The Windows 7 threat, notifying nation-state targets, Bing censorhip

Roundup: Microsoft says use Windows 7 at your own peril, that it will notify victims of state-sponsored attacks, and Bing started off the new year in full-on censorship mode in China.

When checking around for what’s been happening with Microsoft, it seems like the company is following its normal pattern of gaining ground and then shooting itself in the foot. Here are a few examples:
At the end of 2015, Microsoft announced that it will start notifying users if the company believes “your account has been targeted or compromised by an individual or group working on behalf of a nation state.” Scott Charney, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Trustworthy Computing, added:

We’re taking this additional step of specifically letting you know if we have evidence that the attacker may be “state-sponsored” because it is likely that the attack could be more sophisticated or more sustained than attacks from cybercriminals and others.
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Don’t expect details about the state-sponsored attackers if you receive notification as the evidence “may be sensitive.” If you have been targeted, Microsoft urges you to turn on two-step verification, to use and keeping changing strong passwords, to watch for suspicious activity on your Microsoft account “Recent Activity” page, to watch out for spear-phishing and to not open emails or attachments from suspicious senders, to be cautious about downloading apps or files from websites, and to keep your software up-to-date.

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