Tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) recently released its monthly report of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), and the number of these were absolutely horrifying to at least some security watchers. The latest list featured 163 CVEs, due mainly to the use of AI tools. Finding all these bugs gave Microsoft a leg up in trading, as Microsoft shares jumped nearly 4% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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The sheer size of the number is said to be linked to developments in artificial intelligence (AI), which not only includes the vulnerabilities these tools generate, but also the vulnerabilities that AI-driven tools are finding. Reports noted that the 163 vulnerabilities found represented the second-largest number of vulnerabilities found in a single report.
TrendAI head of threat awareness Dustin Childs noted, “There are many things we could speculate on to justify the size, but if Microsoft is like the other programs out there (including ours), they are likely seeing a rise in submissions found by AI tools. For us, our incoming rate has essentially tripled, making triage a challenge, to say the least.” But the huge number of vulnerabilities found is vital in its own way; one of those vulnerabilities has already been exploited. Specifically, a vulnerability connected to SharePoint servers, which can be spoofed, was spotted. Dustin Childs again noted, “I wouldn’t wait to test and deploy this fix, especially if you have internet-connected SharePoint servers.”
Back to Exclusives
With the nature of Microsoft’s next console excursion still somewhat up in the air, the idea of a return to exclusives in game releases might seem like a bridge too far. But that is just what reports suggest may be coming up, as rival Sony (SONY) is looking to get its games off of PC, and make pretty much all its games console exclusives.
Exclusives at Microsoft would effectively be in name only, as they would be exclusive to Xbox and to PC. This is important to note, as the next Xbox, the Xbox Helix, is set to be able to play both Xbox and PC games. Exclusive games have long been considered a draw to get users in and playing. Now, Microsoft is looking to return to that notion and give players a reason to stick with Xbox.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 35 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 5.79% rally in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $573.41 per share implies 40.05% upside potential.
