The Microsoft Learn Cloud Skills Challenge is open!

Here is your #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix – #MSIgnite has begun, and the Microsoft Ignite Cloud Skill Challenge is now open until November 9, 2022!

There are 7 challenges to choose from and once you complete a challenge you choose you earn a 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 exam credit for a Microsoft Certification exam on your #MicrosoftLearning account!!!

Check out The Microsoft Learn Cloud Skills Challenge for more information.

#MicrosoftCloudQuickFix #Microsoft #Microsoft365 #MicrosoftAzure #MicrosoftIgnite2022 #MSIgnite

Exchange Server Patch Alert!

Get ready to patch your on-premises versions of Exchange Server ASAP! This is today’s #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix !

Yet again as announced by #Microsoft on Friday September 30, 2022 there are two new reported zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019 that are being exploited…

CVE-2022-41040 is a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability and can only be exploited by authenticated attackers while CVE-2022-41082 allows remote code execution (RCE) when PowerShell is accessible to the attacker.

Microsoft has said it’s “working on an accelerated timeline” to provide a patch for the two newly disclosed vulnerabilities and while mitigations exist I would recommend a rapid patch deployment once one is available and of course always keeping your Exchange Servers up-to-date with the latest Cumulative Update (CU) and Security Updates (SU).

Microsoft indicated that #ExchangeOnline customers don’t need to take any action at the moment because the company has detections and mitigation in place and of course will apply the patch seamlessly once available – Anyone still need a business case for migration to #ExchangeOnline ?

For more information about this and Exchange Server Patching see:

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #ExchangeOnline #MicrosoftExchangeServer #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

Sept 30, 2022 – New Podcast Available

Today I chat with Andrew Lowes about the new Exchange Online PowerShell V3 module.

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #ExchangeOnline #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

URLs shown in today’s video podcast include:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/exchange/exchange-online-powershell-v2?view=exchange-ps

https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/ExchangeOnlineManagement/3.0.0

General Availability of Exchange Online PowerShell V3

Microsoft has released Exchange Online PowerShell V3 module. This is today’s #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix !

It is recommended to now use the Exchange Online PowerShell V3 module. Exchange Online cmdlets backed by the REST API are available in Exchange Online PowerShell V3. REST API cmdlets have the following advantages:

  • More secure: REST API cmdlets have built-in support for modern authentication and don’t rely on the remote PowerShell session, so PowerShell on your client computer doesn’t need Basic authentication in WinRM for Exchange Online PowerShell.
  • More reliable: REST API cmdlets handle transient failures with built-in retries, so failures or delays are minimized. For example:
    • Failures due to network delays.
    • Delays due to large queries that take a long time to complete.
  • Better performance: The connection avoids setting up a PowerShell runspace in Exchange Online PowerShell.

For installation and connection instructions, see Exchange Online Management 3.0.0 and Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.

#MicrosoftCloudQuickFix #Microsoft365 #ExchangeOnline

Sept 23, 2022 – New Podcast Available

In this episode Ryan McKay is joined by Andrew Lowes and discuss the deprecation of Basic Authentication in Microsoft 365 on October 1, 2022 and its impact to user experience along with the upcoming #MicrosoftIgnite2022

URLs shown in today’s video podcast include:
Deprecation of Basic authentication in Exchange Online
One Last Chance to Pause the Great Exchange Online Basic Authentication Shutoff
Microsoft Ignite Home

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #BasicAuthentication #ModernAuthentication #MicrosoftCloudSecurity #MSIgnite #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

‘Replace’ Policy Action in Safe Attachments Retiring – Microsoft Defender for Office 365

If you’re like me you enjoy the rich set of features included in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 including the Safe Links and Safe Attachments capabilities. Microsoft has announced a change to retire the ‘replace’ action in Safe Attachment policies and that is today’s #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix !

Safe Attachments in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides an additional layer of protection for email attachments that have already been scanned by anti-malware protection in Exchange Online Protection (EOP). Specifically, Safe Attachments uses a virtual environment to check attachments in email messages before they’re delivered thru a process know as detonation.

Safe Attachments protection is controlled by Safe Attachment policies configured in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. In Safe Attachment policies one of the actions which can be applied to a message is the ‘Replace’ action which delivers only the message body to the recipient without the original attachments when it has been found to contain malware.

Beginning in September 2022 the ‘Replace’ action will be retired and no longer available for use in Safe Attachment policies. The first phase of the retirement will automatically apply the ‘Block’ action, which will quarantine the email, to any existing policies with the ‘Replace’ action specified.

The second phase of the retirement targeted to complete by late-October 2022 will remove the ‘Replace’ action altogether from the Microsoft Defender portal and any existing policies with it will be changed to use the ‘Block’ action.

There will not be a similar action to ‘Replace’ post retirement and we recommend that you review and update all applicable Safe Attachments policies in your tenant beforehand.

For more information on Safe Attachment policy settings in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 please see Safe Attachments – Office 365 | Microsoft Docs

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #MicrosoftDefenderforOffice365 #MicrosoftCloudSecurity #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

Sept 2, 2022 – New Podcast Available

In this episode Ryan McKay and Andrew Lowes look at new Microsoft Entra portal for modern identity and access solutions.

URLs shown in today’s video podcast include:

Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Docs
Microsoft Entra – Secure Identities and Access | Microsoft Security
Microsoft Entra Datasheet
Microsoft Entra Admin Center

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #MicrosoftEntra #MicrosoftIdentityandAccess #MicrosoftCloudSecurity #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

Aug 26, 2022 – New Podcast Available

In this episode Ryan McKay and Andrew Lowes discuss the retirement of the Classis Exchange Online Admin Center, advise where its features can be now be found in other spots in M365, and share fond memories of the Classic Exchange Online Admin Center!

URLs shown in today’s video podcast include:

Deprecation of the classic Exchange admin center

What’s new in the Exchange admin center in Exchange Online

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #ExchangeOnline #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

Reminder – Exchange Server 2013 End of Support April 2023

Today’s #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix is that Exchange Server 2013 is reaching end of support in a little over 7 months from now. After April 11, 2023, #Microsoft will now longer provide technical support for problems that may occur, bug fixes for new issues that are discovered, security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered, and time zone updates.

Upgrade to Exchange Server 2019 – See the following page on Microsoft Docs for Exchange Server system requirements and/or

Migrate to Exchange Online – See Decide on a migration path in Exchange Online on Microsoft Docs

In either case I highly recommend using the Exchange Deployment Assistant which is a web-based tool that asks you about your current Exchange environment and generates a custom step-by-step checklist that will help you.

Note: It is a supported coexistence scenario for Exchange 2019 and Exchange 2013 provided all your Exchange 2013 servers in your organization are patched to Exchange Server Cumulative Update 21 (CU21 – released June 2018) or higher. See Exchange Server build numbers and release dates

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #ExchangeOnline #MicrosoftExchange #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix

Aug 19, 2022 – New Podcast Available

In this episode Ryan McKay and Andrew Lowes discuss the retirement of Azure Active Directory Connect V1 and steps to transition to V2 of Azure Active Directory connect.

URLs shown in today’s video podcast include:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/action-required-upgrade-to-the-latest-version-of-azure-ad-connect-before-31-august-2022/

Azure AD Connect: Version release history

#Microsoft #Microsoft365 #AzureActiveDirectory #AzureADConnect #MicrosoftCloudQuickFix