Want security updates for Windows 10 after its kill date on October 14, 2025? Prepare to shell out.

Microsoft recently updated its price list for the extended security updates (ESU) program, The Register reported—that’s the program under which Windows 10 users can continue to pay for whichever security updates Microsoft chooses to push for the following three years. For the majority of users, Microsoft confirmed each device receiving continued support will cost $61 the first year, doubling annually after that.

Microsoft also clarified the program is “cumulative,” meaning users joining the program in the second or third year will be required to pay retroactively for the previous years. All told, that means users who stick around through all three years of the program will end up paying around $427 per device.

The announcement noted users can receive updates for free under a limited set of circumstances, such as “virtual machines running in Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop.” Microsoft also said it would roll out continued updates to endpoints connected to Windows 365 cloud PCs with current licenses. There’s also a previously announced exception for customers in education.

Read the rest here.—TM

Sometimes IT teams get to introduce the shiny new SaaS tool; other times, a tech pro has to remind staff of the SaaS everyone already HaaS.

An attendee of a recent IT Brew event asked, “How do you influence culture to lean into apps that you already own, versus having leaders that always want something new and different?”

We posed the question separately to IT pros who help to manage change, like the introduction of a new tool. Here are excerpts of their advice, edited for length and clarity.

Korea Gilreath, associate director of organizational change management at Avasant: You have to go back to the business case that you made originally for that app first…Why did we make this decision as a leadership team? Go to the core of it, and start your process somewhat from the beginning; then also figure out what is the usage level on this app.

Brian Westfall, principal HR analyst at Gartner-owned Capterra: You want to look at those usage trends over time, but you also want to look at your HR and your IT tickets. For example, if you see the number of employees asking HR to give them their latest paystub? If that goes up over and over and over and [you] have software for that, where they can just log in and get their paystub, that would be a red flag.

Read more here.—BH

The Securities and Exchanges Committee’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) received a top litigator as a new addition to its team last week, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 5.

Sources familiar with the matter told WSJ that SEC Chief Litigation Counsel Jorge Tenreiro had been moved to a role in the OIT last week. Tenreiro had only been in the position since December of last year.

IT Brew reached out to the SEC to confirm the role change, but a spokesperson for the federal watchdog declined to comment on the matter.

According to the SEC’s website, the OIT has management responsibilities for the federal agency’s IT program, which includes user support, infrastructure operations and engineering, and security. The department also maintains the SEC’s website and hosts its public database, which contains corporate filings submitted from public companies to the agency.

Not like the other IT guys. Prior to serving as a chief litigation counsel, Tenreiro was an acting chief for the SEC’s crypto asset and cyber unit, where he played a key role in lawsuits against some of the largest crypto players and exchanges such as Kraken and Ripple Labs.

Keep reading here.—BM