May 23, 2024 at 01:42AM
Microsoft announced the deprecation of Visual Basic Script (VBScript) in favor of advanced alternatives like JavaScript and PowerShell. The plan will be implemented in three phases, ultimately eliminating VBScript from Windows. Additionally, Microsoft’s Recall feature has raised privacy concerns, with the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office seeking transparency and safeguards for user privacy.
Key Takeaways from the Meeting Notes:
– Microsoft is planning to deprecate Visual Basic Script (VBScript) in the second half of 2024 in favor of more advanced alternatives like JavaScript and PowerShell, due to their broader capabilities and suitability for modern web development and automation tasks.
– The deprecation plan consists of three phases, with VBScript being available as an on-demand feature in Windows 11 24H2 in the first phase, and eventually being fully retired and eliminated from the Windows operating system in the future.
– Microsoft’s Recall feature, which provides an “explorable timeline of your PC’s past,” has raised privacy concerns and faced criticism. The feature periodically saves snapshots of the user’s active window and saves the data in a semantic index, raising concerns about privacy safeguards and potential misuse by threat actors.
– The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has expressed the need for transparency from Microsoft about safeguards in place to protect user privacy and emphasized the importance of rigorously assessing and mitigating risks to people’s rights and freedoms.
– Security researcher Kevin Beaumont has raised concerns about Recall, describing it as a “keylogger… baked into Windows” and warning that the lack of safety guardrails could allow threat actors to steal snapshots and gather valuable information if they have already compromised a system through other means.
Feel free to let me know if anything else is needed or if there are any other meetings to review.