FBI Releases Indicators of Compromise Associated with Ranzy Locker Ransomware

by | Oct 27, 2021 | Security, Technology

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

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a Flash report detailing indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with attacks using Ranzy Locker, a ransomware variant first identified targeting victims in the United States in late 2020.

CISA encourages users and administrators to review the IOCs and technical details in FBI Flash CU-000153-MW and apply the recommend mitigations.

Your guide to Dynamics 365 at Microsoft Ignite 2021

Your guide to Dynamics 365 at Microsoft Ignite 2021

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Technology

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

Banner showing dates of Microsoft Ignite: November 2-4, 2021.

Microsoft Ignite kicks off in just a few days. This year’s digital experience brings together a global community of technology professionals to learn where Business Applications technology is heading, and the tools and resources available to help you solve the toughest challenges facing your business today.

Across three days of programmingNovember 2-4, 2021Microsoft experts will dive into technical and hands-on content across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, as well answer your questionsall streaming live and on-demand, so you won’t miss out.

We’ve pulled together a list of essential sessions to attend, both keynotes and breakout sessionsinformative featured presentations followed by a live Q&A. Be sure to register today to get updates before and during the event, as well as build your own session schedule.

Click on the linked titles below to learn more and add each event to your session scheduler.

Only have time for one or two sessions? Be sure to watch Microsoft Into Focus: Business Applications on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, for a sneak peek at new features and capabilities in 2021 release wave 2, as well as Build a hyperconnected business on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, to learn how to build a digital foundation for today’s business.

Day 1 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)

Keynotes and core themes

Hear from Microsoft leadership on revealing the latest innovations that are shaping the flexible, innovative, and secure business environments of the future.

Microsoft Ignite Opening

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 8:15 AM to 8:50 AM Pacific Time

Our economy and society are undergoing a sea change of digitization. Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will discuss technology trends and innovations across Microsoft cloud that will transform every business and industry going forward.

Build a hyperconnected business

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 9:30 AM to 9:55 AM Pacific Time

In a rapidly changing world, there’s no more “business as usual.” The way we live and work will never be the same, and there’s no clear roadmap for what’s ahead. Organizations need the agility to respond rapidly and predict what’s next, and that requires a new approach to business solutionsone that harnesses data as a resource and turns its potential into power. Join Alysa Taylor, CVP, Industry, Apps, and Data Marketing; and Charles Lamanna,CVP, Business Applications and Platform, to learn how to build a digital foundation with Microsoft cloud that will carry your organization into the future.

Breakout sessions

Attend sessions that take a deeper dive into topics aligned to a variety of roles and interests. Live, interactive Q&A segments directly follow the featured presentation.

Accelerate cross-organization collaboration with Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Time

Across industries, businesses are experiencing a tectonic shift in how, when, and where people work. In this session, hosted by Emily He, CVP, Business Applications Marketing, we’ll introduce new and upcoming integrations between Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 that enable everyone across your organization to connect, communicate, and collaborate on business tasks and processes in a seamless, natural, and secure way. Get a first look at new capabilities in action and learn how everyone in your organization can achieve more together as one business, right in the flow of work.

Connect experiences across every customer touchpoint with a complete marketing solution

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 12:30 PM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time

Companies struggle to make sense of an ongoing and accelerating data deluge and to pull actionable intelligence from it. This challenge has made data the lifeblood of business in the digital age and establishes a new value proposition: companies that can use data to serve customers are able to build stronger relationships. A company’s control over its datathat is, its digital autonomyhas never been more important. Learn how Microsoft offers a complete marketing solution to help you accelerate business growth and deepen customer connections from acquisition to retention. Win more hearts and minds in an omnichannel world, while building trust with the highest level of data governance, privacy, and compliance.

Enhance supply chain visibility, predict risks and improve decision making with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 1:30 PM to 2:00 PM Pacific Time

Customers have experienced supply chain disruptions since early 2020. Now, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights helps companies deliver great customer experiences. By unifying real-time data from third-party data providers, logistics partners, customers, and multi-tier suppliers, companies gain end-to-end supply chain visibility. This visibility is further enhanced by creating a digital twin to generate AI-powered, actionable insights allowing companies to proactively make decisions that put customers first.

Day 2 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)

Keynotes and core themes

Hear from Microsoft leadership on revealing the latest innovations that are shaping the flexible, innovative, and secure business environments of the future.

Microsoft Into Focus: Business Applications

Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 8:15 AM to 10:00 AM Pacific Time

Get an inside look at what’s new in Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. You’ll hear from James Phillips, President, Microsoft Digital Transformation Platform, along with top engineers and other Microsoft Leaders as they guide you through the new features and capabilities in 2021 release wave 2.

Breakout sessions

Attend sessions that take a deeper dive into topics aligned to a variety of roles and interests. Live, interactive Q&A segments directly follow the featured presentation.

Gain a new perspective by bridging the physical and digital

Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM Pacific Time

In today’s environment of both digital and physical spaces, organizations have less visibility into their physical footprint than their digital channels, limiting their potential to optimize operations and improve employee and customer experiences. Microsoft is helping organizations harness observational data and use it to produce real-time insights to unlock business value. Join this session to learn more about how Microsoft continues to build onto its spectrum of solutions that bridge the digital and physical to unlock new perspectives.

Introducing Voice Channel for Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Time

The new Voice channel, built on the same planet-scale platform powering Microsoft Teams, enables more personalized customer experiences across all channels, delivers AI at each step of the call, unifies insights across all interactions, and streamlines contact center operations onto one scalable, easy to use solution. Join us to learn more about the future of customer service experiences.

Explore more Dynamics 365 sessions

These feature keynotes and breakout sessions are just the start. Explore the full list of sessions that explore topics related to Dynamics 365.

In addition to the live streams above, each segment will be rebroadcasted throughout the event. The key segments are open to everyone, but we encourage you to register in advance to unlock the full Microsoft Ignite experiencefrom digital breakout sessions with live Q&As to conversations with Microsoft experts and your global community.

Even more to explore

Microsoft Ignite is your opportunity to learn and engage with Microsoft experts and a global community. Check out all of the activities at this year’s events:

  • Ask the Experts: Bring your questions and get answers, while exploring the latest product announcements, by engaging with the engineers and partners who are building your most important tools and solutions.
  • Connection Zone: Meet with local Microsoft leaders and channel managers, interact with engineers and technical experts, join live Q&As, and more.
  • Learning Zone: Accelerate learning with the Cloud Skills Challenge, expert-guided sessions, step-by-step modules, certification details, and more.
  • Intro to Tech Skills: Dive into the key topics, essential tools, and Microsoft technologies that can lead to new roles or a different career path.
  • Create Zone: Snap animated selfies, express your point of view, and spark conversations in the #MSIgnite community with shareable content of all kinds.

Get the most of your Microsoft Ignite experience

Be sure to follow Microsoft Ignite on Twitter to stay up to date and connected with the community and register for Microsoft Ignite today to create a customized schedule. We’ll see you there.

The post Your guide to Dynamics 365 at Microsoft Ignite 2021 appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

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

FTC puts over 1,100 businesses on notice about deceptive money-making claims

FTC puts over 1,100 businesses on notice about deceptive money-making claims

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Security

This article was originally posted by the FTC. See the original article here.

Companies offering work, training, business opportunities, investments, or other money-making opportunities often try to grab your attention by talking about how much money you can make. But all too often, the potential earnings they describe are exaggerated or even flat-out phony, and people who take the plunge instead lose significant time — and money.

The FTC is ramping up its efforts to stop companies from using false or misleading earnings claims to draw people into their business ventures. The agency sent notices to more than 1,100 multi-level marketing companies, business opportunities, franchises, investment coaching companies, and “gig” companies. The notices remind the businesses they must follow well-settled law when making earnings claims to potential participants, workers, and buyers.

Among other things, the notices tell the companies that they:

  • can’t make false, misleading or deceptive claims about the earnings you can expect
  • can’t misrepresent that you don’t need experience to earn income
  • can’t misrepresent that you must act immediately to buy or be considered for a money-making opportunity, and
  • can’t misrepresent that buying a money-making opportunity is risk-free or involves little risk.

The FTC’s cover letter makes clear to recipients that merely receiving a notice does not mean that a company did something wrong. But it also makes clear that the recipients are now on notice that if they use the illegal practices in the future, they can face penalties of up to $43,792 per violation.

Before acting on claims about potential earnings:

  • Do your research. For example, before starting a new “gig,” search for information about the company online, like how it pays its workers and any other conditions of the offer.
  • Question claims about future riches. Promises that you’ll be able to quit your job, work from home, and live lavishly often are false.
  • Steer clear of companies that use high-pressure sales tactics. Any company that says you must act immediately or discourages you from taking time to study the company is one to avoid.

For more information, check out When a Business Offer or Coaching Program Is a Scam and Multi-Level Marketing Businesses and Pyramid Schemes. If you spot an income scam, please tell us at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 has gone RTM for OEMs

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Technology

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

Today marks the day that the latest release of Windows for IoT, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 has gone RTM for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Windows 10 IoT Enterprise is the latest operating system offering for embedded and IoT devices. With every new release, we continue to deliver on our promise of bringing enterprise-class power, security, and manageability to the Internet of Things in addition to adding new features and capabilities, some of which are highlighted below.


 


This release will be available in two editions:


 



 


New Features and Capabilities in this release


There are several new features and capabilities included with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 21H2. Unless otherwise noted, these features will be included in both the LTSC and SAC versions of the release.


 


Microsoft Edge Browser Support


Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 21H2, comes with in-box Microsoft Edge Browser support.


 


Customizable Windows Update UX


With this latest release, we are enabling you to manage your Windows update experience with genericized update message strings and screen accent colors.


 


Soft Real-Time


Windows 10 soft real-time is a new feature with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 21H2 that allows device makers to introduce soft real-time capabilities on their devices.


Check out the following documentation to learn more:



 


Unified Write Filter (UWF) Updates


With Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 21H2, there have been many improvements to the Unified Write Filter.



  1. Allowing UWF Swapfile (DISK Overlay) to be created and used on any volume

  2. Read Only Media Mode

  3. Full Volume Commit in Read-Only Media mode


To learn more about how to implement these new features, review Enhanced Unified Write Filter Features


 


Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)


Starting with Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) will be available in-box for both LTSC and SAC.


 


GPU Compute Support


With Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 21H2 there is additional GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute intensive workflows.


 


Adding WPA3 H2E standards support


In this new release, there will be WPA3 H2E standards support for enhanced Wi-Fi security. To learn more, view  Faster and more secure Wi-Fi in Windows


 


 


 


Where to learn more?



 


 


 


 


 


 

Tax calculation enhancements are now available for Dynamics 365

Tax calculation enhancements are now available for Dynamics 365

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Technology

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

Today, we are excited to announce the general availability of tax calculation for Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Over the past three decades, technology has made the world smaller. The steady drive of globalization and digitalization has pushed through significant headwindssuch as market protectionism, global recessions, and, most recently, a global pandemicto change the way we live and conduct business. Now, despite vast geographic distances, it is relatively simple to connect, communicate, and trade instantly with almost anyone. This has set the stage for businesses of all sizes and industries to expand globally in pursuit of new markets, suppliers, talent, and revenue streams.

As businesses pursue global expansion, they are challenged to keep pace with a myriad of ever-evolving country-specific laws and frequently changing legal requirements from local, state, and national tax authorities. For many years, the only option available for business leaders looking to ensure tax compliance globally was to hire enough full-time finance and tax professionals to monitor policy changes and align company processes accordingly. Indeed, this has been the standard solution for some time now.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is changing this situation for companies with intelligent and timely globalization solutions, such as tax calculation. Tax calculation not only helps businesses unify their tax-relevant data, but it also leverages automation to make their tax calculation processes more efficient. At the same time, it assists in minimizing compliance risk by reducing opportunities to introduce errors into the process. In these ways, our new tax calculation service is simplifying and improving tax compliance for global businesses.

Learn more in our recent blog: Reduce complexity across global operations with Dynamics 365

Tax calculation service overview

Tax calculation is a low code, hyper-scalable, multitenant, microservice-based tax engine that enables organizations to automate and simplify the tax determination and calculation process. It is a standalone solution built on Microsoft Azure that enhances tax determination and calculation capabilities of Dynamics 365 applications through a flexible and fully configurable solution.

As tax calculation becomes generally available, it will integrate with Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, and we plan to integrate with more first and third-party applications in the near future. Additionally, it is fully backward compatible with the existing tax engine in Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and can be deployed as a new feature in the Feature Management workspace. Tax calculation service can also be enabled at more granular levels, including by legal entity or business process.

Tax determination

One challenge for organizations today is determining the appropriate tax for their business transactions. This challenge increases in difficulty as organizations add new regions where they trade and as the volume and types of transactions they process grows.

Tax calculation configures and determines tax codes, rates, and deductions in a low code and flexible way based on any combinations of the fields of a taxable document, such as shipping to or from location address, item category, or nature of counterparty, typically found on purchase orders or invoices.

Tax calculation

Another related challenge that companies face in addition to determination is calculating the tax due for their transactions. Again, this challenge becomes more difficult as business scale increases and as business is conducted in more distinct tax regions, each with its own authorities and requirements.

Our tax calculation service helps businesses meet this challenge as well by configuring with low code experience and executing the complex tax calculation formulas and conditions required by tax regulators, such as tax calculation based on margin or tax calculation on top of other tax codes.

Multiple tax registration numbers

Organizations also face challenges when they have multiple tax registration numbers that must be rolled up or reconciled to one central legal entity or party. When businesses add multiple tax registration numbers, the complexity of tax determination and calculation multiplies in step.

Tax calculation enables organizations to support multiple tax registration numbers under a single party, such as a legal entity, customer, or vendor. It also supports automatic determination of the correct tax registration number on taxable transactions like sales orders and purchase orders. And it works across various workflow scenarios, including transfer pricing, consignment warehouse, or low-risk distributor model.

In conjunction with new tax calculation, modified Tax Reporting provides new capabilities to execute country-specific, tax regulatory reports like VAT Declaration, EU Sales List, and Intrastat from a single legal entity. In multiple tax registration business scenarios, the reports select sets of data only relevant for transactions with specific country tax registration and provide results in the legally required form of an electronic file or a report layout required to file taxes in the country of tax registration.

Learn more about the feature enhancements of Tax Reporting and availability for specific countries and regions in our release notesand TechTalk.

Tax on transfer orders

A final challenge that businesses face when confronting the complexities and risk of tax compliance in foreign markets is determining and calculating the tax on transfer orders. This situation is quite common, such as when a business has a regional manufacturing facility or central warehouse that feeds storefronts scattered across multiple countries.

With tax calculation, businesses can allow for tax on transfer orders to support the EU regulation “Exempt intra-EU supply according to article 138 of the Directive 2006/112/EC” for Intra-EU Supply of goods.

Availability

Tax calculation is deployed in the following Azure geographies.

  • Asia Pacific
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Europe
  • Japan
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Learn more about the features of tax calculation service inour tax calculation overview, and check out our recent TechTalk on tax calculation.

Learn more what some of our partners are saying about the new tax calculation capabilities of Dynamics 365:

Next steps

If you are an existing Dynamics 365 user and would like to start today with tax calculation and Tax Reporting, check out our Get started with tax calculation documentation. Or, if you would like to see how Dynamics 365 Finance can benefit your company and enable smoother global expansion with microservice solutions such as tax calculation and Tax Reporting, we invite you to get started with a free trial today.

The post Tax calculation enhancements are now available for Dynamics 365 appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

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