Though Windows 10 support ends in late 2025, both businesses and — for the first time — individual customers will have the option for up to three years of paid security updates.

Microsoft plans to offer extended security updates to commercial Windows 10 customers when the operating system reaches end-of-life in late 2025. For the first time, the company is extending that offer to individual users as well.

Microsoft encouraged Windows 10 customers to begin plans to migrate to the latest version of the operating system — Windows 11 — last April with the announcement that Windows 10 22H2 would be the final version.

Windows 10 is still the most widely used version of the OS, accounting for 64% of US desktop market share, according to Stat Counter’s figures; that compared to 30% for Windows 11.

End of support is set for Oct. 14, 2025. At that point, Microsoft will no longer provide bug fixes, security fixes, time zone updates, or technical support. That means users would need to upgrade existing devices to Windows 11, purchase new hardware running the latest OS, or move to the cloud-based Windows 365.

For those that don’t update, Microsoft will provide Extended Security Updates (ESUs), the company said in a blog post Tuesday. These can be purchased on a yearly basis, and can be renewed for up to three years. Microsoft doesn’t always provide this option: extended support was offered for Windows 7, but not for Windows 8.

The ESU program provides monthly “critical and/or important security updates,” Microsoft said. There are, however, no new features, design change requests, or technical support services provided past the October 2025 deadline.

ESU pricing will be provided “at a later date,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Microsoft notes that customers on Windows 10 IoT Enterprise Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise plans “will continue to receive updates based on their specific lifecycles.”

The wireless network-connectivity problem — which largely affected public, education and enterprise users — is related to two Patch Tuesday OS fixes.

Microsoft has offered a temporary fix to Windows users for Wi-Fi related issues after a Windows 11 update that compromised wireless connections on public, education, and enterprise networks.

The move is a response to reports from Windows users that they were having problems connecting their computers to Wi-Fi networks after the rollout of December's Patch Tuesday updates to Microsoft products.

Microsoft blamed two OS updates from December's Patch Tuesday — KB5032288 and KB5033375 — for the connectivity glitches in a post on its website, and acknowledged its prevalence in affecting users of particular Wi-Fi networks over others.

[ How to protect Windows 10 and 11 PCs from ransomware ]
"As reported, you are more likely to be affected by this issue if you are attempting to connect to an enterprise, education, or public Wi-Fi network using 802.1x authentication," the company wrote. "This issue is not likely to occur on home networks."

Indeed, the problems disproportionately affected people connecting to Wi-Fi on wireless networks that have enabled fast-transition or fast-roaming, which are typically used on university campuses to facilitate seamless connectivity between various access points.

In fact, some universities — such as the University of British Columbia — alerted their students and staff about the issue before Microsoft responded and even advised uninstalling the update as a temporary measure to restore service until a vendor-supported fix was available.

Fixing the problem
Microsoft's resolution isn't actually much different than what the university advised and what many other users already applied. The company issued a Known Issue Rollback (KIR), which will cause the OS to fall back to a previous version of the code that doesn't have the problem.

Microsoft introduced KIRs in March 2021 as a service to fix non-security bugs. However, a KIE is just a temporary fix, and the company said it plans to more comprehensively fix the problem and will re-issue a patch soon.

Microsoft also advised that it might take up to 24 hours for the resolution to propagate automatically to consumer devices and non-managed business devices; however, users can restart their devices to help hurry the process along.

For enterprise-managed devices that encounter the issue, it can be resolved by installing and configuring a special Group Policy, which can be found in "Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> <Group Policy name listed below>," the company said.

Users Express Annoyance
Microsoft's response didn't come quickly enough for some users, who quickly took to internet message boards like Reddit to grumble publicly about having to mitigate it themselves by rolling back the update.

"To no one’s surprise Microsoft broke things with their 'update,'" one disgruntled user posted on Reddit. "What better way to test than production. Just keep lowering the bar."

Microsoft's Community pages also lit up with people complaining of the fix, with users reporting that even newly purchased Windows laptops experienced slow or nonexistent wireless connectivity.

"My Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is just a little bit over 2 weeks old from Costco," reported user Sunny6887. "After the Windows 11 KB5033375 security patch yesterday, my Internet became super slow and unusable. Google Chrome kept throwing DNS errors and other errors."

Long-suffering Windows users have a point, as the scenario is certainly not the first time an update by Microsoft aimed at patching its software inadvertently disrupted existing services. The company has a long and storied history of having to backtrack on an update or issue new patches for problems created by its own patching system.

After a search for Microsoft's MSBA, I discovered it is not officially available for Window 10, or 11. The google search recommended several 3rd party apps to run vulnerability scans of a network. I chose Rapid 7 Nexpose. 

I installed Rapid 7's Nexpose thinking it would help me lock down my network. I have no doubts about the applications ability to find vulnerabilities, but it has to function normally first. 
I first downloaded the 30 day trial and then ran the installation. It errored out and I had to manually delete the app and reinstall it to complete the installation successfully. But hey at least it worked & the installation seemed to be good.
I logged into the application and created the assets to scan. I ran the scans and it did discover many issues to resolve. So far so good.
I did not have time to further populate the assets with credentials and other settings to help return better results, so I closed the app and went about my business. I later wanted to continue configuring the app and run new scans, but could no longer login to the app. 
I have no clue why it would fail authenticating my user credentials, but it currently does fail.  

I will reboot and try again, but so far my impression of this vulnerability scanner is not so good right now. I wish I could at least get the list of vulnerabilities from the first scan, but I wouldn't know how to manually retrieve this information from its "database".


 https://www.rapid7.com/products/nexpose/

If you’re a public figure, a business, or someone who owns a personal brand, it’s important to have an online presence. However, you might find it unsettling to have your personal information like contact details, address, and financial details available to strangers with a few Google searches.

Luckily, Google now offers two methods through which you can easily remove any personal data about you. Keep reading to find out the steps to remove personal information from Google.

Why might you want to remove your personal data from Google?

Privacy and security are the primary reasons you wouldn’t want your data to be public. Here are some other reasons why removing your data from Google is important:

Privacy concerns: You might not want your personal information like date of birth, bank details, or address in the public domain. Removing these data from Google can reduce the risks of cyberstalking, identity theft, harassment, and other privacy-related risks.

Data security: Scammers can use your personal information, like your social security number or name, for unauthorized access, phishing attacks, and data breaches. The smaller your digital footprint, the lesser the chances of becoming a cyber victim.

To maintain a professional image: Sometimes, the information about you might be negative, inaccurate, or outdated. Taking out these data will help


What information can you remove from Google?


For Google to take action, your request must fall into one of the following criteria:

Contact information
Bank account or credit card numbers
Fake pornographic content
Government-issued ID numbers
Copyright material
Explicit images featuring minors.
Images of a handwritten signature or ID documents
Confidential login credentials

Step 1: Go to the “results about you” dashboard from your Google profile and click on Get Started.

Step 2: Google will provide a form with the instructions to follow. Carefully fill out the form and provide your correct information, including your name and at least one contact detail.

Step 3: After entering the details, click on “Submit”.

Step 4: Google will then look for the information that matches your results in the search results. If something similar pops up, click the “Request to Remove” tab near the search results.

After sending the request, Google will cross-check the details and make sure the site isn’t owned by an educational or government institution. After a few days, the content will be removed. However, if Google rejects your request, you can always resubmit it with more information to back it up.

Contact the website owner
Remember, Google can only remove your personal information from appearing on the search results. If a website contains your information, Google cannot remove it from the website itself.

In this case, you can contact the website owner. You’ll find an email address or a Contact Us page on the website, and if there’s no contact information available on the website, use a service like Whois to find the domain or the owner.

After finding the website owner, politely ask them to remove or update the information. If the owner doesn’t respond or is not willing to remove the information, you can ask Google to remove it from its search results (as mentioned earlier).

Monitor your online presence 
Make it a habit to search your details like address, name, email, phone number, and the likes on Google every once in a while. This will help you take timely action to prevent spreading inaccurate or outdated content about you to the public.

You can also use Google Alerts, where Google will notify you whenever someone posts your details in Google. However, it's not always possible to completely hide your information from the internet; new sources might pop up, so closely watch your online reputation.

Tools like the best VPN services are able to improve your anonymity online, but the most reliable way of keeping your info private online is to avoid posting it as much as possible.

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) are network security solutions that go beyond the traditional port/protocol inspection by incorporating application-level inspection, intrusion prevention, and external threat intelligence. As the third generation in firewall technology, NGFWs improve network security by handling application-level threats and combining traditional features with more advanced decision-making capabilities. They’re a core cybersecurity product and a foundational security tool every organization needs to protect their network from intruders.

As defending data and applications becomes more complicated, the security products built to withstand evolving threats also grow more powerful. The vast expansion of IoT devices, remote work, and advanced threats like ransomware have made protecting the perimeter more challenging and more critical than ever.




NGFW vendors that stand out:
Palo Alto: Best for Large Enterprises
Fortinet: Best for the Value
Check Point: Best for Sandboxing
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall: Best for Hybrid Cloud Environments
Cisco: Best for Consistent Network Policies
Forcepoint: Best for Cluster Management
Huawei: Best for Cloud Service Providers
Juniper Networks: Best for SMEs with Distributed Networks
Sophos XGS: Best for Small Security Teams

This comparative table guides you in selecting the NGFW solution that aligns seamlessly with your organization’s security objectives, exploring key aspects like scalability, threat detection, advanced sandboxing, ease of use, and pricing.

                  Scalability           Threat Detection and Prevention        Advanced Sandboxing               Ease of Use        Pricing  
Palo Alto     Yes                    Yes                                                     Yes                                            Easy                   Price starts at $1000 per year.

Fortinet      Yes                    Yes                                                     Yes                                            Easy                    Price starts at $600 per year.

Check Point Yes                   Yes                                                     Yes                                            Easy                    Price for small-size packages starts at $2100 per year.

Barracuda CloudGen
                  Yes                    Yes                                                      Limited                                    Moderately complex Starts at $4599 per year in the marketplace for small instance types in the US.

Cisco          Yes                     Yes                                                     Yes                                          Moderately complex Starts at $4500 per year in the marketplace for large instance types.

Forcepoint Yes                     Yes                                                      Yes                                          Easy                         Forcepoint NGFW 300 Series in the marketplace starts at $1700 per year.

Huawei       Yes                    Yes                                                       Yes                                         Moderately complex   Pricing is unavailable on the vendor’s website.

Juniper Networks 
                  Yes                     Yes                                                      Limited                                  Moderately complex    Price for Juniper vSRX NGFW in the marketplace starts at $1990 per year.

Sophos XGS Limited              Yes                                                      Limited                                  Easy                           Pricing starts at around $500 for the XGS 87 and around $30,000 for the XGS 6500.


Key Features of NGFW Solutions
Organizations expect the most up-to-date tools and resources for managing their security infrastructure, including NGFW capabilities. When considering NGFW vendors and products, look for the following standard and advanced features such as identity awareness, centralized management, stateful inspection, and more.

Application And Identity Awareness
A critical difference between traditional firewalls and NGFWs is the latter’s ability to offer protection at the application and user identity levels. Whereas traditional firewalls rely on standard application ports, NGFWs can identify, allow, block, and limit applications regardless of port or protocol. NGFWs’ ability to recognize identity adds to its control by enabling administrators to apply firewall rules more granularly to groups and users.

Centralized Management, Visibility, And Auditing
To actively manage a network’s defenses, administrators need an accessible and configurable dashboard to view and manage security systems like NGFWs. Most NGFWs contain log analysis, policy management, and a management dashboard that offer a way to track security health, analyze traffic patterns, and export firewall rules for use elsewhere.

Stateful Inspection
Traditional firewalls use stateful inspection, also known as dynamic packet filtering, to inspect traffic up to Layer-4. NGFWs are built to track Layers 2-7. This advancement allows NGFWs to perform the same stateful inspection duties of a traditional firewall—distinguishing between safe and unsafe packets. The extension of dynamic packet filtering to the application layer is invaluable as critical resources move towards the network edge.

Deep Packet Inspection
Deep packet inspection (DPI) goes a step further in inspecting traffic. Stateful inspection monitors all traffic and just the packet headers, while DPI inspects the data and header of transmitted packets. Executed at the application layer, DPI can locate, categorize, block, or reroute packets with problematic code or data payloads not detected in a stateful inspection.

Integrated Intrusion Prevention (IPS)
Intrusion prevention systems (IPS) once sat adjacent to the firewall, playing defender against new threats outside the protected network. While traditional firewalls manage traffic flows based on network information, IPS devices inspect, alert, and even actively rid the network of malware and intruders.

As cybersecurity products have evolved, IPS technology has been a valuable integration into NGFW product offerings. While the distinction is growing narrower, the question for buyers becomes whether the IPS technology included with their NGFW is good enough to forego a standalone IPS product. Critically, IPS can prevent attacks like brute force, known vulnerabilities, and DDoS.

Network Sandboxing
The main goal of network sandboxing is to test malware in a controlled environment in order to boost defenses. Depending on your NGFW selection, you may have access to a network sandbox or have the option of adding such on a subscription basis. Network sandboxing advances malware protection because it allows IT professionals the chance to send a potentially malicious program to a secure, isolated, cloud-based environment where administrators can assess the malware behavior before it interacts with the in-network systems.

Secured Traffic
HTTPS is the current standard for network communication over the internet, using the SSL/TLS protocol for encrypting such communications. As the leading network traffic inspector, NGFWs are now being used to decrypt SSL and TLS communications, often coming with remote access VPN capabilities.

To secure encrypted traffic, NGFWs support all inbound and outbound SSL decryption. This monitoring ensures that the infrastructure can identify and prevent threats rooted in encrypted network flows.

Threat Intelligence And Dynamic Lists
Most NGFW vendors offer some form of threat intelligence. New threats arise daily, and expecting firewall administrators to be aware and online around the clock can be a recipe for disaster. NGFWs can use a global network’s updates on the latest threats and attack sources, using third-party threat intelligence feeds, to block threats and implement policy changes in real time.

Indicators of compromise (IoC) are shared globally, informing your NGFW of malicious traffic to eliminate or block automatically without the 3 a.m. call or to surface events that do require attention. Threats identified in-house can also be countered with the use of dynamic lists. NGFWs make threat hunting more automated and less prone to human error with threat intelligence feeds and dynamic lists in your toolbox.

Integration Capacity
Organizations small and large continue to ramp up third-party services that enhance business processes, including numerous popular and mission-critical SaaS applications and APIs. As IT managers look at new products to incorporate into their organization’s infrastructure, the product’s ability to integrate third-party applications is a must.

Easy integration means less stress for personnel navigating between software. Examples of standard integrations include SIEM software, 2FA, Active Directory, and reporting tools. Application programming interfaces (API) play a critical role in policy orchestration and provisioning where multiple software applications are in use.

How Do You Choose the Right NGFW Solution?
To select the right NGFW for your organization, first ask these questions of your IT and security teams, as well as any business leaders involved in the buying process:

Pricing: What is your budget? Can you afford one of the most expensive NGFWs, or one designed for SMBs?
Expertise: How experienced is the team that would be implementing and managing this solution?
Team Size: How many employees will be able to dedicate time to its management? Do you have a small or large security team?
Key Features: What are the three most critical features in an NGFW for your business specifically?
Customer Service: How much support will you need from the vendor?
Once you’ve determined your budget, seek quotes from three or four NGFW vendors to make the decision process easier. Exclude choices that are incompatible with the size and capabilities of your company. Engage in in-depth discussions with your IT and security teams to assess their knowledge and ensure alignment with the chosen solution. For less experienced teams, prioritize user-friendly interfaces. Following the identification of critical features, consult reviews to locate firewalls that excel in those areas. For example, if sophisticated threat prevention is critical, investigate highly rated choices such as Barracuda for informed decision-making.

The following list of potential security priorities pairs your business’s need with a solution that’s traditionally highly rated by customers or specializes in providing that feature:

Intensive sandboxing needs: Check Point
Easy-to-manage user interface: Sophos
Reliable solution for SMBs: Fortinet, Sophos
Microsegmentation: Juniper Networks
Device and network clustering: Forcepoint
Customer support: Cisco, Huawei, Barracuda
Container protection: Palo Alto, Juniper Networks

How to Evaluated NGFW Solutions
In evaluating NGFW solutions, we structured our score criteria into five weighted categories, each with its own set of subcriteria based on various organizational demands. We assigned a score out of five to each NGFW solution and combined the scores per criteria to identify the final score and determine an overall winner. We also evaluated each vendor’s unique advantages and differentiating features.

The following criteria were employed, each with its own weighting based on its importance:

Cost – 20%
We assessed the cost and transparency of NGFW solutions by determining the availability and sufficiency of free trials or free plans, the accessibility and transparency of price information, and the overall pricing structures and plans.

Core Features – 25%
This criterion focused on the core features of NGFW solutions, such as scalability, visibility and control, centralized management, threat detection and prevention, container protection, and integration with security tools.

Non-Core Features – 20%
Beyond the main functionality, enhancements such as SD-WAN, enhanced sandboxing, cloud compatibility, VPN compatibility, user-based policies, and reliability were also evaluated.

Customer Support – 20%
Customer support effectiveness and accessibility were critical factors, including considerations for customer support availability, live chat, email responsiveness, and the availability and quality of documentation, demos, and training resources.

Ease Of Use And Configuration – 15%
This criterion included considerations for ease of use/UI, the availability and quality of knowledge base/resources, the technical competence required to set up, and the intuitiveness of the administration interface when assessing the user experience and ease of setup.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Firewall Is Deployed The Most?
Determining the most deployed firewall varies based on organizational needs. However, industry giants such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Cisco Secure Firewall are widely used in large organizations. The choice is determined by unique requirements, preferences, and the size of the company.

How Many Firewalls Should You Have?
The number of firewalls required by an organization is determined by its network architecture, security requirements, and segmentation strategy. Businesses typically deploy numerous firewalls for tiered protection. This could comprise perimeter firewalls, internal firewalls for network zone segmentation, and application-specific firewalls. The goal is to develop a defense-in-depth plan that is suited to the organization’s security requirements.

Bottom Line: Secure Your Network with Next-Generation Firewall Solutions
Choosing an NGFW needs a thorough understanding of your company’s budget, requirements, and staff expertise. Once you’ve determined these characteristics, generating a shortlist becomes simple. While setting up next-generation firewalls is challenging, the increased protection they provide justifies the expense. Adequate training for IT and security teams is critical, not just for improving corporate security but also for investing in overall team knowledge and future success.

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
   

Hello,
I'm in a band called Resonance out of Montreal, Quebec. We were looking for a way to record an upcoming gig. Our biggest concern is the sound of course. I did some research and found an excellent solution, rent a zoom q8n-4k. It includes 4k, 1080, etc,  video resolution. 
This is a video camcorder that is made to record music! It has two microphones & can accept two more with XLR/TLS connectors. It can also supply phantom power to condenser mics.  So you can record with 4 microphones. You can use the XLR to connect to a mixer and record directly from there. 
It includes; 
— It supports a wide angle view of 160 degrees. 
— You can record as a single MOV file. All other options record the audio and video into separate files.
— Supports recording audio up to 96KHZ/24bit
— It has an AUTO mode for changing brightness in the recording automatically. There is also a concert mode.
— Visual clipping indicators so you can adjust the recording level properly.
— Mixer settings adjusts the highs and lows.
— Includes effects like compression and others effects. 

These are just some of the settings I retained after watching some YouTube videos & checking out the User Manual. For Video editing I use https://app.clipchamp.com/ A FREE Video editor.

I have installed and tested a few video editors. Most are bloatware, very large and some have specific hardware requirements. If you don't read the fine print you could end up wasting a lot of time and resources, before finding out it was all for nothing. Most are very complicated and have their own methodology. There are no standards you can rely on.  Personally not being experienced with video editing, I found there was a learning curve before creating something decent. 

Did you know Microsoft recommends (for Windows 10 and 11) that users run a specific app?  They do. They recommend CliipChamp. It is very easy to use and does not have any specific hardware requirements.  It is web based so nothing gets installed on your local computer.  It is quick and very responsive. I was able to make a nice video on my first try.  Check it out for yourself. https://app.clipchamp.com/

Windows annoyance #1: Noisy widgets
Widgets are one of the most annoying things about a default Windows system. I don’t need to see an animated message saying the S&P 500 is “trending down” on my taskbar while I’m trying to be productive — or while I’m trying to relax. And I definitely don’t need a feed of often-clickbait stories popping up when I accidentally hover my cursor over the Widgets icon.

On Windows 11, you can hide Widgets by right-clicking an empty spot on the taskbar, selecting “Taskbar Settings,” and then turning off “Widgets” under Taskbar items.

On Windows 10, right-click an empty space on your taskbar, point to “News and interests,” and select “Turn off.”

(While the feature may not be called Widgets on Windows 10, it’s similar — and similarly annoying.)

Windows annoyance #2: Bing Search in the Start menu
When you search in the Start menu, Windows searches Bing rather than just the applications and files on your PC. And, if you click one of those links, Windows always opens Bing in Edge — not your default web browser.

Maybe web search from the Start menu is useful, but I don’t really want to use Bing — and I don’t want to use Edge.

Want to stop it? You’ll need to adjust the “DisableSearchBoxSuggestions” value in the registry. (This works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.)

To remove Bing from the Windows 10 Start Menu, open the Registry Editor (RegEdit), then paste "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" into the address bar. Right-click empty space in the right pane, then create a new DOWRD (32-bit) named "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" and set the value to 1.

Or, get rid of all your Start menu annoyances at once by installing an alternative Start menu for your Windows PC.

Windows annoyance #3: Unnecessary startup apps
PC manufacturers often preinstall startup apps and other “bloatware” on their PCs, but even if you have a fresh Windows system you installed yourself, Microsoft bundles in its own startup applications. For example, Windows includes Microsoft Teams and starts it when you sign in — even if you don’t use Teams — cluttering your notification area.

I recommend cleaning up your Startup applications. You can do so from the Task Manager — either right-click your taskbar and select “Task Manager” or press Windows+Shift+Esc on your keyboard. In the Task Manager, click the “Startup” icon on the left (in Windows 11) or the “Startup” tab at the top (in Windows 10.) If you don’t see the tab on Windows 10, click “More details.”

Right-click the items you don’t need here and select “Disable” to stop them from launching at boot. You don’t want to disable important utilities for your PC’s hardware, of course, so you might have to do a bit of research if you’re not sure what's what — luckily, you can right-click an item in the list here and select “Search online” for more information.

Windows annoyance #4: Taskbar clutter
There’s a lot on the taskbar that you may not actually use. For example, even if you do search your Start menu, you don’t need a huge search box — you can open the Start menu or press the Windows key and start typing to search.

To remove an application launcher from your taskbar, right-click it and select “Unpin from taskbar.” (If you can’t unpin an application, that’s because it’s running — it will vanish from your taskbar when you close it.)

On Windows 11, to remove special icons from your taskbar — such as that search box — right-click an empty spot on the taskbar and choose “Taskbar Settings.” Use the options under Taskbar items.

On Windows 10, right-click an empty spot on the taskbar and use the options in the context menu to control which icons appear in the taskbar. For example, to hide the search box, point to “Search” in the menu here and select “Hidden.”

Windows annoyance #5: Start menu junk
The Start menu always needs a cleanup on a new PC. Microsoft no longer bundles a Candy Crush Saga launcher — funny, as Microsoft now owns it! — but there are a lot of app launchers pinned by default on new PCs.

Open up your Start menu, right-click pinned shortcuts (on Windows 11) or tiles (on Windows 10) that you don’t need quick access to, and “Unpin” them.

Then, pin applications you do want to use. Your Start menu will finally be your own.

Windows annoyance #6: that messy Edge start page
The standard Windows web browser experience is pretty rough. Every time you open a new browser window — or tab — you’re distracted with a feed of stories from “Microsoft Start.”

You can fix this by switching to another browser — such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. You can also keep using Edge, but clean it up. Open an Edge window and, on the standard New Tab page full of web stories, click the gear at the top-right corner of the page. Scroll down in this pane, click the “Content” box, and select “Content off.”

Windows annoyance #7: Too many notifications
Windows isn’t alone — every modern device seems to bombard you with notifications by default. You can quickly turn off notifications for any app, though, or stop Windows from sending you system notifications that often seem like advertisements.

On Windows 11, open the Settings app and head to Settings > System > Notifications. You turn off notifications from individual apps here.

Be sure to scroll down and expand the “Additional settings” option hidden at the bottom of the list of apps. You’ll see options that will let you disable certain types of notifications Microsoft uses to promote Windows features, also known as “suggestions.”

In Windows 10, head to Settings > System > Notifications & Actions. Turn off notifications for any app you like. You will also find options for configuring various types of “suggestions” from Microsoft above the list of apps on the page here.

Can’t configure an app’s notifications from here? Some apps use their own style of notifications rather than the standard Windows type. If you have an app you can’t configure notifications for in this area, you’ll have to open it up and use the application’s built-in notification settings.

Online purchases and package deliveries skyrocket during the holiday season. Naturally, scammers use this opportunity to trick busy shoppers into giving out their personal information. Here's what you should know about a new twist on delivery scams.

How the scam works
You receive a text message from what appears to be a delivery driver looking for your home. It says something like this: "Hi! My name is Tony. I work for FedEx, and I'm trying to find your house. Please call me." If the message seems a little strange to you, trust your gut. It's a scam!
If you call the number, the scammer will ask you to confirm your personal details, including your name, address, and possibly even your credit card information. If you don't remember ordering anything that needs to be delivered, the caller may try to convince you the package is a gift from a friend or relative. The callers are often friendly and professional, making the scam harder to spot.

Also, look out for text or email messages that ask you to reschedule a delivery or pay a small delivery fee. These messages often look legitimate - containing official logos and using professional language. But if you click, you may download malware onto your computer that gives con artists access to personal information and passwords.
In either case, the package doesn't exist. If you give up your personal information, it will be in the hands of con artists, and you'll be at risk of identity theft.

How to avoid delivery scams

• Keep track of your deliveries. Scammers hope you'll just assume they are talking about a package you ordered recently, without double-checking. It will be much harder for them to fool you if you know what packages you are expecting, from what companies, and when.
  
• Know delivery company policies. Delivery companies will never contact you with unsolicited calls or texts. Depending on how you signed up for notifications, messages usually are posted within a secure online portal. Be leery of unsolicited messages, especially if you never signed up for text alerts.
  
• Never give sensitive personal information to strangers. If an unsolicited caller asks you for personal information, even if they claim to represent a company you trust, hang up and call the company using the official customer service number. Calling the company yourself is the best way to determine if the inquiry is legitimate or a scam.
  

The recently discovered security flaws affect devices like laptops, PCs, smartphone and other with Bluetooth 4.2 or newer versions.