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15 May 2025

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Microsoft lays off 6,000+ employees for non-performance reasons
Microsoft is laying off up to 3 percent of its global workforce, reports Bloomberg. With Microsoft having around 228,000 employees at the end of June 2024 (the latest reported number), that’d mean around 6,000 to 6,800 people being let go, according to CNBC. This confirms the rumors from last month. The layoffs are to take place in different regions across different employee levels and teams. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a company spokesperson told CNBC. Microsoft plans to cut 1,985 jobs at its Redmond headquarters alone, 1,510 of which will be in the office. One aim is to reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said. Unlike the previous job reduction from January 2025 that hit “low performers,” these layoffs are not performance-related. It’s currently unknown whether the Xbox games division will also be affected by the layoffs, but Microsoft has repeatedly cut jobs in the Xbox division in recent years. These job cuts don’t fit with the latest business figures. At the end of April, Microsoft reported a net profit of $25.8 billion for the quarter, which exceeded expectations, and also issued a positive forecast.

Windows 11’s May update brings a heap of new features
Alongside the latest security fixes, Microsoft just added a number of new features to Windows 11 via the KB5058411 update. The new Copilot+ AI feature known as Windows Recall and the ability to use Phone Link in the Start menu have been mentioned in previous articles, so we don’t need to mention them again. One of the best improvements in the update is that Windows Search now supports AI, which means—among other things—that you can now use “natural language” in your search queries to find documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and images. Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro File Explorer also got some boosts, like how it’s now possible to view Microsoft 365 content directly in File Explorer (but requires you to pay for the service). File Explorer should also open files and unpack ZIP archives much faster, and as for the colors in the bars, the shades of blue and green are now darker than before. Other goodies in the update include Microsoft removing the blue-colored background for shortcuts on the desktop, which users complained about, as well as numerous bug fixes, which should mean that the risk of running into “blue screen” crashes has gone down. Update KB5058411 should automatically download and install to your system, assuming you’re on Windows 11 24H2. If it hasn’t yet, you should be able to jump-start it with a manual check in Windows Update. Further reading: Windows 11 24H2 is now auto-downloading on PCs

CPU-level ransomware is possible, and it’s terrifying
Malware is a thing you just have to be aware of. But it’s pretty rare that it can actually damage your computer in a permanent sense — wipe the drive if you’re okay with losing local data, and you can generally get up and running in a day or two. But what if the microcode running on your CPU’s tiny integrated memory becomes infected? One security researcher says he’s done it. Christiaan Beek of Rapid7 says he has created a proof-of-concept ransomware that can hide inside a CPU’s microcode, building on previous work that emerged when Google required AMD processors to always return “4” when asked for a random number. He claims that modifying UEFI firmware can install an unsigned update to the processor, slipping past any kind of conventional antivirus or OS-based security. In a statement given to The Register, Beek says that Rapid7 won’t release the tool. However, the implications of this possibility are significant. If your computer’s CPU was infected to that degree, it would technically be possible to recover with official tools from Intel, AMD, et cetera. But it would be so involved, and your system would be so fully compromised, that you might as well just pull a Ron Swanson and yeet that thing. Malware that can bypass the encryption in UEFI firmware is already known, though it’s a lot more complex and involved than your typical dodgy download. CPU-level ransomware has not been seen “in the wild,” and it seems likely that when and if it emerges, it’ll be a state-level actor that exploits it first. That means your typical user probably won’t be targeted, at least immediately. Still, maybe keep a remote backup of your important files, just in case.