Govt Issues High-Risk Warning For Microsoft Products And Services

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued high-risk warning concerning safety of users availing various services and products of Microsoft. 

The warning was issued after the body observed multiple weaknesses in the products. Thus, the agency has assigned a ‘high’ severity rating to the issue. 

The vulnerabilities have been identified across multiple products, including Microsoft Windows, Azure, Microsoft Office and Browser, among others. 

“Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Microsoft Products which could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges, obtain Information. Disclosure, Bypass Security restriction, conduct remote code execution attacks, perform spoofing attacks, or cause denial of service conditions,” the official statement of the regulatory body read. 

The body came into existence in 2004, and since then it has been keeping an eye on the country’s cybersecurity. 

Besides Microsoft, CERT-In has also identified potential threats from Google Chrome, which could cause remote attackers to Denial of Service (DoS) condition. 

“A remote attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending a specially crafted request on the targeted system. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to cause Denial of Service (DoS) conditions and execute arbitrary code on the targeted system,” the statement further added.

This comes months after the body issued a high-risk security alert for four versions of Samsung phones, saying that multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in the products with certain software.

The affected software includes Samsung mobile Android versions 11, 12, 13 and 14. These vulnerabilities are likely to affect a range of Samsung devices, including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Flip 5, and Galaxy Fold 5. 

The government has been highly active about ensuring cybersecurity in every tech driven industry, recently. Identifying the potential risks in the fintech sector, recently, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said that AI can pose high threats to security. 

To protect the safety of customers and users, Das urged the financial institutions to make “substantial efforts” towards protecting customer information.

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