices to be Cloud-first

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:45:00 GMT

Today Microsoft Server and Tools President Satya Nadella posted to the Official Microsoft Blog, an email he sent to employees about the progress we’ve made completely transforming our products, culture and practices to be cloud-first. See his “The Enterprise Cloud Era” video to hear his additional thoughts. An embedded player option is provided just below for your convenience.

Also today at TechEd North America 2013, Microsoft Corp. introduced a portfolio of new solutions to help businesses thrive in the era of cloud computing and connected devices. In today’s keynote address, Server & Tools Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson and fellow executives showcased how new offerings across client, datacenter infrastructure, public cloud and application development help deliver the most comprehensive, connected enterprise platform.

For additional information, see our news release at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2013/jun13/06-03TechEd13PR.aspx.

Windows 8.1 First Look

ServerAndToolsBlogsTeam — Thu, 30 May 2013 14:52:00 GMT

Windows 8.1 will advance the bold vision set forward with Windows 8 to deliver the next generation of PCs, tablets, and a range of industry devices, and the experiences customers — both consumers and businesses alike — need and will just expect moving forward. It’s Windows 8 even better. Not only will Windows 8.1 respond to customer feedback, but it will add new features and functionality that advance the touch experience and mobile computing’s potential. Windows 8.1 will deliver improvements and enhancements in key areas like personalization, search, the built-in apps, Windows Store experience, and cloud connectivity. Windows 8.1 will also include big bets for business in areas such as management and security – we’ll have more to say on these next week at TechEd North America.

See the full blog post at http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2013/05/30/continuing-the-windows-8-vision-with-windows-8-1.aspx.