Microsoft news – Page 257

Posted on August 27, 2018 by — Leave a comment

What’s next in your smart city evolution?

For most cities, becoming a smart city is no longer a question. It’s an imperative. Your city is likely well underway on its digital transformation journey. You’ve been investing in IT for years. And you’re looking to get the most out of those investments. So what’s next in your smart city evolution?

For many of the municipalities our CityNext team works with, it’s connecting everything. City leaders are looking to weave the fabric of a connected society. Ultimately, they want to bring together local and national governments with commercial businesses so that all systems are working together to improve urban experiences and citizens’ quality of life.

And they’re getting there step by step. Together with our partners, we help them navigate those steps in the context of their technology continuum.

That continuum often started sometime in the 80s, when individual city departments purchased their own on-premises, siloed solutions. Then came the 90s and the internet, which enabled cities to use webpages and portals that could present data from across departments in a singular view. But the data wasn’t really connected—it was just a presentation layer over those myriad, siloed systems.

The 2000s first brought the cloud, which made it easier to connect systems and data. Then it brought the Internet of Things (IoT) with sensors and devices—generally referred to as “the edge”—for everything from detecting water quality, to tracking hyper-local weather patterns, to enabling self-driving cars.

Now, with the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge, cities can enable connections not just centrally through the cloud, but on the edge. By that, I mean rather than data having to go to the cloud to be processed and then sent back out to an edge device, data can be connected and analyzed on and between edge devices.

In other words, rather than an autonomous car having to send a message to the cloud and wait for a response to acknowledge a red light and stop, the car and the traffic light can communicate with each other directly.

So for many cities, using the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge to start connecting everything is how they’re taking that next step in their smart city evolution. That way, they can enable cohesive experiences and computing capabilities wherever data exists. It’s also vital to helping them get the most out of advanced analytics and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

In fact, connecting data across departments and organizations’ systems and edge devices is one of the key recommendations in Gartner’s report: “Three Rules When Using AI to Add Value to Your IoT Smart Cities.”

Read the report to learn the three rules and six action items Gartner recommends for your city to get the most out of IoT and AI. Gartner’s research includes real-world use cases that illustrate how the synergy of IoT and AI can help cities better serve their citizens and achieve their desired outcomes.

If you would like to learn more about smart cities, meet with Microsoft at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. Learn more about Microsoft CityNext at Smart City Expo World Congress 2018.

Posted on August 27, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Air France elevates customer service and empowers employees with Office 365

Today’s post was written by Amel Hammouda, chief transformation officer at Air France and a member of the Air France executive committee.

Whether they’re traveling overseas for business, taking a chance on a whirlwind romance, or reuniting with old friends, passengers count on Air France to deliver an exceptional customer experience on their journeys. Every year, Air France flies upwards of 87.3 million passengers to hundreds of destinations around the world. While we are internationally recognized for the lengths we go for our customers, we are equally committed to making sure our employees have a great experience on the job.

In fact, we see a direct correlation between empowered employees and satisfied customers. This idea drives our strategic business plan, which aims to foster an innovative mindset for the benefit of our customers and our employees. This means ensuring that our employees have the right tools to contribute their ideas and enthusiasm—from unique ways to present in-flight meals to project management on an international scale. We’re building a modern, mobile workplace with Microsoft Office 365, so we can tap into the enthusiasm of our dynamic, engaged employees. Continuing to innovate great customer service will help us maintain our advantage in today’s competitive airline industry.

It’s often said that you never know who you might meet on an airplane, and this spirit of potential is also at the core of our corporate culture. As we continue to build on a culture of innovation, we know that game-changing ideas can come from anywhere in the business. With Office 365, we have tools to break down silos and leverage our collective brainpower. More than 46,000 employees use the Yammer corporate social network to share their ideas and innovate through improved collaboration for the benefit of our customers. Many of our most successful Yammer initiatives have been entirely grassroots, like the viral “I Love My Job” project that started with a single flight attendant using Yammer to share pictures and stories about her job. This grew into an incredible network of Firstline Workers who use Yammer to share best practices, tips, and tricks—innovations that we can use to take customer service to the next level.

Consistency and accuracy occur naturally in a well-connected workforce. With our cloud-based communication tools taking off in the company, it is easier for Air France employees to provide accurate answers to customers’ questions, and even anticipate their needs. The more knowledge we share across the company, the more unified we are in our approach to service, and the more reliable we are in the eyes of our customers. Today, Air France is a more interconnected, productive organization because we have the technology to communicate and collaborate effortlessly.

Dynamic communication tools like Yammer don’t just improve employee connections, they also bring tangible business wins and help the focus remain on customers. The speed at which information can spread throughout the company translates to more agile decision-making and efficiency gains. Yammer was recently used by flight attendants who encountered a problem with snack packaging on a particular route. From posts across the company, it quickly became clear that flight attendants elsewhere noticed the same frustrating defect. Within 48 hours, Air France had negotiated a refund and replacement from the supplier—a win for both flight attendants and customers.

Air France operates a complex network of flights all over the globe; distributing information across our geographically dispersed enterprise can be equally complex. Working with intelligent communication applications like Microsoft Teams helps us to connect a mobile workforce that is always on the move. Our digital champions, employees who are passionate about promoting digital culture, use Skype for Business video calls to drive adoption of our new cloud tools. My team uses Microsoft SharePoint Online for document sharing and storage. I have seen firsthand how these tools can help us transcend department boundaries and drive projects across the company.

Our strategic priorities include two main lines of action: to continuously improve the customer experience and do the same for employees. Thanks to our modern, connected workplace, we are accelerating progress in both strategic directions and we expect great synergies over the next few years.

Read the case study to learn more about how Air France uses Office 365 to improve customer service and empower employees.

Posted on August 23, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Skip user research unless you’re doing it right — seriously

Is your research timeless? It’s time to put disposable research behind us

“We need to ship soon. How quickly can you get us user feedback?”

What user researcher hasn’t heard a question like that? We implement new tools and leaner processes, but try as we might, we inevitably meet the terminal velocity of our user research — the point at which it cannot be completed any faster while still maintaining its rigor and validity.

And, you know what? That’s okay! While the need for speed is valuable in some contexts, we also realize that if an insight we uncover is only useful in one place and at one time, it becomes disposable. Our goal should never be disposable research. We want timeless research.

Speed has its place

Now, don’t get me wrong. I get it. I live in this world, too. First to market, first to patent, first to copyright obviously requires an awareness of speed. Speed of delivery can also be the actual mechanism by which you get rapid feedback from customers.

I recently participated in a Global ResOps workshop. One thing I heard loud and clear was the struggle for our discipline to connect into design and engineering cycles. There were questions about how to address the “unreasonable expectations” of what we can do in short time frames. I also heard that researchers struggle with long and slow timelines: Anyone ever had a brilliant, generative insight ignored because “We can’t put that into the product for another 6 months”?

The good news is that there are methodologies such as “Lean” and “Agile” that can help us. Our goal as researchers is to use knowledge to develop customer-focused solutions. I personally love that these methodologies, when implemented fully, incorporate customers as core constituents in collaborative and iterative development processes.

In fact, my team has created an entire usability and experimentation engine using “Lean” and “Agile” methods. However, this team recognizes that letting speed dictate user research is a huge risk. If you cut corners on quality, customer involvement, and adaptive planning, your research could become disposable.

Do research right, or don’t do it at all

I know, that’s a bold statement. But here’s why: When time constraints force us to drop the rigor and process that incorporates customer feedback, the user research you conduct loses its validity and ultimately its value.

The data we gather out of exercises that over-index on speed are decontextualized and disconnected from other relevant insights we’ve collected over time and across studies. We need to pause and question whether this one-off research adds real value and contributes to an organization’s growing understanding of customers when we know it may skip steps critical to identifying insights that transcend time and context.

User research that takes time to get right has value beyond the moment for which it was intended. I’m betting you sometimes forgo conducting research if you think your stakeholders believe it’s too slow. But, if your research uncovered an insight after v1 shipped, you could still leverage that insight on v1+x.

For example, think of the last time a product team asked you, “We’re shipping v1 next week. Can you figure out if our customers want or need this?” As a researcher, you know you need more time to answer this question in a valid way. So, do you skip this research? No. Do you rush through your research, compromising its rigor? No. You investigate anyway and apply your learnings to v2.

To help keep track of these insights, we should build systems that capture our knowledge and enable us to resurface it across development cycles and projects. Imagine this: “Hey Judy, remember that thing we learned 6 months ago? Research just reminded me that it is applicable in our next launch!”

That’s what we’re looking for: timeless user insights that help our product teams again and again and contribute to a curated body of knowledge about our customers’ needs, beliefs, and behaviors. Ideally, we house these insights in databases, so they can be accessed and retrieved easily by anyone for future use (but that’s another story for another time). If we only focus on speed, we lose sight of that goal.

Creating timeless research

Here’s my point: we’ll always have to deal with requests to make our research faster, but once you or your user research team has achieved terminal velocity with any given method, stop trying to speed it up. Instead, focus on capturing each insight, leveling it up to organizational knowledge, and applying that learning in the future. Yes, that means when an important insight doesn’t make v1, go ahead and bring it back up to apply to v2. Timeless research is really about building long-term organizational knowledge and curating what you’ve already learned.

Disposable research is the stuff you throw away, after you ship. To be truly lean, get rid of that wasteful process. Instead, focus your research team’s time on making connections between past insights, then reusing and remixing them in new contexts. That way, you’re consistently providing timeless research that overcomes the need for speed.

Have you ever felt pressure to bypass good research for the sake of speed? Tell me about it in the comments, or tweet @insightsmunko.

Posted on August 22, 2018 by — Leave a comment

New report shows how teachers use Microsoft Forms to drive improvement in learning outcomes

Microsoft Education has undertaken a new study with researchers at Digital Promise to investigate how teachers around the world are using Microsoft Forms to drive learning. Providing feedback to students on their learning progress is one of the most powerful pedagogical approaches and education research has repeatedly shown that formative feedback has a tremendous impact on learning outcomes.

In this study, we found that teachers use Microsoft Forms not only for formative assessment, but for many other pedagogical activities. Teachers value the ease of use and clear reporting of Microsoft Forms.

“I actually say to teachers, ‘I think Forms is the most underrated piece of software in the suite because of the time that it saves you in terms of data-driven outcomes and the data collection that goes on with schools now.’”

– Instructional Technology Coach

We are delighted to share this new report, which highlights the variety of creative ways teachers are using Forms.

Teachers are using Microsoft Forms in pedagogically substantive ways to improve student outcomes:

Formative Assessment
Differentiating Instruction
Peer Collaboration (students creating their own Forms in groups)
Social and Emotional Learning (see this teacher’s video on how she leverages Forms for SEL)
Increasing Student Engagement

Teachers also used Microsoft Forms for professional learning and to increase their efficiency with administrative and routine teaching tasks, such as:

Communicating with Parents
Professional Development through Reflective Practice
Increasing Teaching Efficiency by incorporating lunch choices, applications, and locker assignments into Forms

We also explored some of the best practices school and education-system leaders are using to grow adoption and use of Microsoft Forms. Some implementation strategies to get teachers to use Forms:

The most essential strategy is simply making teachers aware that Microsoft Forms is available and how it can be used. Follow the Quick Start guide to try out Microsoft Forms.
Training on how to use Forms is the second step and most coaches believed this training should be undertaken on its own (not as part of training on other apps). Check out Microsoft’s own training course, Microsoft Forms: Creating Authentic Assessments.

Coaches used the following strategies:

Using a Form with teachers directly to show its simplicity of use and to get them familiar with the tool
Understanding their teacher audiences and designing training for those audiences (e.g. ‘savvy explorer’ or ‘cautious adopter’)
Describing the time-saving element of Microsoft Forms use, especially enabling teachers to give students instant feedback; and how Microsoft Forms enables data-driven approaches to pedagogy with the immediate capture of data to Microsoft Excel.

Forms is an ideal tool for helping teachers incorporate more data-driven approaches to understanding what is working in their teaching practices, because it makes the collection (and much of the analysis) of student-learning data automatic. Results from a mood survey, a math quiz, or an exit ticket Form, are instantly available to both students and teachers. Such data helps teachers to build stronger learning relationships with their students, because they know where each student is at in their learning progress.

“There was that magical moment when getting the data happened. Oh my gosh, we’re getting this data in Forms in real time and that was unheard of before. Now within a matter of minutes I know where my students stand on the concepts that we’re going to cover that day.”

– 3^rd Grade Teacher

Getting Started with Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms is an online quiz and survey application included with Microsoft Office 365. Forms was designed using direct feedback from educators looking for a simple way to formatively assess student learning and monitor learning progress on an ongoing basis.

Forms is part of the Office 365 suite of tools. If your school already has Office 365, you can log in at www.office.com and begin using Forms as one of the many apps included in the suite. Teachers and students can also Download Office 365 for free using a valid school email address. The resources below will help you get started on your journey to using Microsoft Forms.

Posted on August 21, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Everything Xbox announced at gamescom: ‘Forza Horizon 4,’ ‘PUBG,’ ‘State of Decay 2’ and more

Here at Xbox, we love gamescom because it allows us to connect more directly with our fans, both here in Germany and across Europe. Our European audience has always been important to us, and we’re continuing our ongoing commitment to talent and great studios in Europe, including Playground Games, Ninja Theory, Rare, and Mojang. We could not be more excited to be here in Cologne, where our fans are enjoying one of the most diverse selection of games in recent years with 25 playable titles in our booth. From fast-paced action games to thrilling driving games to fun platformers, games play best on Xbox One.

Today, via a special episode of Inside Xbox broadcast directly from our booth at gamescom, we gave fans here in Germany and around the world a closer look at some of the exciting games coming to Xbox One over the next year, unveiled new Xbox One bundles and accessories, revealed new Xbox Game Pass titles, and much more.

More on Forza Horizon 4’s Team Multiplayer Action

As Forza Horizon 4 races towards launch, we got more information about Team Adventure, the new competitive multiplayer mode that allows players to team up and take on the world in races, games and frantic Freeroam Rushes. With brand new Leagues to rise through, unique rewards to be won and prestigious Grandmaster titles to aim for, start picking your teammates now and be ready when the first four-week series begins on Oct. 2 when Forza Horizon 4 launches worldwide on Xbox One, Windows 10 and included with Xbox Game Pass.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Graduating from Xbox Game Preview; Full Content Release Coming September 4

We announced that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) will exit the Xbox Game Preview program on September 4, 2018 to Full Product Release (1.0). While PUBG Corp. will continue to enhance the game and deliver new content to Xbox players, the Full Product Release marks the culmination of our combined efforts in Xbox Game Preview, where we worked closely with the passionate and engaged Xbox community to regularly update, tune, stabilize and enhance the PUBG experience for Xbox One. For more on today’s PUBG news, read the Xbox Wire post here.

Xbox Game Pass Announces Halo: The Master Chief Collection Coming in September, a Mobile App Beta and Special Offers for New Members

Xbox Game Pass provides gamers the ultimate value and freedom to play over 100 great games for one low monthly price. It is also continuously evolving based on valuable feedback from our members and has new games added every single month, including popular releases this summer such as Fallout 4 and Rocket League. Building on this, today, we announced the latest addition to the service with Halo: The Master Chief Collection on September 1, which has been a top requested game by fans.

We are also excited to announce the release of the Xbox Game Pass app, now available on iOS and Android. Browse any of the games in the Xbox Game Pass catalog, discover new titles and download them straight to your console when you’re on your mobile device. That way, they’re ready to play the next time you turn on your Xbox One. If you haven’t tried Xbox Game Pass yet, we also have a special offer for new members. Starting today until August 31 you can get one month of Xbox Game Pass for just $2 (or equivalent local currency) and receive a second month for free in nearly all countries where Xbox Game Pass is available or check with your local retailers for other great offers. Visit here for more details or the Xbox Game Pass tab on your Xbox One. For more on today’s Xbox Game Pass announcements, read the Xbox Wire post here.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps Reveals New Gameplay

We got a closer look at the highly anticipated sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps, with a focus on the new Spirit Trials feature. These fast paced, highly repayable race sequences spread throughout the game allow Ori players to compete asynchronously with other members of the community for in-game rewards and placement on the Spirit Trials leaderboards. Fans at gamescom will get a chance to check out Ori’s immersive world, dynamic combat mechanics, gripping enemy encounters and challenging puzzles for themselves. Ori and the Will of the Wisps releases on Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2019.

Undead Labs Keeps the Zombies Coming with State of Decay 2’s Daybreak Pack

Zombie killing fans will be happy to hear that Undead Labs is continuing their post-release momentum through new add-on content for State of Decay 2. Daybreak Pack will give fans more of the multiplayer action they’ve been asking for with an all-new siege defense game mode that gives players the ability to fight zombies, complete missions and earn rewards as a respawning Red Talon soldier with up to three friends. It will be available on Sept. 12. State of Decay 2 is available on Xbox One, Windows 10, and also included with Xbox Game Pass. For more on today’s State of Decay 2 Daybreak Pack announcement, read the Xbox Wire post here.

Journey to Perilous New Lands in Sea of Thieves Forsaken Shores

Today, we also gave players their first look at our third major free content update for Sea of Thieves in The Forsaken Shores. Launching September 19, and also available within Xbox Game Pass, The Forsaken Shores will take players to The Devil’s Roar to encounter brand new environmental perils with volcanoes, geysers and earthquakes added to the game. With more than five million pirates around the globe, The Forsaken Shores further expands the ever-growing world of Sea of Thieves.

New Xbox One Bundles and Accessories Offer Something for Everyone

We’ve announced more new Xbox One bundles and accessories at this year’s gamescom than ever before, with 8 new bundles and 3 new controller designs, including the first ever Xbox One X Special Edition console bundle—the Xbox One X Gold Rush Special Edition Battlefield V Bundle—as well as the Xbox Wireless Controller – PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Limited Edition and new camo and shadow options for Xbox Design Lab. For complete details on all of our announcement, read the Xbox Wire post here.

From Blockbuster Titles to Innovative Indies, Games Play Best on Xbox One

Xbox One continues to be the best place to play the biggest and best blockbuster games, including over 220 titles enhanced for Xbox One X, the world’s most powerful console. Dozens of new games from some of the world’s most talented creators are coming to the platform, such as Bethesda’s Fallout 76, Ubisoft Massive’s The Division 2, Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2, Square-Enix’s Kingdom Hearts 3, Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5, Electronic Arts’ Battlefield V, 4A Games’ Metro Exodus, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops IV and Square Enix Montreal’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with many enhanced for Xbox One X. On today’s episode of Inside Xbox, we took an in-depth look at a number of these titles, including:

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Ubisoft Massive): Developed by Ubisoft Massive and the same teams that brought you Tom Clancy’s The Division, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is an online open-world, action-shooter RPG experience set in a collapsing and fractured Washington, D.C. This rich new setting combines a wide variety of beautiful, iconic and realistic environments where the player will experience the series’ trademark for authenticity in world- building, rich RPG systems, and fast-paced action like never before. Play solo or co-op with a team of up to four players to complete a wide range of activities, from the main campaign and adversarial PvP matches to the Dark Zone — where anything can happen.
Fallout 76 (Bethesda): The award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4 welcome you to Fallout 76 — a stunning prequel and the largest world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Set in the hills of West Virginia, you are one of the first to emerge, into a new and untamed wasteland.
Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom): A brand-new entry in the legendary over-the-top action series comes to Xbox One in spring 2019, complete with its signature blend of high-octane stylized action and otherworldly and original characters the series is known for. Years have passed since the legions of hell have set foot in this world, but now a new demonic invasion has begun, and humanity’s last hope will rest in the hands of three lone demon hunters, each offering a radically different play style. United by fate and a thirst for vengeance, these demon hunters will have to face their demons if they hope to survive. The devil you know returns in the most over the top, technically advanced, utterly insane action experience of this generation. Devil May Cry 5 unleashes its demonic fury on March 8, 2019.
The Dark Pictures (Bandai Namco Entertainment): From the developers of Until Dawn comes The Dark Pictures – a series of intense, standalone, branching cinematic horror games that combine state of the art graphics with powerful storytelling to create a terrifying new gaming experience. Man of Medan is the first game in the Dark Pictures Anthology, bringing supernatural horror to the South Pacific. Five friends set sail on a holiday diving trip. With a rumoured WWII wreck to find, and plenty of on-deck partying to be had, the group is ready for what should be the dive trip of a lifetime. As the day unfolds, and a storm rolls in, their trip soon changes into something much more sinister and terrifying. As the player, you’ll get to shape the story through your actions and decisions. Who will live and who will die is up to you. Can you save them all?
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Square Enix Montreal): Experience Lara Croft’s defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara must master a deadly jungle, overcome terrifying tombs, and persevere through her darkest hour. As she races to save the world from a Mayan apocalypse, Lara will ultimately be forged into the Tomb Raider she is destined to be.

Five Great Games are Coming to Steam and PC Disc on September 14

There’s lots of big Xbox One news here at gamescom, but we’ve got some news for PC gamers too, with our announcement of five games soon to be available via Steam and on PC disc. ReCore: Definitive Edition is an action-packed adventure in which charming robotic companions are your key to saving humankind. We’ve also got four great titles that everyone in the family can enjoy. Super Lucky’s Tale is a delightful 3D platformer that follows the adventures of a brave fox named Lucky on his quest to help his sister rescue the mysterious Book of Ages. Disneyland Adventures allows Disney fans of all ages to explore Disneyland park, embarking on quests, meeting characters and more. In the 3D platforming game Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure, fans can visit the worlds of six beloved Disney-Pixar films to solve puzzles and uncover hidden secrets. Finally, you can create the zoo of your dreams with Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection. Don’t miss them!

Finally, come down to our booth at gamescom this year and visit the Inside Xbox Lounge in association with Samsung. The lounge marks the start of an official partnership between Samsung and Xbox in Europe – it’s an area to chillout away from the busy show floor to experience the ‘Unbeatable Combination’ of Samsung’s premium QLED 4K TVs, alongside Xbox One X, the most powerful console in the world!

Posted on August 21, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Seattle Times: Microsoft releases new security tools for political campaigns to combat hacking attempts

Microsoft is offering new security tools to political campaigns — some measures with a level of technology usually reserved for government and big corporate customers — as it expands its efforts to stifle hacking attempts from foreign entities.

The Redmond company announced late Monday a new set of tools, called AccountGuard, that will closely watch hacking attacks and attempts made against campaigns, and notify their staff when threats occur. Microsoft will also offer training for staffers on how to make accounts more secure, and let them test new security tools “on a par” with the features Microsoft sells to government and corporate clients.

The AccountGuard services will be included for free to campaigns, candidates, think tanks and other political groups that are Office 365 customers. The service is the newest part of Microsoft’s Defending Democracy program announced this spring, which aims to make elections secure.

Microsoft pointed to the need to expand security efforts, saying it seized six website domains last week, with the help of a court order, that belonged to hacking group Fancy Bear. The group is believed to have ties to the Russian government and was behind the 2016 hack against the Democratic Party.

That group and others like it use domains such as senate.group and office365-onedrive.com to give the appearance of a trusted organization when they send out phishing emails. The emails could be used to obtain passwords and infiltrate political organizations.

So far, Microsoft has shut down 84 of these fake domains set up by Fancy Bear in the past two years. The company also revealed last month that it thwarted two attempts last fall by hackers trying to get inside two Senate candidate campaigns, including Missouri Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill’s.

The number of hacking attempts has ticked up as midterm election campaigns get underway, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post Monday. It’s widely believed the threats aren’t as numerous as they were during the 2016 elections, but cybersecurity executives say they are still serious.

“We can only keep our democratic societies secure if candidates can run campaigns and voters can go to the polls untainted by foreign cyberattacks,” Smith wrote.

Posted on August 21, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Brad Smith: We are taking new steps against broadening threats to democracy

It’s clear that democracies around the world are under attack. Foreign entities are launching cyber strikes to disrupt elections and sow discord. Unfortunately, the internet has become an avenue for some governments to steal and leak information, spread disinformation, and probe and potentially attempt to tamper with voting systems. We saw this during the United States general election in 2016, last May during the French presidential election, and now in a broadening way as Americans are preparing for the November midterm elections.

Broadening cyberthreats to both U.S. political parties make clear that the tech sector will need to do more to help protect the democratic process. Last week, Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) successfully executed a court order to disrupt and transfer control of six internet domains created by a group widely associated with the Russian government and known as Strontium, or alternatively Fancy Bear or APT28. We have now used this approach 12 times in two years to shut down 84 fake websites associated with this group. Attackers want their attacks to look as realistic as possible and they therefore create websites and URLs that look like sites their targeted victims would expect to receive email from or visit. The sites involved in last week’s order fit this description.

We’re concerned that these and other attempts pose security threats to a broadening array of groups connected with both American political parties in the run-up to the 2018 elections. That’s why today we are expanding Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program with a new initiative called Microsoft AccountGuard. This initiative will provide state-of-the-art cybersecurity protection at no extra cost to all candidates and campaign offices at the federal, state and local level, as well as think tanks and political organizations we now believe are under attack. The technology is free of charge to candidates, campaigns and related political institutions using Office 365.

As a special master appointed by a federal judge concluded in the recent court order obtained by DCU, there is “good cause” to believe that Strontium is “likely to continue” its conduct. In the face of this continuing activity, we must work on the assumption that these attacks will broaden further. An effective response will require even more work to bring people and expertise together from across governments, political parties, campaigns and the tech sector.

An expansion of political targets

Last week’s order transferred control of the six internet domains listed below from Strontium to Microsoft, preventing Strontium from using them and enabling us to more closely look for evidence of what Strontium intended to do with the domains. These six domains are listed here:

Importantly, these domains show a broadening of entities targeted by Strontium’s activities. One appears to mimic the domain of the International Republican Institute, which promotes democratic principles and is led by a notable board of directors, including six Republican senators and a leading senatorial candidate. Another is similar to the domain used by the Hudson Institute, which hosts prominent discussions on topics including cybersecurity, among other important activities. Other domains appear to reference the U.S. Senate but are not specific to particular offices. To be clear, we currently have no evidence these domains were used in any successful attacks before the DCU transferred control of them, nor do we have evidence to indicate the identity of the ultimate targets of any planned attack involving these domains.

Microsoft has notified both nonprofit organizations. Both have responded quickly, and Microsoft will continue to work closely with them and other targeted organizations on countering cybersecurity threats to their systems. We’ve also been monitoring and addressing domain activity with Senate IT staff the past several months, following prior attacks we detected on the staffs of two current senators.

Despite last week’s steps, we are concerned by the continued activity targeting these and other sites and directed toward elected officials, politicians, political groups and think tanks across the political spectrum in the United States. Taken together, this pattern mirrors the type of activity we saw prior to the 2016 election in the United States and the 2017 election in France.

Our new Microsoft AccountGuard initiative

AccountGuard will provide three services that will cover both organizational and personal email accounts:

Threat notification across accounts. The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center will enable Microsoft to detect and provide notification of attacks in a unified way across both organizational and personal email systems. For political campaigns and other eligible organizations, when an attack is identified, this will provide a more comprehensive view of attacks against campaign staff. When verifiable threats are detected, Microsoft will provide personal and expedited recommendations to campaigns and campaign staff to secure their systems.
Security guidance and ongoing education. Officials, campaigns and related political organizations will receive guidance to help make their networks and email systems more secure. This can include applying multi-factor authentication, installing the latest security updates and guidance for setting up systems that ensure only those people who need data and documents can access them. AccountGuard will provide updated briefings and training to address evolving cyberattack trends.
Early adopter opportunities. Microsoft will provide preview releases of new security features on a par with the services offered to our large corporate and government account customers.

You can read a more complete description of Microsoft AccountGuard in today’s blog by Tom Burt, the corporate vice president who heads Microsoft’s Customer Security and Trust group.

Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program

Since we launched Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program in April, we have focused on four priorities: protecting campaigns from hacking, protecting voting and the electoral process, increasing political advertising transparency, and defending against disinformation campaigns. In the coming months, we will offer AccountGuard in additional countries, as we continue to invest in and evolve other aspects of the Defending Democracy Program.

Our Defending Democracy Program is an important piece of our work to protect customers and promote cyberdiplomacy around the world. While cybersecurity starts with Microsoft and other companies in the tech sector, it’s ultimately a shared responsibility with customers and governments around the world. Together with our industry partners, we’ve launched the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, now endorsed by 44 leading tech companies to protect and empower civilians online and to improve the security, stability and resilience of cyberspace. And we will continue to call for stronger adherence to existing international norms and the creation of new international laws – like a Digital Geneva Convention.

As last week’s court order and today’s AccountGuard initiative reflect, we are committed not only to stronger principles and laws but stronger action as well.

A democracy requires vigilance

In 1787, as the American constitutional convention reached its conclusion in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked as he departed Independence Hall what type of government the delegates had created. He famously replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

We can only keep our democratic societies secure if candidates can run campaigns and voters can go to the polls untainted by foreign cyberattacks.

Democracy requires vigilance and at times action by citizens to protect and maintain it. No individual or company can hope to meet this imperative by itself. We all need to do our part. We’re committed to doing our part by helping to protect candidates and campaigns in preserving their voices and votes no matter what party they support.

Posted on August 21, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Educators: Try these new activity plans for Skype in the Classroom

Skype in the Classroom has always been one of my favorite resources for engaging students in real-life, relevant learning experiences. I recently learned that using Skype in the Classroom has become even easier for teachers with the addition of FREE activity plans! These are activity plans written by educators for educators.

5 Reasons to get excited about the launch of these helpful new resources:

Teachers always have a long to-do list. Want to engage your students with a Skype in the Classroom experience but short on time? These activity plans will help make it happen! The plans are free and easy to download in just a few seconds. Each one includes objectives (GREAT to share with parents and administrators), activities to activate background knowledge, research, brainstorming, preparing students for the call, assessment, reflection and more.

Easy to adapt

Each activity plan can be followed step-by-step or easily adjusted to best fit your students’ needs. Once you download, each plan is fully editable, making any adjustments quick, seamless and easy. This is also a great way to save any changes after the Skype experience, so you will be able to remember how you adapted the lesson for the next time you use it with students.

Aligned to ISTE Standards

Not only are objectives listed for each activity, they are also aligned to ISTE standards. This is a nice way to keep the big picture in mind. It’s a valuable resource to share with students, parents, administrators and colleagues.

Help other teachers

Do you know other teachers who are curious about using Skype in the Classroom with their students but are unsure how or where to start? This handy resource will give them a step-by-step guide, including question prompts, research and assessment ideas, and more.

Deep(er) learning

Each activity plan includes ideas to launch the lesson, research, prepare students, reflect and assess. These ideas help teachers plan intentionally for each aspect of the learning experience and provide a framework of ideas for before, during and after the Skype experience.

Whether you are looking to launch a new school year with an exciting Skype call, planning for Skype experiences throughout the year, dreaming of Skype-a-Thon connections, or whatever your Skype in the Classroom goals may be, be sure to check out and download the free activity plans to support and enhance the experience for you and your students.

Posted on August 20, 2018 by — Leave a comment

New Alienware gaming desktops and Dell gaming monitors announced at Gamescom

Gamers both experienced and new now have more options to choose from in hardware, training and updates, with the launch of Alienware Aurora, NVIDIA and AMD graphics updates to Alienware Area 51; the availability of Alienware Academy; Alienware notebooks; and Dell gaming monitors.

Alienware Aurora

The new Alienware Aurora gaming desktop, designed for VR experiences, and currently the designated training PC for Team Liquid, is both a proven powerhouse for gaming professionals as well as a complete package for gaming noobs and veterans who need significant performance and upgradability under a reliable, high-quality chassis.

For gamers looking for a mid-tower desktop, the new Alienware Aurora is ready for current Oculus VR or HTC/VIVE requirements and can also support higher performance configurations for the near future’s more demanding VR, as well as 4K gaming and even up to 12K gaming with its highest end graphics options. Gamers can choose from a wide variety of upgradability options, spanning many performance and budgetary considerations.

Engineered around the principle of supporting more dedicated graphics power than any previous Aurora, it now comes with a total 600W (2x 300W) of dedicated desktop graphics and an additional 120W of dedicated power for custom CPU overclocking with liquid cooling.

With a MicroATX motherboard, it’s Alienware’s smallest dual-graphics-capable desktop and has more tool-less features than any previous Alienware mid-tower desktop, including: tool-less graphics, expansion cards, hard drives and memory. It’s Alienware’s first chassis supporting tool-less graphics card upgrades.

Inspired by the Alienware Area-51, the external design of the system includes AlienFX customizable lighting and has incorporated various ergonomic features for user-handling and component access. Its internal arrangement and fan positioning delivers ambient air towards the priority components with exhausts at the top and rear of the system to deliver maximum performance.

Some notable features of the Alienware Aurora:

Supports five storage drives + one ODD
Supports Intel Optane memory technology
Killer Gigabit Ethernet hardware and software
11ac wireless technology on all configurations
Whisper-quiet operation
All-parts upgradeable. Includes intelligent cable and Wi-Fi antenna, routing

Alienware Academy

Coming this fall, you can now enroll in Alienware Academy, an online training platform where all PC gamers can get data-driven lessons and be challenged to learn, train and improve in competitive gaming.

You’ll find CS:GO weapon spray course curriculums for the most popular competitive games and more than 10 lessons taught by Team Liquid’s pro gamers and other esports professionals. You’ll also get tools enabled with eye tracking that will help you gain insights from your play, with specially designed challenges and custom practice maps that will help you train.

To advance to the next level and unlock your true potential, after each lesson you must pass objectives designed to test your understanding. You can see your progess over time across different challenges on Alienware Academy profile pages. Those who demonstrate lesson mastery receive badges and rewards.

Alienware 15 and 17

With up to 8^th Gen Intel Core i9 k-Series processors, the Alienware 15 and 17 are engineered with an improved thermal solution and a thin, hinge-forward design to extract the maximum performance from top-of-the-line components.

The design introduces premium materials such as anodized aluminum, magnesium alloy, steel-reinforcements and copper thermal management to ensure a level of stiffness, rigidity, thinness and high-quality feel – all without sacrificing gaming performance. You can also get to internal components easier through a new bottom door mechanism.

With an upgraded Alienware TactX keyboard, with per key RBG LED, Alienware 15 and 17 now support n-key rollover, enabling more than 108-key commands for maximum actions per minute. It’s the only keyboard on a laptop with 2.2mm of key travel, allowing for rapid response for any keystroke. Reinforced with a steel back plate for rigidity and uniform feedback, it’s guaranteed to stay functional for up to 10 million keystrokes.

You’ll also find:

More than 80 quadrillion lighting combinations via per key RGB lighting with many effects and modes
Improved audio output with a new speaker design that includes internal smart-amps used to monitor the audio waveforms, enabling the use of the entire thermal margin of the speaker, thus enabling louder sound
Support for desktop graphics cards from NVIDIA or AMD with the optional Alienware Graphics Amplifier
The highest performance available AMD- or NVIDIA-based graphics cards using GDDR5 video memory
Optional 120Hz TN+WVA 400-nits display designed for NVIDIA G-Sync experiences
All configurations include Killer Networks e2500 Gigabit Ethernet and Killer 1550 Networks 802.11ac 2×2 Wireless with Bluetooth 5.0 technology
Includes 3 USB 3.0 ports, one of which includes PowerShare technology, another of which uses a Type-C connector for Type-C compatible devices
One Thunderbolt 3 Port (USB Type-C with support for SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps, 40Gbps Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort)

Dell 24 and 27 gaming monitors

S2419HGF S2719DGF

With Dell’s 24 (S2419HGF) and 27 (S2719DGF) gaming monitors, you’ll experience sharp, tear-free graphics with a swift overclocked refresh rate at 144Hz and 155Hz respectively. You’ll also leave lag behind, with blazing fast and responsive gameplay at an extremely rapid 1 millisecond response time.

These monitors support AMD FreeSync for smooth gameplay and give you the flexibility to game with the No-Sync fast refresh option on your existing hardware. You can also personalize and preset up to three gaming profiles, in addition to three factory preset modes, with a gamer-geared menu. Both monitors are distinguished by metallic paint in recon-blue to complement Dell gaming PCs for unified look and gaming experience.

With tilt, pivot, swivel and height adjustable features, you can find your ideal viewing position and game for long hours comfortably. With the wide range of ports, you can hook up these gaming monitors to your PC, and add another secondary device – like your gaming console of choice – for simultaneous entertainment options.

The Dell 24 Gaming Monitor offers FHD resolution, while with the Dell 27 Gaming Monitor, you’ll enjoy vivid edge-to-edge gameplay, crisp QHD resolution and 3.68 million pixels – almost twice as much than full HD.

The all-new gaming monitors provide maximum reliability with Dell Premium Panel Exchange, which allows a free panel replacement during the Limited Hardware Warranty period even if only one bright pixel is found.

Posted on August 20, 2018 by — Leave a comment

HP kicks off Gamescom with OMEN innovations

OMEN by HP unveiled new hardware and mobile software innovations for gaming enthusiasts on the eve of the industry’s big Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany. On the hardware front, the OMEN Obelisk is the latest addition to the company’s desktop gaming family. On the software side, OMEN Game Stream for Android will bring OMEN experiences to gamers looking to connect and play on the go.

Also unveiled are new features for the OMEN Mindframe Headset – the world’s first headset with active earcup cooling technology – to add comfort and audio benefits for both competitive play and streaming.

“HP is focused on delivering incredible experiences that fuel the future of gaming and enable the community to perform at their best,” said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, Consumer Personal Systems, HP Inc. “Integrating the newly announced NVIDIA GPUs and teaming up with HyperX to provide high-performance memory for our OMEN Obelisk and future desktops demonstrates our commitment to building a world-class ecosystem comprised of the world’s best gaming solutions.”

Gamers are always hungry for the latest and greatest generation of components such as graphics cards and memory. The OMEN Obelisk will be one of the first systems to carry the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 Series of GPUs by way of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, powered by all-new NVIDIA Turing architecture, giving gamers access to the world’s ultimate gaming architecture. The integration of HyperX high-performance memory within the OMEN Obelisk is another critical part of engineering a desktop to utilize the latest GPUs, RAM and other components through an industry-standard upgrade path vital to gaming at the highest levels, both now and in the future.

“HyperX is pleased to work with HP and provide HyperX FURY memory in all upcoming and refreshed OMEN by HP gaming PCs,” said Mark Leathem, general manager, HyperX Peripherals Division, when speaking to the memory integration. “With over fifteen years of experience delivering gaming memory, the HyperX brand is a great fit with HP’s vision of providing exceptional PCs for gamers.”

The OMEN Obelisk Desktop addition to the family of OMEN Desktops has been engineered with peak performance and customization so PCs can keep up with the latest in gaming. With a DIY-friendly, industry-standard upgrade path, along with options for the latest graphics and processor architectures, gamers can continually achieve the performance they expect.

Top features of the OMEN Obelisk are detailed in HP’s press release and include world-class power and storage, latest series of NVIDIA GPUs, HyperX integration, strategic cooling with extensive venting that takes advantage of thoughtfully placed components to generate optimal airflow, and a customizable and clean design.

The OMEN Game Stream feature of the OMEN Command Center enables gamers to harness the power of their OMEN on other Windows 10 devices to play games on their big screen TV. The addition of Android functionality later this year will add a new array of devices for gamers to stream their OMEN experience. OMEN Command Center comes preinstalled on all OMEN PCs, providing features such as Network Booster and System Vitals. It also supports customization and settings adjustments for the latest accessories, such as the OMEN Sequencer Keyboard, OMEN Reactor Mouse and OMEN Mindframe Headset.

Speaking of which, the forthcoming OMEN Mindframe Headset is the world’s first headset with active earcup cooling by way of HP’s patented thermoelectric driven Frostcap technology. It has been built with comfort in mind, while also delivering top-notch sound quality. The OMEN by HP team has made further additions prior to launch, including noise cancellation, real-time audible feedback via sidetone to take advantage of noise cancellation, and new fabric cups for improved breathability.

Regarding pricing and availability, the OMEN Obelisk Desktop is expected to be available in September via HP.com and other retailers for a starting price of $879.99. OMEN Game Stream for Android is expected to be available later this year via the Google Play Store for free. And the OMEN Mindframe Headset is expected to be available in October via HP.com and other retailers for a starting price of $199.99.

Updated August 20, 2018 11:27 am

Is your research timeless? It’s time to put disposable research behind us

Speed has its place

Do research right, or don’t do it at all

Creating timeless research

Have you ever felt pressure to bypass good research for the sake of speed? Tell me about it in the comments, or tweet @insightsmunko.

Getting Started with Microsoft Forms

Most Read Business Stories

5 Reasons to get excited about the launch of these helpful new resources: