An Overview of Sign Language: Clearing Up Misconceptions

An Overview of Sign Language: Clearing Up Misconceptions

A common misconception about Sign Language is that all deaf & hard-of-hearing individuals and learners use only one universal version of Sign Language. But did you know that there are over 200 different Sign Languages?   

Sign Language generally does not correspond to the spoken language within that country. To illustrate: the US and Britain both speak English as their primary language. If you look at the Sign Languages of the two countries, they have nothing in common. If you know American Sign Language (ASL), you are not likely to understand even one sign of British Sign Language (BSL), including their alphabet… Yet the spoken languages are the same! In fact, in terms of syntax, ASL is more closely related to Japanese than English. There is little connection between the development of Sign Language and the spoken language that surrounds it.   

All languages at times borrow elements from other languages. For example, in English, we use “Noodle,” influenced by the German language. Or “breeze” influenced by Spanish. Similarly, Sign Languages have done the same in borrowing from spoken language. An example of this is using an alphabet to spell out our names. Though there is a natural influence of spoken language within Sing Languages, this does not define or make up the entire language. Just as English is not German, American Sign Language is not English.   

Many say that hearing people “invented” Sign Language for those who needed it. This idea is far from the truth. Sign Language came about by those who use and need the language, the Deaf. They very well could have had little or no knowledge of the spoken language in their area. As a result, we have visual language not confined by the rules or structure of spoken language.   

What can we learn?   

We cannot expect those who use ASL, such as the deaf, to know our spoken Language, English. Whether in written form or by lipreading. We must treat Sign Languages as they are, as Foreign Languages. As a minority language group, not a disability group. 

PetitPotam? Microsoft Defender for Identity has it covered!

PetitPotam? Microsoft Defender for Identity has it covered!

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

If you didn’t grow up in the ’90s in France like yours truly, you probably wouldn’t be familiar with the animated kids show named Petit Potam, which was based on the books of the same name by Christine Chagnoux.


 


While I could talk about the TV series for days, the reason Petit Potam came to the news lately is because of a vulnerability that was recently published with the same name which can potentially be used in an attack on Windows domain controllers. PetitPotam is a tool that can exploit the Encrypting File System Remote (EFSRPC) Protocol.


 


Exploiting the MS-EFSRPC


The EFSRPC protocol that PetitPotam exploits is typically used to maintain and manage encrypted data that is stored remotely and accessed over a network. It’s mainly used to manage Windows files that reside on remote file servers and are encrypted using the Encrypting File System (EFS).


DanielNaim_0-1629208438756.png


 


Figure 1. Message sequence for opening a file using EFS


 


Using the PetitPotam vector, an adversary can manipulate MS-EFSRPC API functions without authentication using the OpenEncryptedFileRaw calls. This allows the adversary to force a domain controller to authenticate to an NTLM relay server under the attacker’s control.


 


NTLM Relay attack


NTLM relay attacks allow the malicious actor to access services on the network by positioning themselves between the client and the server and usually intercepting the authentication traffic and then attempting to impersonate the client.


To prevent NTLM relay attacks on networks with NTLM enabled, domain administrators must ensure that services that permit NTLM authentication utilize protections such as Extended Protection for Authentication (EPA), or signing features, like SMB signing.


PetitPotam takes advantage of servers where Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) is not configured with protections for NTLM relay attacks.


 


Microsoft Defender for Identity detection


Starting from version 2.158 onwards, Microsoft Defender for Identity will trigger a security alert whenever an attacker is trying to exploit the EFS-RPC against the domain controller, which is the preliminary step of the PetitPotam attack.


 


MicrosoftTeams-image (8).png


Figure 2. Suspicious Network Connection over EFS-RPC alert information


 


The alert provides visibility into network activity over the protocol and when an attacker is trying to force the domain controller to authenticate against a remote device. The alert will contain the following information:



  • Source context – which can be the user and/or the device originating the request

  • The target domain controller

  • The remote device – including the file the attacker was trying to read


 


How to protect your organization further


On August 10, 2021, Microsoft published CVE-2021-36942 which addresses this vulnerability, named Windows LSA Spoofing Vulnerability. We highly recommend prioritizing updating the domain controllers with this CVE.


To learn more about the CVE, see the details in the MSRC portal with the following link: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2021-36942


 


What next?


 


If you haven’t already got access to Defender for Identity, you can start a trial using this link


 


We’re always adding new capabilities to Defender for Identity and we’ll make announcements about great new features here in this blog, so check back regularly to see what the latest updates bring to your security teams. 


 


We’re always keen on hearing your feedback, so please let us know in the comments section below if you have anything to share with us about this detection. 


 

Use Azure Storage Table REST API with AAD token via PostMan

Use Azure Storage Table REST API with AAD token via PostMan

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

You can refer to below steps for scenarios in which you have an application special requirement and need to call raw Storage table REST API from your dev environment via Postman. It consists of two main HTTP requests: first, to authenticate directly using AD security principal to get access token, second an authenticated storage REST API call for Table Storage.


 


Documentation related



 


Prerequisites


 


To follow the steps in this article you must have:



  • Azure subscription

  • An Azure AD tenant

  • Registered application (AD Service principal)


 


Steps to reproduce this scenario:


 



  1. Acquire oAuth 2.0 token:


 



  1. Created security principal for application (Azure portal > AAD > app registrations). Documentation reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/servicebus/get-azure-active-directory-token#register-your-app-with-azure-ad

  2. Assigned Storage Table Data Reader role at storage account level to SP created in step #1 (waited for 30 mins)jumontoy_0-1629297449879.png

     



  3. Used Postman to get the Azure AD token:


 



  • Launch Postman.

  • For the method, select GET.

  • For the URI, enter https://login.microsoftonline.com/<TENANT ID>/oauth2/token. Replace <TENANT ID> with the tenant ID value you copied earlier.

  • On the Headers tab, add Content-Type key and application/x-www-form-urlencoded for the value.


 


jumontoy_1-1629297449884.png


 



  • Switch to the Body tab and add the following keys and values.

  • Select form-data.

  • Add grant_type key, and type client_credentials for the value.

  • Add client_id key, and paste the value of client ID you noted down earlier.

  • Add client_secret key, and paste the value of client secret you noted down earlier.

  • Add resource key, and type https://storage.azure.com/ for the value


 


jumontoy_2-1629297449892.png


 



  • Select Send to send the request to get the token. You see the token in the result. Save the token (excluding double quotes). You will use it later


jumontoy_3-1629297449902.png


                                       



  1. Called Query Entities storage REST API and passed the oAuth 2.0 token from previous step


 



  • In Postman, open a new tab.

  • Select GET for the method.

  • Enter URI in the following format: https://<account>.table.core.windows.net /<table>(). Replace <account> with the name of the Storage Account name. Replace <table> with the name of the table.

  • On the Headers tab, add the following three headers.

  • Add Authorization key and value for it in the following format: Bearer <TOKEN from Azure AD>. When you copy/paste the token, don’t copy the enclosing double quotes.


 


jumontoy_4-1629297449910.png


 



  • Select Send to get the entities from table. You see the status as OK with the code 200 as shown in the following image.


 


jumontoy_5-1629297449918.png


 

Power BI Reports  for Azure Lab Services – Part 1: Visualizing Cost Management Data

Power BI Reports for Azure Lab Services – Part 1: Visualizing Cost Management Data

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Azure Lab Services costs are integrated with Cost Management on the lab account level.  However, sometimes it’s useful to create a custom report for your team.  We can do this using the line item data from Cost Management.  In this blog post we will use Power BI desktop to create a basic report that shows total cost, total number of virtual machines and total number of labs.  The report will also include a table that shows cost per lab and cost per virtual machine.


 


planetmaher_0-1629153655517.png


 


To create this report, we need to complete four major tasks.



  1. Get the data. We need to import data into PowerBI.

  2. Transform the data.   Each cost line item has all the information we need, but it will need to be separated, so we can work with lab and lab virtual machine information individually.

  3. Create the data visualization.

  4. Publish the report for others to see.


Get the data


There are couple options to import the Cost Management data into PowerBI.  Which one to use will depend on your type of Azure agreement and your permission level.


 


Azure Cost Management connector


The first option is the Azure Cost Management connector. Follow the instructions at Create visuals and reports with the Azure Cost Management connector in Power BI Desktop.  You will need to provide a billing scope which could cover from a billing agreement to a specific resource group.  See understand and work with Azure Cost Management scopes for more information about scopes.  See identify resource id for a scope for instructions to get billing scope based on the type of scope you are using.


 


The Azure Cost Management connector currently supports customers with a Microsoft Customer Agreement or an Enterprise Agreement (EA).  There are also some unsupported subscription types.  To successfully use the connector, you must have correct permissions and the ability for users to read cost management data must be enabled by the tenant administrator.  You can check your access by calling the cost management usage detail api directly.


 


Azure Cost Management exports


The second option is to export costs to a storage account fromAzure Cost Management.  Follow instructions at Tutorial – Create and manage exported data from Azure Cost Management | Microsoft Docs to create the recurring export.  You can choose to have data exported daily, weekly or monthly.  Each export will be a CSV file saved in blob storage.


 


In PowerBI Desktop, we will use the Azure Blob Storage connector to import this data.  Select the usage detail data from the storage account container you used when scheduling the cost management data exports.  Choose to combine the files when importing the CSV file data.


 


Transform the data


Each usage detail line item has the information for the full resource id of the virtual machine (either template or student) associated with the cost.  As explained in cost management guide for Azure Lab Services, these resources will follow one of two patterns. 


For templates virtual machines:


/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{resource-group}/providers/Microsoft.LabServices/labaccounts/{lab-account-name}/environmentsettings/default

For student virtual machines:


/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{resource-group}/providers/Microsoft.LabServices/labaccounts/{lab-account-name}/environmentsettings/default/environments/{vm-name}

For our report, we will need to extract the required data the from the InstanceId property of the Cost Management usage details.  Complete the following steps in Power Query.



  1. Filter on ConsumedService equal to microsoft.labservices

  2. Remove duplicate rows.  We do this to avoid any issues if using Cost Management exports and data is accidentally exported multiple times.  Select all columns except the Source.Name.

  3. Duplicate InstanceId column and rename it ResourceId.

  4. Split the InstanceId column on the ‘/’ character.

  5. Clean up split columns.

    1. Delete InstanceId.1 to InstanceId.8.  We already have the SubscriptionGuid and ResourceGroup columns, so the InstanceId.3 and InstanceId.5 columns aren’t needed. 

    2. Rename InstanceId.9 to LabAccount.

    3. Delete InstanceId.10.

    4. Rename InstanceId.11 to Lab.

    5. Delete InstanceId.12 to InstanceId.14.

    6. Rename InstanceId.15 to VirtualMachine.

    7. Replace ‘null’ values with ‘template’.  Any rows that don’t have a value for VirtualMachine are costs associated with running the template virtual machine for the lab.



  6. Save transformations.


Schema for the table should look something like the picture below.  Depending on your Azure subscription type, there may be more columns not seen in this example.


planetmaher_1-1629153655523.png


 


Visualize the data


First, let’s create some cards for high-level information.  Our cards will show the total cost, number of labs and number of virtual machines used. 


 


Total Cost


The total cost is held in the PreTaxCost column.  PowerBI already recognizes that PreTaxCost is number and will automatically add all the column values to create a sum.  Add a card to the visual and add PreTaxCost to the Field property of the card visualization.  Optionally change the name for the visualization from PreTaxCost to Total Cost.  


 


planetmaher_2-1629153655529.png


Number of Labs


Next, let’s display the number labs.  We’ll need to create a new measure for this.  For instructions explaining how to create a new measure, see create your own measures in Power BI Desktop tutorial


 


For the most accurate reporting, we can’t just create a measure that counts all the distinct values in the Lab column because it is possible to have two labs with the same name in different lab accounts.  So, for our measure named NumberOfLabs we will count the number of rows when grouped by all the identifying columns for a lab, which are subscription, resource group, lab account and lab name.  Note, in this example the table name is dailyexports.


NumberOfLabs = COUNTROWS(GROUPBY(dailyexports, dailyexports[SubscriptionGuid], dailyexports[ResourceGroup], dailyexports[LabAccount], dailyexports[Lab]))

Now we can create a card for the NumberOfLabs measure by following instructions at create card visualizations (big number tiles).


 


Total Number of Virtual Machines


Creating a card for the total number of virtual machines used will be similar to creating a card for total number of labs.  We need to create a measure that counts the unique combination of subscription, resource group, lab account, lab and virtual machine name.  Our new measure is


NumberOfVMs = COUNTROWS(GROUPBY(dailyexports, dailyexports[SubscriptionGuid], dailyexports[ResourceGroup], dailyexports[LabAccount], dailyexports[Lab], dailyexports[VirtualMachine]))

Now we can create a card for NumberOfVMs measure by following instructions at create card visualizations (big number tiles) .


 


Matrix


Now let’s create a matrix visual to allow us to drill down into our data. For instructions how to create a matrix visualization, see create a matrix visual in Power BI.  For our matrix visualization, we’ll add the Subscription, ResourceGroup, Lab Account, Lab, VirtualMachine for the rows.  NumberOfLabs, NumberOfVMs, PreTaxCost and Currency will be our values.  Note, for the currency column, the first value for currency will be shown with the matrix is collapsed.


 


After of renaming the columns for the visuals and applying some theming, our report now looks like the following picture.  I’ve expanded the subscription, resource groups and the ‘enewman-demo’ lab account.  Under the lab account you can see the two labs and total cost for each lab.  As you can see by the plus sign next to the lab’s names, each lab could be expanded to list the virtual machines for the lab as well as the cost for each virtual machine.


 


planetmaher_3-1629153655531.png


Publish the data


Last step is to publish the report!  See publish datasets and reports from Power BI Desktop for further instructions.


 


Happing Reporting!


The Lab Services Team

Four essentials to collaborate as one business, everywhere

Four essentials to collaborate as one business, everywhere

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Across every industry, we’re all navigating the new world of hybrid work. Together, we’re building a blended model that enables more flexibility in when, where, and how people work, and that model is here to stay. But organizations can’t let flexibility turn into separate, disjointed work effortsthey must enable the entire organization to operate as one business, everywhere.

With Dynamics 365 + Microsoft Teams, we’re helping organizations achieve this goal, making it easier for people in any role or department to connect, communicate, and collaborate onbusinessfunctionsno matter when, where, or how they’re working.

The essentials for cross-organizational collaboration

As business leaders shape their hybrid workplace strategy, we believe there are four “collaboration essentials they must consider so they can work as one business, everywhere.

1. The new flow of workmust connect everyone, across every business function

In a world of hybrid work, digital collaboration should help broaden networks, not constrict them. That’s why we’re making it easier for any Dynamics 365 user to seek out diverse perspectives, learnings, and insights from anywhere within the organizationbetween sales and engineering, marketing and finance, retail frontlines, and customer service.

Dynamics 365 users will soon be able to inviteanyMicrosoft Teams user from across the organization to view and collaborate on business records right within the flow of a Teams chat or channel. Thisenables everyone in the organization to directly contribute to business activities in the moment, without needing to switch context across multiple apps and data sources.

Organizations are taking full advantage of this opportunity. Insurance brokerage and advisory company Willis Towers Watson plans to put the powerful combination of Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales in the hands of the whole company so that anyone from sellers to service agents can share and collaborate from within Teams or Dynamics 365 Sales without switching apps. At Rockwell Automation, a worldwide company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, sellers and sales leaders have access to Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams so that they can collaborate with other sellers and groups across the company.

2. Teams must be able to connect everywhere, anytime, on every channel

In the pre-COVID world, collaboration was largely synchronouswith team members working on a problem at the same time, either in person or in a virtual meeting. But today, collaboration must be asynchronous as well. In addition to the ability to meet live on video, employees also need the ability to share customer records, service cases, or workflows with any expert in the organization, in the flow of their work in Dynamics 365and enable that expert to add value from anywhere, at any time.

For example, organizations can enable asynchronous collaboration by embedding chatbots in the flow of work.With new chatbot capabilities in Dynamics 365 Human Resources,employees can view time-off balances and submit leave requests from within Teams, without having to visit a separate HR portal. Employees simply type in a few keywords, and a chatbot can easily help them find out their leave balance or request time off. Managers can just as easily review and approve time-off requests with just a few clicks. With this self-service experience, employees and managers can work together on simple HR tasks from anywhere, at any timeall from within the flow of work with Teams.

Every organization, large and small, needs to bring collaboration into the flow of work. With Dynamics 365 Business Central, small and medium businesses can also connect people, processes, insights, and cross-functional team collaboration to make better decisions faster. Now in preview, Business Central users can paste a link to any Dynamics 365 record into a Microsoft Teams chat, and it will expand that into a compact card to share with coworkers. They can view card details, edit data, and take action without ever leaving Teamsin the office, at home, or on the go. In addition, users can look up business contacts, vendors, and customers that can be shared into chat, or used to bring up rich, actionable details in a window in Teams.

3. Collaboration must go beyond the office

Our research shows that remote work increased interactions with immediate teams and close networks, but dramatically diminished interactions with more distant networks. This is a worrying trend for business leaders, potentially leading to problems like groupthink or employee isolation. Dynamics 365 and Teams help organizations bring every network closer together so that those closest to the problem can access the people and information they need to spur innovation, wherever they are located.

On the retail frontlines, for example, it’s critical to have the most accurate product and inventory information on hand, as well as coordinate important tasks to keep stores running efficiently. New task management functionality now available in Dynamics 365 Commerce allows managers and workers to create task lists, manage assignment criteria, and track task statuses integrated between Dynamics 365 Commerce back office, store commerce, and Teams applications.

Mattress Firm, one of the country’s largest specialty mattress retailers,provides retail associates with Microsoft Surface Go devices that integrate Dynamics 365 Commerce and Office 365 apps. The mobile point of sale system can enable them to engage better with guests while accessing experts and sales information in Teams, all in realtime.

Collaboration happens in the moment, between anyonefrom the home office to the factory floor to oil platforms.For example, in the coming months, we’re introducing new ways for field technicians to stay connected to work orders, information, and experts in real-time, even from some of the most remote job sitesall with seamless integration between Dynamics 365 Field Service, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, and Teams.

Saint-Gobain, a global leader in the manufacturing of sustainable, high-performance building materials, uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist with HoloLens and Teams to help its process experts virtually troubleshoot equipment in its factories around the world, as well as train technicians faster. And frontline workers based at offshore Chevron platforms use a HoloLens mixed reality headset equipped with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Microsoft Teams to connect with colleagues onshore and perform virtual safety measures.

4. The new world of work must be personalized

In addition to improving the way people work together across the organization, collaboration should improve how individuals and departments engage with end customersenabling everyone to deliver more personalized experiences. In a world of hybrid work, it’s clear that virtual events will remain a key method for engaging with customers, and customer expectations for a personalized experience have risen.

This year, marketers will be able to set up, promote, and report on events hosted on Microsoft Teams from within Dynamics 365 Marketing. In a few simple steps, they can export attendee data and view customer segments created in Dynamics 365 Marketing based on audience attendance. Customer journeys, including starter emails, are also automatically created to nurture attendees. Users can then further customize the content and experiences for attendees based on how they engage and orchestrate personalized customer journeys.

One business, everywhere: Collaborate in the flow of work

As the definition of workplace continues to evolve, every organization needs to bring people, insights, and business processes together in collaborative spaces. These four essential capabilitiesbuilt into Dynamics 365 and Teamswill help everyone across your business work together from anywhere in a more seamless and natural way.

Learn more

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Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.