{"id":447688,"date":"2026-04-22T06:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/447688\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T06:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:07:12","slug":"microsoft-changes-windows-security-after-15-years-update-by-end-of-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/447688\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Changes Windows Security After 15 Years\u2014Update By \u2018End Of April\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Windows<\/p>\n

Check your PC by the end of this month.<\/p>\n

NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

This has never happened before. Microsoft is expiring the authentication<\/a> that protects Windows PCs from threats each time they restart. Secure Boot certificates on almost all Windows PCs date back to 2011 and will now be replaced. The process starts this month and is wrapped into April\u2019s security update.<\/p>\n

While Microsoft<\/a> had said that \u201cstarting in April 2026,\u201d PCs users will be able to check to confirm the update has installed successfully, that advice has now been updated. The update and status check \u201cwon\u2019t show up immediately on all PCs,\u201d the company now says, but it will be installed on PCs \u201cby the end of April 2026.”<\/p>\n

ForbesHow To Save Disappearing Messages On Your iPhoneBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n

The update both installs new certificates and confirms whether user action is required. When you go to Windows Security > Device security > Secure Boot, Microsoft tells PC owners that, \u201ca green, yellow, or red badge attached to the Secure Boot icon indicates your current Secure Boot status.\u201d You\u2019re looking for a red icon\u202findicating that\u202f\u201csomething that needs your immediate attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new, updated advice comes via Windows Latest<\/a>, which explains that \u201cSecure Boot certificates are used to validate boot software, and if they are expired, your computer could be exposed to boot-level malware (bootkits) or unauthorized modifications in the worst-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the timeline<\/a> for Secure Boot certificate expiry has been available from Microsoft for some time, \u201cthe catch is that Secure Boot status has mostly been unclear to regular users.\u201d And while including new security certificates in the standard monthly update \u201csounds like a good plan,\u201d most users are unaware.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can verify whether the Secure Boot 2023 certificate is applied to your computer using PowerShell commands or Event Viewer logs,\u201d Windows Latest says, \u201cbut you can\u2019t expect a regular user to be familiar with that process, which is why Microsoft is finally adding Secure Boot certificate status to Windows Security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Put simply, don\u2019t panic if you don\u2019t have the update \u2014 certificates don\u2019t expire for several more weeks, Just make sure you check and update by the end of the month so as not to forget. If you do need to take action, you should give yourself time.<\/p>\n

Check your PC by the end of this month.<\/p>\n

NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

By the end of April, the updated verification should be \u201cvisible under the \u201cSecure Boot\u201d section under the \u2018Device Security\u2018 tab in Windows Security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, the Secure Boot and Device security icon badges and accompanying text guidance only reflected whether Secure Boot was enabled or disabled,” Microsoft explains in its revised support document. “Now, we’re enhancing the badges and text guidance to also show Secure Boot certificate update status.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check your PC by the end of this month. NurPhoto via Getty Images This has never happened before.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[74],"tags":[18,19,17,305,1839,197575,82,6950,144386,67724],"class_list":["post-447688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-microsoft","tag-microsoft-warning","tag-secure-boot","tag-technology","tag-windows","tag-windows-security","tag-windows-update"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116446864827796241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}