Microsoft (MSFT) is finally releasing its long-delayed recall feature for Windows 11. The software option, which the company announced in May, saves screenshots of almost everything you do on your computer and lets you search and interact with them. later.
For example, if you booked a hotel room but forgot the website you were using, or if you need to find an old document and can’t remember its name, use Recall to describe the site or document. Then it will search for them. Search these screenshots.
While this is a useful concept, security researchers are quickly raising concerns about the potential for hackers and malware software to access these screenshots, steal users’ data, and view some of their most sensitive information. I have expressed my concerns.
In response, Microsoft has opted to put this feature on hold and instead launch Copilot+ PC without a recall. Now, after reworking this software, Microsoft says it’s ready and users’ data will be as safe as possible. However, Microsoft has not yet revealed the official release date.
“I think this is really a statement from Microsoft that they’re committed to making AI secure,” David Weston, Microsoft’s vice president of enterprise and OS security, told Yahoo Finance.
One of the biggest changes to Recall is that it’s now opt-in. This means that if you want to use this, you have to select a specific box that says so. Recall was previously enabled by default.
Microsoft Surface corporate vice president Brett Ostrum holds out the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro with built-in AI hardware at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Microsoft also said that users’ screenshots (which the company calls snapshots) are encrypted and the only way to access them is through Microsoft’s Windows Hello, which uses your laptop’s fingerprint. It also states that it is necessary to authenticate the person’s identity. Reader or facial recognition feature.
If a user’s laptop becomes infected with malware, Microsoft says it uses rate limiting and anti-hammering to prevent malicious software from accessing the user’s information. Rate limiting and anti-hammering detects when someone or something tries to log into a program multiple times in a short period of time and requires them to re-authenticate with their fingerprint or facial ID.
Read more: How to create strong passwords to protect your financial accounts
Microsoft also said that Recall now uses its Purview software, which helps protect corporate systems, ensuring the platform does not store user passwords, national ID numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Weston said Purview includes a database that can recognize what these types of numbers look like and prevent Recall from capturing images of the numbers.
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Additionally, Microsoft says users will be able to choose the types of screenshots they can take with Recall. For example, you can tell Recall not to capture snapshots of certain apps, web browsers, or certain types of documents. If you don’t want to use Recall at all on your computer, you can also disable or uninstall Recall completely.
Additionally, the software recognizes when you’re using private browsing or incognito mode in your web browser and stops capturing images of what you’re looking at.
To prove its security technology, Microsoft conducted a months-long security review using the Microsoft Offensive Research and Security Engineering team and third-party security experts to ensure its software was secure. states.
The recall is one of the key features of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC, which refers to laptops that meet certain power and feature thresholds and are running the latest version of Windows 11. However, when launching the software without the recall, users still had access to the Copilot assistant software, but not one of the features that Microsoft had hoped would be a key selling point in its AI push. .
Microsoft now just needs to make sure its software is as secure as it claims.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter @Daniel Howley.
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