by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Markets, Technology
Bengaluru : Technology giant Microsoft will make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based automated threat investigation system to enhance the security of devices, the company’s top official said on Wednesday here.
“We are taking enterprise security to a new level through automated investigation and response capabilities as a part of Windows Defender Advance Threat Protection (WDATP),” Vineet Durani, Director, Windows and Surface Business, Microsoft India, told reporters here.
“We (Microsoft) are deeply interested in security and our security policies are designed with the perspective that there’s already a breach, thereby staying few steps ahead of whatever is out there,” said Durani.
With the new automation capabilities, WDATP can not only find breaches in security, but can also fix them, he added.
AI-based automated threat investigation system will enable Microsoft users with insight to action against modern day threats while also increasing the efficiency of the machines, the company said.
“With at least 970 million malicious activities being processed by WDATP each day, one can never compromise with security,” the Microsoft executive said.
The company spends over $1 billion each year on security-related research and development, Durani said.
With the official rollout of Windows 10 “Fall Creators” update slated for October, Microsoft wants to stay one step ahead in identifying and preventing security threats, he added.
India is one of the largest victims of cyber crime in the world. The country had faced over 1.4 lakh cyber security attacks in the last three years, according to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Technology
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury,
New Delhi : After a series of cyber attacks — including “WannaCrypt” ransomware that exploited a vulnerability in an outdated Microsoft software that was still in use — jolted the world in recent months, the key today is to keep software updated to thwart hackers, a top Microsoft executive has said.
Two new ransomware families like “WannaCrypt” and “Petya” targeted dated Windows operating systems and created havoc across the world, including at some places in India.
Now, with the official rollout of Windows 10 “Fall Creators” update slated for October, Microsoft wants to stay one step ahead in identifying and preventing security threats.
“If you are running Windows 10 and have the ‘Fall Creators’ update, then you are completely protected from those specific malwares,” Vineet Durani, Director, Windows and Surface Business, Microsoft India, told IANS in an interview.
The “Fall Creators” update would feature “controlled folder access” inside its Windows Defender Security Centre that would enable users to secure data through “protected” folders.
“This is an ever-changing landscape. If anybody comes and says, hey, here is a piece of technology and you are completely protected for life, that is not going to happen. That is the reason we build an update or version twice a year because we want to stay a few steps ahead of whatever is out there,” Durani noted.
Microsoft spends over $1 billion every year on cyber safety and security-related research and development.
The company advises users and organisations to install all available security updates — including the previous patch MS17-010 — and ensure that automatic updates are enabled.
Windows 10 OS includes mitigations that prevent common exploitation techniques by cyber threats.
“As India gets more digital (which is now happening at a faster pace than ever), we now have the advantage of moving fast because we do not have too much of a legacy (digital) as a country,” Durani said.
The company has also introduced security features such as Microsoft “Credential Guard” and Microsoft “Hello”.
“We have this tech called the ‘Credentials Guard’ that basically stores your credentials in the hypervisor layer — that is the layer between hardware and software. It does not come with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) version. One has to buy it as an additional capability so that larger organisations can use it,” Durani told IANS.
“We have worked with partners like Intel and AMD to enable it. The feature is enabled on modern hardware like 5th-gen Intel processors and onwards,” the Microsoft executive added.
Windows “Hello” lets the user set up a quick biometric login instead of a password. With this feature, the user is promised enterprise-grade security without having to type in a password.
Microsoft devices such as Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and most personal computers (PCs) with fingerprint sensors are already compatible with Windows “Hello” and more devices that can recognise your face and fingerprints will be available in the near future.
According to Microsoft’s “Security Intelligence” report, financial institutions have always been popular phishing targets because of their potential for providing direct illicit access to bank accounts of the victims.
Sites that targeted financial institutions accounted for the second-largest share of both attacks and impressions during the first quarter of 2017 and accounted for the largest share of impressions in February and March this year, the report said.
Microsoft would roll out the “Fall Creators” update for Windows 10 on October 17 which will include Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) support.
Announcing the availability at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) industry show in Berlin earlier this month, Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President for Windows and Devices, said that the free update will also include a new photo app and many tweaks to the overall design and usability of Windows 10.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Technology
San Francisco : Tech giant Microsoft has updated its ‘Pix’ camera application for iOS devices which now lets users take better scans of documents, whiteboards and business cards too.
From the beginning, ‘Pix’ app used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to choose and optimise photographs and apply a range of filters.
This time the app would deploy AI technology for documents too.
“We have data that shows people are taking a lot of whiteboard photos at work, they are doing a lot of document scanning,” said Josh Weisberg, a principal programme manager in the Computational Photography Group within Microsoft’s research organisation in Redmond, Washington.
The updated camera app automatically detects whiteboards, documents and business cards in real time and intelligently adjusts camera settings for these types of photos.
Once the shutter clicks, the app uses AI to improve the image, such as cropping edges, boosting colour and tone, sharpening focus and tweaking the angle to render the image in a straight-on perspective.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Large Enterprise, Marketing Basics, Markets, Online Marketing, Technology
San Francisco : In a rare collaboration, Microsoft and Amazon have come to an agreement wherein Cortana users will have access to Alexa and vice-versa.
According to a report in the New York Times, the two rival tech firms have been coordinating behind the scenes for the past year to make artificial intelligent assistants Alexa and Cortana communicate with each other.
The partnership will allow people to summon Cortana using Alexa, and vice versa, by the end of the year.
In simpler words, someone using an Alexa device will have to say “Alexa, open Cortana” to get to talk to Microsoft’s digital assistant, and someone using Cortana will have to say “Cortana, open Alexa” to talk to Amazon’s.
According to the report, this cross-platform integration will also allow Alexa users to access some of the more unique aspects of Cortana.
Microsoft has built its digital assistant directly into its office products and now Alexa will get that functionality via Cortana.
Amazon, Apple (with Siri), Microsoft and Google (with Assistant) are pouring huge amounts of money into making digital assistants smart.
While Amazon, Apple and Google have already launched smart speakers, Microsoft is preparing to launch a Cortana speaker with Harman Kardon and push its digital assistant into cars, thermostats and more devices.
After a partnership with Microsoft Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also welcomed Apple and Google to offer similar integration saying he would support it.
“There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas,” Bezos said.
“Together, their strengths will complement each other.”
Nadella also appears to welcome the idea of collaboration with Apple and Google, saying “Hopefully, they’ll be inspired by it”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, Markets, Technology
Anant Maheshwari
By Nishant Arora,
Gurugram (Haryana) : As over 50 million Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) in India look to move to a secure Cloud, Microsoft — with its end-to-end offerings with New-Age capabilities — is set to help them evolve and adopt an “intelligent” Cloud, says Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari.
Maheshwari, who believes that almost every company will eventually become a software one at some point of time with the fourth industrial revolution, an “intelligent” Cloud will chart their digital journey.
There are large enterprises that will have a dedicated infrastructure, teams and resources for Cloud adoption.
“And then, there is a large number of SMBs and in India, these SMBs could even tend to include many of our listed companies on our stock exchanges. A study summarises that it is upwards of 50 million. I am not going to debate that number. Whether it is 45 or 55 million, I don’t think the strategies will change in terms of what you do to move on to Cloud,” Maheshwari told IANS during a free-wheeling chat at Microsoft’s office here.
Microsoft globally, including in India, has been uniquely positioned and has done a lot of work over the last 40 years to build a massive partner eco-system that is serving SMBs.
“Microsoft has 64,000 Cloud partners globally and, just as a matter of perspective, that is more than the total number of partners the next three companies combined have. So that is the kind of strength that Microsoft has in terms of just partner collaboration,” Maheshwari said.
“In India, we have 9,000 partners and through them, we get to more than 250 cities,” he added.
According to a recent ASSOCHAM-Deloitte joint study, adoption of advanced business digital technologies can lead to increase in revenues by up to 27 per cent, increase in employment by up to 84 per cent, and enhanced access to international markets by up to 65 per cent for SMBs in India.
A big believer in entrepreneurship that exists in India, Maheshwari said with that kind of entrepreneurship partnering with 9,000 different companies is a huge asset that Microsoft has built over four decades in the country.
“You can’t do this overnight. This has to happen very consistently because these are the people who are making entrepreneurial calls, they are very good at choosing who their partner is and they have chosen Microsoft to be a partner for their own good and their own business,” Maheshwari told IANS.
To make the SMBs’ digital journey easier, Microsoft on Thursday flagged off “Future Decoded on Wheels” from Delhi — a coach that will traverse 25 cities and 80 key clusters and help the SMBs get in-depth knowledge of latest solutions, New-Age devices and access to business experts.
“We are targeting 25 cities where we will go and provide real-time experience to the SMBs. I am sure we will touch a single digit percentage of those SMBs over the 13,000 kms that we will cover,” Maheshwari informed, adding that this, in turn, will create opportunities for partners and customers.
According to the apex IT industry body Nasscom, India’s growing SMB segment is set to spend big to upgrade their digital infrastructure in the next few years.
“The Cloud capability is opening up new revenue opportunities for the SMBs. Think about it in many ways: The access the SMBs can have with these offerings which multiply in terms of what they can do and the kind of services they can provide,” stated the Microsoft India head.
Finally, the overall operations and efficiencies for these SMBs would change for better.
For Maheshwari, Microsoft Cloud services are helping the SMBs in three broad ways.
“Firstly, we are all moving to a modern workplace. India is a mobile-first, and in many cases, mobile-only country, especially for the growing SMB community. They are in a hurry to get the work done no matter where they are. That means a modern workplace with the combination of security and mobility,” Maheshwari stated.
Towards a modern workplace, Microsoft has brought together Office 365, Windows 10, Enterprise Mobility and Security — all packaged into a single offering.
“Now that I got my modern workplace going, I want to build business apps. I want my entire vendor ecosystem channelled so I have end-to-end capability for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and I also want it to link to my modern workplace,” Maheshwari said.
Thirdly, the SMBs have to put their data to work. That is where Azure Cloud capability with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) comes in.
“If you just think about Cloud as hosting, it is not an ‘intelligent’ Cloud. When you start making that cloud ‘intelligent’ with AI and ML, that is when you think continuously about new capabilities. That is where Azure is focused,” Maheshwari told IANS.
With a modern workplace, business apps, the AI infrastructure and Cloud coming together, it becomes an end-to-end play for SMBs to become truly software firms of the future.
Next on Maheshwari’s mind is to nurture the partner eco-system and start-ups.
“We are training, teaching, providing inputs and support, showing demonstrations, helping them show it to their customers and help them grow. ‘Future Decoded on Wheels’ is one way of making it easier for them,” Maheshwari said.
“Microsoft ‘Accelerator’ is among the best corporate accelerators that you see in the country. We have had many successes,” he added.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
