Windows 11 Pirates Use Copilot to Activate Windows; Optional Windows 11 Update Brings Fixes and More Advertising; Security Attacks on Password Managers Soar… and more!
Every day, we scan the tech world for interesting news, sometimes from outside the tech world. Every Thursday, we feature news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s ‘Thursday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!
Windows 11 pirates have a new and unlikely ally — Microsoft Copilot
Asking Copilot if there is a script to activate Windows 11 results in a how-to guide with steps to activate an unauthorized copy of the operating system.
Fledgling pirates who want to run Windows 11 without a license have a new helper, and it’s not who you would expect. Microsoft Copilot will help you activate Windows 11 without paying for a license if you use the right prompt.
Pirating Windows is not new. To be honest, it’s not especially difficult from a technical perspective. There are, of course, moral and legal questions about using unauthorized versions of the operating system, but the process of using Windows without a license is quite simple.
That being said, Copilot has made it easier than ever to activate Windows 11, and that presents security and ethical problems.
If you ask Copilot “is there a script to activate Windows 11,” the AI tool will share a how-to guide that includes a script you can run to activate the OS…
Optional Windows 11 24H2 update brings fixes and more advertising
The optional KB5052093 update for Windows 11 24H2 is rolling out with improvements and some steps backward.
Microsoft is currently rolling out a new optional update for Windows 11 24H2. Update KB5052093 brings some new features, but also adds some self-promotion to the system with Microsoft placing a banner in the system settings to emphasize Game Pass.
Let’s dive into the more notable changes.
New camera options
This update introduces a new camera control in Windows 11 that no longer limits a camera to being used by just one app at a time.
To test this, you can call up the “Advanced camera options” in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras. With the option “Allow multiple apps to use the camera at the same time,” the camera control can be customized so that it’s available to all apps simultaneously.
Another new feature helps resolve camera problems. In the settings, you can now activate “basic camera” mode, which can make it easier to troubleshoot issues when your camera isn’t functioning properly.
Taskbar and File Explorer improvements
The Windows taskbar can now share files directly from a drop-down menu (also called a jump list) when you right-click on an app. Of course, this only works if the app in question supports jump lists.
As for File Explorer, you can now snooze or disable the “Start backup” reminders in the address bar. You’ll also notice performance improvements with folders that have lots of media files, more consistent thumbnails for cloud files in search results, and a fix for the bug where entering a URL might not go to the right location…
Security attacks on password managers have soared
Number of attacks increases three times in just a year
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting password managers in an attempt to break into various important digital accounts.
Picus Security detailed its findings in the newly-released Red Report 2025, based on an in-depth analysis of more than a million malware variants collected last year, finding a quarter of all malware (25%) targeted credentials in password stores. This, the researchers claim, represents a three-fold increase compared to the year before.
“For the first time ever, stealing credentials from password stores is in the top 10 techniques listed in the MITRE ATT&CK Framework,” they said. “The report reveals that these top 10 techniques accounted for 93% of all malicious actions in 2024.”
Multi-factor authentication
The attackers are using all sorts of sophisticated extraction methods in their attacks, Picus Security co-founder and VP of Picus Labs, Dr. Suleyman Ozarslan said, including memory scraping, registry harvesting, and compromising local and cloud-based password stores…
3.9 Billion Passwords Stolen—Infostealer Malware Blamed
his story, originally published Feb. 22, has been updated with a stark example of a real-world infostealer malware attack campaign targeting the U.S. military, as well as a new warning from the head of engineering at NordPass about how AI is coming for your passwords next and how to protect against the threat.
Considering just how many infostealer malware warnings have been issued recently, from macOS-specific threats, to those targeting a broad sweep of Gmail and Outlook email users, there can be little doubting that cybercrime actors are coming for your passwords. Now the true reach of the infostealer malware threat has been laid bare by a threat intelligence agency which specializes in leveraging dark web data, and the picture it paints is a scary one. Here’s what you need to know…
In the age of AI, everybody could lose the right to anonymity
Generative AI is reshaping industries and redefining how we harness technology, unlocking new opportunities at a scale never seen before.
However, this transformation comes with a list of challenges. Chief among them is the erosion of data privacy. Traditional methods of anonymizing data, once considered effective in unlocking valuable insights while preserving privacy, have quickly become vulnerable against AI’s growing capabilities.
As AI lowers the barriers to identifying individuals from supposedly anonymous datasets, organizations must adopt a paradigm shift toward encryption-based methods. Solutions like confidential computing offer a clear path forward, ensuring that data remains protected even as AI’s capabilities grow.
Without these advances, the promise of privacy in the digital age could become a thing of the past…
Thanks for reading this week’s Thursday Newbytes. We hope these articles were informative, interesting, fun, and helpful.
How can a person stop Copilot? I do not want A.I.
Is there a program that does the same as Windows 11?