- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Adobe Raking It In
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 18 Sep '19

18 Sep '19

That rentware business model continues to pay off very handsomely <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/18/adobe_results/>. Users may grumble, but as long as they don’t actually do anything about it, why should Adobe worry?

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OBS Studio
by Peter Reutemann 18 Sep '19

18 Sep '19

Came across the OBS Studio project last night by accident (never heard of it before!): "Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Download and start streaming quickly and easily on Windows, Mac or Linux. High performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing. Create scenes made up of multiple sources including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards and more. Set up an unlimited number of scenes you can switch between seamlessly via custom transitions. Intuitive audio mixer with per-source filters such as noise gate, noise suppression, and gain. Take full control with VST plugin support." -- source: https://obsproject.com/ I'll give it a go for my next video recording project. :-) Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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MITRE’s Latest Common Weakness Enumeration List
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 18 Sep '19

18 Sep '19

The CWE is not a list of security vulnerabilities as such, but of factors which commonly lead to security vulnerabilities <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/18/the_25_most_dangerous_software_wea…>. The methodology of the list has changed from the previous one (from back in 2011), so it’s hard to say that the changes are down to different (improved?) coding practices. Still, two thirds of the entries are the same in both lists.

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Researchers Uncover 125 Vulnerabilities Across 13 Routers and NAS Devices
by Peter Reutemann 18 Sep '19

18 Sep '19

'Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) discovered a total of 125 different security vulnerabilities across 13 IoT devices, likely affecting millions of consumers. Help Net Security reports: In nearly all the devices (12 of the 13), ISE achieved its goal of obtaining remote root-level access. The table below shows the types of vulnerabilities that ISE identified in the targets. All 13 of the devices evaluated by ISE had at least one web application vulnerability such as cross-site scripting (XSS), operating system command injection (OS CMDi), or SQL injection (SQLi) that could be leveraged by an attacker to get remote access to the device's shell or gain access to the device's administrative panel. ISE obtained root shells on 12 of the devices, allowing complete control over the device. Six of them can be remotely exploited without authentication: the Asustor AS-602T, Buffalo TeraStation TS5600D1206, TerraMaster F2-420, Drobo 5N2, Netgear Nighthawk R9000, and TOTOLINK A3002RU. "We found that many of these issues were trivial to exploit and should have been discovered even in a rudimentary vulnerability assessment," says ISE founder Stephen Bono. "This indicates that these manufacturers likely undergo no such assessment whatsoever, that the bug bounty programs they employ are ineffective, that vulnerability disclosures sent to them are not addressed, or more likely, all of the above."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/09/17/2053202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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HP Printers Try To Send Data Back To HP About Your Devices and What You Print
by Peter Reutemann 17 Sep '19

17 Sep '19

'Robert Heaton: Last week my in-laws politely but firmly asked me to set up their new HP printer. I protested that I'm completely clueless about that sort of thing, despite my tax-return-job-title of "software engineer." Still remonstrating, I was gently bundled into their study with an instruction pamphlet, a cup of tea, a promise to unlock the door once I'd printed everyone's passport forms, and a warning not to try the window because the roof tiles are very loose. At first the setup process was so simple that even a computer programmer could do it. But then, after I had finished removing pieces of cardboard and blue tape from the various drawers of the machine, I noticed that the final step required the downloading of an app of some sort onto a phone or computer. This set off my crapware detector. [...] It was a way to try and get people to sign up for expensive ink subscriptions and/or hand over their email addresses, plus something even more nefarious that we'll talk about shortly (there were also some instructions for how to download a printer driver tacked onto the end). This was a shame, but not unexpected. I'm sure that the HP ink department is saddled with aggressive sales quotas, and no doubt the only way to hit them is to ruthlessly exploit people who don't know that third-party cartridges are just as good as HP's and are much cheaper. Fortunately, the careful user can still emerge unscathed from this phase of the setup process by gingerly navigating the UI patterns that presumably do fool some people who aren't paying attention.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/09/17/1454203 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox Moving To a Faster 4-Week Release Cycle
by Peter Reutemann 17 Sep '19

17 Sep '19

'Mozilla announces in a blog post: We typically ship a major Firefox browser (Desktop and Android) release every 6 to 8 weeks. Building and releasing a browser is complicated and involves many players. To optimize the process, and make it more reliable for all users, over the years we've developed a phased release strategy that includes 'pre-release' channels: Firefox Nightly, Beta, and Developer Edition. With this approach, we can test and stabilize new features before delivering them to the majority of Firefox users via general release. And today we're excited to announce that we're moving to a four-week release cycle! We're adjusting our cadence to increase our agility, and bring you new features more quickly. In recent quarters, we've had many requests to take features to market sooner. Feature teams are increasingly working in sprints that align better with shorter release cycles. Considering these factors, it is time we changed our release cadence. Starting Q1 2020, we plan to ship a major Firefox release every 4 weeks. Firefox ESR release cadence (Extended Support Release for the enterprise) will remain the same. In the years to come, we anticipate a major ESR release every 12 months with 3 months support overlap between new ESR and end-of-life of previous ESR. The next two major ESR releases will be ~June 2020 and ~June 2021.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/17/1750247 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Fedora Linux 31 Beta is Here
by Peter Reutemann 17 Sep '19

17 Sep '19

'Fedora 31 is due later this year, but first, there needs to be some beta testing. And so, today, Fedora 31 Beta is made available for download. Unfortunately, details surrounding version 31 are a bit sparse. With that said, one big change involves Fedora users with ARM 64-based single board computers, such as a Raspberry Pi. Those folks will get access to an additional desktop spin -- the lightweight Xfce. Workstation users will be treated to GNOME 3.34, but not the final version that was released recently. Don't worry -- when Fedora leaves beta status, and is officially released, you can be sure the stable GNOME 3.34 will be included. Remember, Fedora is one of the best ways to experience a vanilla GNOME desktop environment.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/09/17/1836214 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Richard Stallman’s Last Interview As FSF President
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 17 Sep '19

17 Sep '19

Seems the great prophet has bumbled into matters where perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut, and is now stepping down from the FSF. But leaving that aside, this interview <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/17/richard_stallman_interview/> has the usual choice nuggets on subjects he does know something about: One thing that has changed is that nowadays, a non-free program is typically malware as well. That was not the case in 1983. In 1983, when a proprietary software product was discovered to be malware, it was scandalous. It was shocking. It made the news, sort of at least in the tech press, because this wasn't the usual case. It there was a certain level of scruples, even among proprietary software developers. But over the years, those scruples have evaporated, as companies raced each other to the bottom in terms of mistreating their own users. And now, almost any non free program you run is mistreating you somehow.

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Password-exposing bug purged from LastPass extensions
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '19

16 Sep '19

'Developers of the LastPass password manager have patched a vulnerability that made it possible for websites to steal credentials for the last account the user logged into using the Chrome or Opera extension. The vulnerability was discovered late last month by Google Project Zero researcher Tavis Ormandy, who privately reported it to LastPass. In a write-up that became public on Sunday, Ormandy said the flaw stemmed from the way the extension generated popup windows. In certain situations, websites could produce a popup by creating an HTML iframe that linked to the Lastpass popupfilltab.html window rather than through the expected procedure of calling a function called do_popupregister(). In some cases, this unexpected method caused the popups to open with a password of the most recently visited site.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/lastpass-fixes-bug-t… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Say hello to 802.11ax: Wi-Fi 6 device certification begins today
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '19

16 Sep '19

'Today, the Wi-Fi Alliance launched its Wi-Fi Certified 6 program, which means that the standard has been completely finalized, and device manufacturers and OEMs can begin the process of having the organization certify their products to carry the Wi-Fi 6 branding. If you need a bit of a catch-up, Wi-Fi 6—aka 802.11ax—is the next generation of Wi-Fi. 802.11ax will, at least in theory, allow many more nearby devices to use the same Wi-Fi channels and frequencies without causing as much congestion and lag as Wi-Fi 5 (better known as 802.11ac) and Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) do. That's the good news. The bad news is that very few of these benefits can be seen just from buying a Wi-Fi 6 router—you need most, if not all, of the devices in range (both yours and, ideally, any neighbors') to also support Wi-Fi 6 before you see the improvements. 802.11ax also mandates support for the WPA3 encryption and authentication protocol. WPA3 provides considerably better security for your Wi-Fi network than WPA2 did, and due to its adoption of Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE), it will hopefully prove more robust toward future attacks as well.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/say-hello-to-802-11ax-wi-fi-6-devic… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Pine64 Confirms $25 'PineTime' Smartwatch for Linux Smartphones
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '19

16 Sep '19

'Besides their Linux laptops, single-board computers, and tablets, Pine64 is now also working on "PineTime," a new $25 smartwatch for Linux smartphones running open source software (and based on either ARM Mbed or FreeRTOS), reports Liliputing.com: The company describes the PineTime watch as a companion for Linux smartphones... you know, like the company's upcoming $150 PinePhone. For either or both of those reasons, it could appeal to folks who may not have wanted in on the smartphone space until now... The PineTime uses an existing watch body that's used by other device makers, but Pine64 is choosing custom internal hardware. The PineTime will support Bluetooth 5.0, a heart rate monitor, and multi-day battery life and the watch features a zinc alloy & plastic case and comes with a charging dock... At this point the PineTime is described as a side project, which means it's not a top priority for Pine64. While the company says the picture above is an actual photo of a prototype, Pine64 is still seeking software developers interested in contributing to the project, and the company's primary focus at this point will still be other upcoming devices like the PineBook Pro laptop and PinePhone smartphone.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/15/2345229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux 5.3 Released
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '19

16 Sep '19

'This release includes support for AMD Navi GPUs; support for the umwait x86 instructions that let processes wait for short amounts of time without spinning loops; a 'utilization clamping' mechanism that is used to boost interactivity on power-asymmetric CPUs used in phones; a new pidfd_open(2) system call that completes the work done to let users deal with the PID reuse problem; 16 millions of new IPv4 addresses in the 0.0.0.0/8 range are made available; support for Zhaoxin x86 CPUs; support Intel Speed Select for easier power selection in Xeon servers; and support for the lightweight hypervisor ACRN, built for embedded IoT devices. As always, many other new drivers and improvements can be found in the changelog.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/09/15/2319220 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 16 Sep '19

16 Sep '19

Hi everyone We have a WLUG meeting coming up next week: "Lawrence D'Oliveiro will talk about how he set up greylisting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylisting) on his VPS to reduce the amount of spam, what lessons he learned and what pitfalls to avoid." -- details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/257884313 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Debian 10: Playing catch-up with the rest of the Linux world (that’s a good thing)
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '19

13 Sep '19

Ars Technica has a review of Debian 10 which got released in July: 'The Debian project, the upstream mother of countless Linux distributions, has released Debian 10, also known as "Buster." And yes, that's a reference to the character from Toy Story. All Debian releases are named after Toy Story characters. Over the years, Debian has built a well-deserved reputation as a rock-solid distro for those who don't want the latest and greatest and instead prefer the stability that comes from sticking with what works. Naturally, Debian gets security updates, bug fixes, and maintenance releases like any distro, but don't expect major updates to applications or desktop environments with this Linux flavor. Right now, as with every release, Debian is pretty close to up to date with what the rest of the Linux world is doing. But Buster will be supported for five years, and Debian 11 won't arrive for at least two years (Buster comes just 26 months after Debian 9, though it has been five years since the big tweaks of Debian 8). So as time goes on, Buster will look increasingly outdated.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/debian-10-playing-ca… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux Is Taking Over--For Better Or For Worse
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 13 Sep '19

13 Sep '19

You’ve probably come across pictures of Windows crash screens in various entertaining places, like public signage. Well, Linux is now taking over there, too <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/12/inlinkuk_crashed_ubuntu/>. And yes, whereas it was hilariously out-of-date versions of Windows before (XP remained quite common, for example), now it’s out-of-date versions of Linux.

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Arch Linux-based Manjaro 18.1.0 'Juhraya' Now Available With GNOME, KDE, or Xfce
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '19

13 Sep '19

'Manjaro may have lofty goals of becoming a successful company, but let's be honest -- users of the Linux-based operating system don't really care about that. Don't get me wrong, I am sure most members of the Linux community are rooting for the newly-formed company's success, but they are probably more interested in the excellent operating system itself. Today, Manjaro Linux 18.1.0 "Juhraya" finally becomes available for download, and it isn't without some controversy. You see, rather than just offer up LibreOffice like most distributions, Juhraya offers an alternative choice at installation -- FreeOffice. "After six months of development, version 18.1 of Manjaro Linux is now available. Juhraya offers numerous improvements, especially with regard to Office productivity applications and package management. Another significant innovation in Manjaro 18.1 is the integrated support for FlatPak and Snap packages. For this purpose, the graphical package management tool 'bauh' (formerly known as 'fpakman' ) is now available to users," says Philip Muller, Manjaro developer.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/09/12/1947223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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New Simjacker Attack Exploited In the Wild To Track Users For At Least Two Years
by Peter Reutemann 13 Sep '19

13 Sep '19

'Security researchers have disclosed today a major SMS-based attack method being abused in the real world by a surveillance vendor to track and monitor individuals. An anonymous reader shares a report: "We are quite confident that this exploit has been developed by a specific private company that works with governments to monitor individuals," security researchers from AdaptiveMobile Security said in a report. "We believe this vulnerability has been exploited for at least the last 2 years by a highly sophisticated threat actor in multiple countries, primarily for the purposes of surveillance." The attack, named Simjacker, works by attackers sending SMS messages to victims' phones. The SMS messages contain STK instructions that are run by a victim's SIM card to gather location data and the IMEI code, which is then sent through an SMS message to a logging system. Researchers said they've seen Simjacker being abused to track hundreds of victims for two years, yet it is unclear if the victims are criminals tracked by law enforcement, or dissidents tracked by oppressive regimes. Over one billion smartphone users use SIM cards deemed vulnerable to this attack.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/09/12/1637232 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Period Tracker Apps Used By Millions Of Women Are Sharing Incredibly Sensitive Data With Facebook
by Peter Reutemann 11 Sep '19

11 Sep '19

'Period tracker apps are sending deeply personal information about women's health and sexual practices to Facebook, new research has found. From a report: UK-based advocacy group Privacy International, sharing its findings exclusively with BuzzFeed News, discovered period-tracking apps including MIA Fem and Maya sent women's use of contraception, the timings of their monthly periods, symptoms like swelling and cramps, and more, directly to Facebook. Women use such apps for a range of purposes, from tracking their period cycles to maximizing their chances of conceiving a child. On the Google Play store, Maya, owned by India-based Plackal Tech, has more than 5 million downloads. Period Tracker MIA Fem: Ovulation Calculator, owned by Cyprus-based Mobapp Development Limited, says it has more than 2 million users around the world. They are also available on the App Store. The data sharing with Facebook happens via Facebook's Software Development Kit (SDK), which helps app developers incorporate particular features and collect user data so Facebook can show them targeted ads, among other functions. When a user puts personal information into an app, that information may also be sent by the SDK to Facebook.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/09/10/209208 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox Will Soon Encrypt DNS Requests By Default
by Peter Reutemann 11 Sep '19

11 Sep '19

'This month Firefox will make DNS over encrypted HTTPS the default for the U.S., with a gradual roll-out starting in late September, reports Engadget: Your online habits should be that much more private and secure, with fewer chances for DNS hijacking and activity monitoring. Not every request will use HTTPS. Mozilla is relying on a "fallback" method that will revert to your operating system's default DNS if there's either a specific need for them (such as some parental controls and enterprise configurations) or an outright lookup failure. This should respect the choices of users and IT managers who need the feature turned off, Mozilla said. The team is watching out for potential abuses, though, and will "revisit" its approach if attackers use a canary domain to disable the technology. Users will be given the option to opt-out, explains Mozilla's official announcement. "After many experiments, we've demonstrated that we have a reliable service whose performance is good, that we can detect and mitigate key deployment problems, and that most of our users will benefit from the greater protections of encrypted DNS traffic." "We feel confident that enabling DNS-over-HTTPS by default is the right next step."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/08/0318237 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The State Of Windows RT Strike 2
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Sep '19

11 Sep '19

The IFA show currently on in Berlin <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/10/windows_on_arm_intel/> has a couple of exhibitors showing off devices running Windows-on-ARM. (Or, more accurately, Windows-on-specific-Qualcomm-ARM-chipsets-only.) While they offer good battery life, they are expensive, and have compatibility issues (no emulation for 64-bit Windows x86 executables, only 32-bit ones). And Intel clearly doesn’t like them.

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Mozilla Launches VPN as Part of Resurrected Firefox Test Pilot Program
by Peter Reutemann 10 Sep '19

10 Sep '19

'Mozilla is resurrecting its recently expunged Test Pilot program with a renewed focus on privacy-focused tools and products. The Firefox developer today lifted the lid on the first product to emerge from the new Test Pilot, and it appears to be something akin to a virtual private network (VPN) in all but name. From a report: Firefox Private Network, as the new tool is called, is available in beta today for logged-in Firefox desktop users in the U.S. only, and is accessible through a browser extension. By way of a quick recap, Mozilla debuted Firefox Test Pilot a decade ago but then relaunched it back in 2016. Test Pilot went on to attain an average of 100,000 daily users, each looking to test Mozilla's latest developments -- including a price-tracking feature for online shoppers, content recommendations based on browsing activity, and more. Some of these became full-fledged features within Firefox and others did not, but back in January Mozilla announced it was killing its Test Pilot program altogether. This came as something of a surprise given Mozilla's own statements about the success of the program. At the time, Mozilla said it was "evolving" its approach to experimentation and suggested it was looking to ideate more widely across the company. Fast-forward nine months, and Firefox Test Pilot is back for a third time.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/09/10/1514241 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Weakness in Intel chips lets researchers steal encrypted SSH keystrokes
by Peter Reutemann 10 Sep '19

10 Sep '19

'In late 2011, Intel introduced a performance enhancement to its line of server processors that allowed network cards and other peripherals to connect directly to a CPU's last-level cache, rather than following the standard (and significantly longer) path through the server's main memory. By avoiding system memory, Intel's DDIO—short for Data-Direct I/O—increased input/output bandwidth and reduced latency and power consumption. Now, researchers are warning that, in certain scenarios, attackers can abuse DDIO to obtain keystrokes and possibly other types of sensitive data that flow through the memory of vulnerable servers. The most serious form of attack can take place in data centers and cloud environments that have both DDIO and remote direct memory access enabled to allow servers to exchange data. A server leased by a malicious hacker could abuse the vulnerability to attack other customers. To prove their point, the researchers devised an attack that allows a server to steal keystrokes typed into the protected SSH (or secure shell session) established between another server and an application server.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/weakness-in-intel-ch… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Thousands of Servers Infected With New Lilocked (Lilu) Ransomware
by Peter Reutemann 10 Sep '19

10 Sep '19

'Thousands of web servers have been infected and had their files encrypted by a new strain of ransomware named Lilocked (or Lilu). Infections have been happening since mid-July, and have intensified in the past two weeks, ZDNet has learned. Based on current evidence, the Lilocked ransomware appears to target Linux-based systems only. The way the Lilocked gang breaches servers and encrypts their content is currently unknown. A thread on a Russian-speaking forum puts forward the theory that crooks might be targeting systems running outdated Exim (email) software. It also mentions that the ransomware managed to get root access to servers by unknown means. Lilocked doesn't encrypt system files, but only a small subset of file extensions, such as HTML, SHTML, JS, CSS, PHP, INI, and various image file formats. This means infected servers continue to run normally. According to French security researcher Benkow, Lilocked has encrypted more than 6,700 servers, many of which have been indexed and cached in Google search results. However, the number of victims is suspected to be much much higher. Not all Linux systems run web servers, and there are many other infected systems that haven't been indexed in Google search results. Why it should scare you: - affects Linux servers - so far the vector of infection / vulnerability is unknown - you can craft a Google search to watch it spread! ' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/09/09/2246218 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Web Scraping Is Legal--For Now
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 10 Sep '19

10 Sep '19

LinkedIn has been suing a company called hiQ for scraping information from public user profiles, and so far it has lost, twice <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/09/hiq_wins_linkedin_appeal/>. But of course LinkedIn, being owned by Microsoft, has much deeper legal pockets, and will simply continue a war of attrition until hiQ gives up.

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Guidemaster: How to buy a Chromebook, plus our best picks
by Peter Reutemann 10 Sep '19

10 Sep '19

'Chromebooks dominated the affordable laptop scene in 2018. The same wasn't true just a few years ago, when most were unclear what to do with Google's browser-based operating system. But now, after Chromebooks have successfully infiltrated the education market, users both young and old are familiar with Chrome OS. Chrome OS runs exclusively on Chromebooks, the name for the laptops, two-in-ones, and now tablets that run Google's operating system. If you've used the Chrome Web browser before, you know how to use Chrome OS—the browser is the portal to nearly everything you can do on Chrome OS. Google created an operating system that's simple to use, efficient, and low maintenance in the sense that it doesn't take a ton of power to run a Chromebook well. All of those factors, plus the recent introduction of Android apps into the ecosystem, have made Chromebooks popular with younger users, teachers, and anyone who works and plays primarily within the confines of the Chrome Web browser. As people gravitate to Chromebooks, OEMs have been producing more and more of them. There is a plethora of Chromebooks available now, some at dirt cheap prices and others at premium prices, making it hard to know which you should buy. Luckily, Ars has tested some of the most popular Chromebooks, and we can offer some insight as to which ones are worth your money.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/guidemaster-how-to-buy-a-chromebook… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Chrome OS Bug Started Mistakenly Sending 'Final Update' Notifications
by Peter Reutemann 09 Sep '19

09 Sep '19

'Like it or not, Chromebooks do have something of an expiration date when you purchase them, namely that one day they'll stop receiving updates. Thankfully, that date is typically over five years after the Chromebook's original release. For some, however, Chrome OS has been wrongly indicating this week that their Chromebook has received its "final update" many years too early. Just like the Chrome browser on desktop and Android, Chrome OS has four different update "channels" -- Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. Each one of these after Stable trades a level of stability for more rapid updates, with Canary receiving highly unstable updates almost every day. People who are bold enough to put their Chromebook on Dev or Canary have been facing an interesting new issue for the past few days. Upon restarting their device, Chrome OS immediately displays a notification warning that "this is the last automatic software and security update for this Chromebook." Of course, if you're seeing this message this week, there's a decent chance that this is not actually the case. Instead, these final update warnings are caused by a bug in the most recent versions of Chrome OS. ' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/09/09/0113215 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Feature-rich Vivaldi Browser Arrives on Android
by Peter Reutemann 09 Sep '19

09 Sep '19

'Almost three years after launching its desktop version, cross-platform browser Vivaldi has finally released its mobile app today. From a report: The brainchild of Opera's co-founder Jon von Tetzchner published an Android beta version today that brings swipe gesture for navigation, built-in note-taking functionality, and privacy controls including a no-tracking option. While the browser is in beta, I've been using it for a few days, and I haven't faced any major hiccups. Here are some of the features I enjoyed in the new mobile version: Easy bookmark management, easy navigation, plenty of option for tab management, and dark mode, screen capture, notes, and no-tracking features.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/09/09/1610214 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Manjaro Linux Tries Forming A Company To Fund Full-Time Development
by Peter Reutemann 09 Sep '19

09 Sep '19

'Forbes.com shares some big Linux news: Since 2011, Arch Linux-based Manjaro has focused on being a simple-to-use, accessible Linux desktop distribution with a friendly community... But as of today, Manjaro Linux is no longer just a Linux distribution -- it's officially transforming into a company with ambitious plans for its future. Say hello to Manjaro GmbH & Co. KG. The announcement happened just hours ago, via Manjaro developer Philip Müller. It's not the catchiest name, but the advantages to this move seem beneficial to the both the Manjaro project and the community using it. Müller says that for quite some time he's been researching "ways to secure the project in its current form and how to allow for activities which can't be undertaken as a 'hobby project.'" Crucially, he and the team wanted to reach new heights and be able to invest considerably more time into the project, without compromising the way its currently operating. To that end, the Manjaro team is announcing the formation of an established company, Manjaro GmbH & Co. KG, "to enable full-time employment of maintainers and exploration of future commercial opportunities." They'll also be taking on Blue Systems -- a German IT company specializing in Free and Libre software -- as an advisor. Additionally, the team will transfer the ownership of all donations -- and the allocation of donations -- to fiscal hosts CommunityBridge and OpenCollective, which will both secure donations and make their use transparent... At this stage is look like there's a distinction between what will change in the immediate future, and what the company will strive for. The biggest immediate change -- one that Manjaro supporters may applaud -- is that developers Philip Müller and Bernhard Landauer can now commit to the distribution in a full-time capacity, with an eye toward taking on even more employees down the road. "One of our main goals is to improve our infrastructure and continuously work on the essentials and requirements of our distro as a professional endeavor," writes Müller. "Our hope is to soon be able to include additional contributors on a paid basis."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/09/08/2342247 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Purism Finally Starts Shipping Its Privacy-Focused 'Librem 5' Smartphone
by Peter Reutemann 09 Sep '19

09 Sep '19

'"It's here! Purism announces shipment of the Librem 5," writes long-time Slashdot reader Ocean Consulting: Librem 5 is a landmark mobile device with a dedicated platform, runs PureOS Linux, and is the first mobile phone to seek hardware certification from the Free Software Foundation. Initially a crowd sourced funding campaign, the phone embraces principles of free software and user privacy. IP native communication is supported via Matrix. Privacy features include hardware kill switches for camera, microphone, cellular, wifi, Bluetooth and GPS. "The Librem 5 phone is built from the ground up to respect the privacy, security, and freedoms of society," reads the site's official announcement. "It is a revolutionary approach to solving the issues that people face today around data exploitation -- putting people in control of their own digital lives." They're adopting an "iterative" shipping schedule -- publishing a detailed schedule defining specific batches and their features with corresponding shipping dates. "Each iteration improves upon the prior in a rapid rolling release throughout the entire first version of the phone... As slots in a particular early batch free up, we will open it up for others in a later batch to join in, according to the date of the order."' -- source: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/19/09/08/2228201 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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'Google's Chrome Has My Dead Grandpa's Data and He Never Used the Internet'
by Peter Reutemann 08 Sep '19

08 Sep '19

'Forbes article by Joe Toscano, a former experience design consultant for Google who in 2017 "decided to step away from my role consulting with Google, due to ethical concerns." This summer he got a big surprise when he looked in Chrome's "addresses" panel at chrome://settings/addresses It turns out Google has info connecting me to my grandma (on my dad's side) who's alive and well but has never had the internet, and my grandpa (on my mom's side), who recently passed away in March 2019 and also never had the internet. This was disturbing for several reasons, the biggest of which being that neither of them had ever logged onto the internet in their lives. Neither even had the internet in their homes their entire lives! Beyond that, Google knew their exact addresses and their middle initials. I couldn't even have told you those things about my grandparents... [T]he data wasn't manually entered by me or anyone using my account, but yet the data is associated with my account? How did that happen? The only thing I can think of is that at one point in history my grandpa gave his information to someone or some company in real life and his information was sold to Google at one point or another... But then that led me to another question: How did his data get associated with my Google account...? Other questions I have: What other information does Google have about me/my family/others that I don't know about...? He's now asking readers if they have any idea how Google connected him to his dead grandpa -- and whether Google is somehow creating an ancestry database. Toscano also discovered Chrome has been creating a list of "Never Saved" passwords at chrome://settings/passwords?search=credentials even though "At no point did I tell Google to create and store a list of websites I had logged into that they didn't get access to but would like access to at some point in the future. Maybe in the Terms of Service/Privacy Policy I agreed to this, but who knows? Not the majority of us, and it's just creepy." And in an update Toscano writes that he hopes the article will "provoke thought" about "why we willingly allow this to happen": Why is it okay that the internet is designed to be a surveillance machine? Why isn't it designed to be private by design? Is this how we want to carry on? Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's right. What would you like to see done? How would you like to see things changed?' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/09/07/168245 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Kiwis Seem Skeptical About Streaming
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Sep '19

08 Sep '19

<https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=122652…>: ... according to research conducted by Opinion Compare, more than half of us are unhappy at the prospect of having to stream the six-week tournament, which will be broadcast on Spark Sport. Seems like people have little confidence that Spark Sport will be able to deliver a reliable service, even though ... in the event Spark's streaming falls over during the Rugby World Cup, the telco has said it will transfer coverage to TVNZ "within a few minutes".

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Voice-Mimicking Software Reportedly Used In Major Theft
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 05 Sep '19

05 Sep '19

>From the “If Mission Impossible* Were Being Remade Today” files <https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/115560260/artificial-inte…>: Thieves used voice-mimicking software to imitate a UK company executive's speech and dupe his subordinate into sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to a secret account, the company's insurer said, in a remarkable case that some researchers are calling one of the world's first publicly reported artificial intelligence heists. How was the scam exposed? After the thieves made a second request, the director grew suspicious and called his boss directly. Then the thieves called back, unravelling the ruse: The fake "'Johannes' was demanding to speak to me whilst I was still on the phone to the real Johannes!" the director wrote in an email the insurer shared with The Washington Post. *That’s the original classic TV series, not the movies, of course.

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Zero-day privilege escalation disclosed for Android
by Peter Reutemann 05 Sep '19

05 Sep '19

'Researchers have disclosed a zero-day vulnerability in the Android operating system that gives a major boost to attackers who already have a toe-hold on an affected device. The privilege-escalation flaw is located in the V4L2 driver, which Android and other Linux-based OSes use to capture real-time video. The vulnerability results from a "lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object," researchers with Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative said in a blog post published Wednesday. Attackers who already have untrusted code running with low privileges on a device can exploit the bug to access privileged parts of the Android kernel. The severity score is rated a 7.8 out of a possible 10 points.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/android-zeroday-give… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Free Software Advocate Richard Stallman Spoke at Microsoft Research This Week
by Peter Reutemann 05 Sep '19

05 Sep '19

'Free Software advocate Richard M. Stallman gave a talk at Microsoft Campus yesterday. Stallman was invited by Microsoft Research. Stallman's talk was related -- as most of his talks -- with Free Software, Privacy and the GPLv3. He also had a list of small requests to Microsoft: "make Github push users to better software license hygiene, make hardware manufacturers to publish their hardware specs, make it easier to workaround Secure Boot." While Microsoft has changed its attitude toward Open Source Software in the last years, this does not mean RMS has made peace with Microsoft: "If you're wondering whether Stallman's distaste for Microsoft has lessened over the years, his personal home page makes it clear that it has not".' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/05/1720205 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Android 10 Launches Today, and Pixel Phones Get the Day One Update
by Peter Reutemann 04 Sep '19

04 Sep '19

'Android 10 is finally finished! The next big Android update, which we've been examining for most of the year as the "Android Q Beta," starts rolling out to devices today. As usual, Android 10 is arriving on Pixel phones first (even the three-year-old Pixel 1), and Google says it is "working with a number of partners to launch or upgrade devices to Android 10 this year." Google has introduced a new branding strategy for Android, by the way, so there's no "Q" snack name with this release. In 2019, it's just "Android 10." Android 10 brings a number of changes to the world's most popular mobile operating system. First up, devices are getting "fully gestural" navigation, which lets you navigate around the phone with swipe gestures. Just like the implementation on the iPhone X, gesture navigation removed the need for a dedicated space for navigation buttons, allowing for more space for app content. There's finally full support for a dark theme, which will turn the entire system UI and any supported apps from the usual black text on a white background to white text on a black background. (That option significantly reduces the amount of light a phone puts out and saves battery life on OLED displays.) Google has also promised dark mode support for "all" of the Google apps in time for Android 10's launch, so we should be seeing updates to Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps, and a million other Google apps sometime soon. Other features of Android 10 include a faster share sheet, a "bubbles" API for floating apps, 230 new emoji, improved security and privacy options, and smarter notification panel.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/09/03/218224 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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InvizBox 2 redefines what “privacy” routers can do
by Peter Reutemann 04 Sep '19

04 Sep '19

'Four years ago, in the wake of some controversy over another Kickstarter-based launch, a team in Ireland decided to produce a better Wi-Fi router for travel privacy. Called the InvizBox, the router was focused on making connecting to privacy-focused network services such as VPNs and the Tor anonymizing network easier. A lot has happened since then. And now, InvizBox has released a new iteration of its wired Wi-Fi router, the InvizBox 2. Two years ago, the InvizBox team achieved its crowd-funding goals to move ahead with this design. After a long road, that funding has finally paid off. Totally open source, bundled with a VPN service capable of delivering up to 100 megabits per second of traffic (your broadband willing), and painless to configure, this little disc-shaped router is powerful enough to be a primary home router—or it can be used on the road when plugged into a potentially unfriendly local network to tunnel users out to safety. The router can also be used in concert with InvizBox Go—a mobile Wi-Fi router with VPN capability—to create a safe tunnel back to your home network. The base price for InvizBox 2 is $99, but there's a discount available right now for orders through the InvizBox site.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/invizbox-2-redefines… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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An Interview With Eben Upton
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

Head of the Raspberry π Foundation, Eben Upton, chats to The Register <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/03/eben_upton_pi_store/> about his wildly successful brainchild. All models put together are shipping 6 million units per year. Increasing numbers of them are going to system integrators in China, who are building them into commercial products that are then sold worldwide. Asked whether Windows 10 IoT Edition will ever run on the π 4: "We have nothing to share", said Upton, before sighing that it was "a shame." Also: ... back when the original Pi launched, Upton said the questions were: "Can you run Office? Can you run Internet Explorer?" Now, the question (which will be music to Linux fans' ears) is "Can you run Chromium?" as the Microsoft requirement dwindles. Somehow I get the feeling that Windows 10 on Raspberry π is a dying product ...

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Over 47,000 Supermicro Servers Are Exposing BMC Ports on the Internet
by Peter Reutemann 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

'Catalin Cimpanu, writing for ZDNet: More than 47,000 workstations and servers, possibly more, running on Supermicro motherboards are currently open to attacks because administrators have left an internal component exposed on the internet. These systems are vulnerable to a new set of vulnerabilities named USBAnywhere that affect the baseboard management controller (BMC) firmware of Supermicro motherboards. Patches are available to fix the USBAnywhere vulnerabilities, but Supermicro and security experts recommend restricting access to BMC management interfaces from the internet, as a precaution and industry best practice.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/09/03/2029210 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Android Exploits Are Now Worth More Than iOS Exploits for the First Time
by Peter Reutemann 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

'Zerodium, a company which claims it buys and then resells software exploits to government and law enforcement agencies, has updated its price list today, and Android exploits are worth more than iOS exploits for the first time ever. From a report: According to the company, starting today, a zero-click (no user interaction) exploit chain for Android can get hackers and security researchers up to $2.5 million in rewards. A similar exploit chain impacting iOS is worth only $2 million. Zerodium's new price for Android exploits is almost twelve times more when compared to the maximum of $200,000 the company was willing to offer a year ago, and even 100 times more than Zerodium was paying for some of the lower-impact Android exploits. Zerodium has timed its announcement with Google's official release for Android 10, scheduled for late' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/09/03/164253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox 69 Ratchets Up Tracking Protection, Switching it On by Default
by Peter Reutemann 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

'Mozilla has switched on Firefox's tracking protection feature for everyone on Windows and Android, dialing up its effort to protect privacy from website publishers and advertisers that would like to keep tabs on your online behavior. From a report: Mozilla enabled tracking protection for new Firefox users in June, but now it's on for everyone, the nonprofit said Tuesday. Tracking protection is all the rage among browser makers, including Apple's Safari, Brave Software's Brave and Microsoft's new Chromium-based Edge. Even Google's Chrome, long the laggard among major browsers, is starting to tackle the problem. It's a thorny issue for websites and advertisers that seek to improve advertising revenue by targeting ads based on their assessment of your interests. "Currently over 20% of Firefox users have Enhanced Tracking Protection on. With today's release, we expect to provide protection for 100% of ours users by default," Mozilla said in a blog post Tuesday.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/03/1322212 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Upcoming Firefox Update Will Decrease Power Usage on macOS by Up To Three Times
by Peter Reutemann 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

'Mozilla teased today an upcoming update for Firefox on macOS that it says will reduce power consumption by a factor of up to three. From a report: The primary beneficiaries of this upcoming update are Macbook users, who can now expect longer battery lives while using Firefox. Firefox's increased battery consumption has been a problem for Mozilla, and a black stain on the Firefox Quantum release -- a revamped, performance-centric version of the older Firefox browser. While Firefox Quantum has received praises for its increased page loading speeds, Macbook users haven't been that delighted, especially when they're mobile and have to rely on the notebook's battery as long as possible.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/03/0654202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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mailman server upgrade
by Peter Reutemann 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

Hi everyone The university will be upgrading the mailman server on Monday Sept 2nd, which also hosts the WLUG mailing list. Unfortunately, the email I received notifying me about the upgrade did not state when or how long the outage will be, only that the new admin interface will be available after 5pm (NZ time). Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Greg Kroah-Hartman Reveals His New Favorite Linux Distro
by Peter Reutemann 02 Sep '19

02 Sep '19

'Top Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman gave a new 30-minute interview with TFIR during the Open Source Summit, 2019. He discusses security in the post-Spectre world, remembers when Microsoft joined the Linux distros mailing list, and acknowledges good-naturedly that he and Richard Stallman "approach things from a different standpoint". An anonymous reader writes: In the interview Kroah-Hartman talks about downsides of living in the Hague. "My son's school actually mandates that they all have MacBooks. So he has a MacBook, my wife has a MacBook, and that's about it." But of course, Kroah-Hartman himself is always using Linux. So what distro does he use? "I don't use openSUSE any more, I use Arch. And my build system I think is actually running Fedora. I have a number of virtual machines still running Gentoo, Dubya, and Fedora to do some testing on some userspace tools. But yeah, all my laptops and everything is switched over to Arch these days... I have a Chromebook that I play around with, and you can run Linux applications, and you can of course SSH into anything..." Why Arch? "At the moment it had something that I needed. I don't remember what it was, the latest development version, what not -- and I've known a number of the Arch developers over the years. Their idea of a constantly rolling, forward-moving system is the way to go... It's neutral, it's community-based, it has everything I need. It works really really well. I've actually converted my cloud instances that I have all to Arch... It's nice." And in addition, "Their Wiki is amazing. The documentation -- it's like one of the best resources out there these days... If you look up any userspace program and how to configure it and use it. Actually, the systemd Arch Wiki pages are one of the most amazing resources out there... "One of the main policies of Arch, or philosophies, is you stay as close to the upstream as possible. And as a developer, I want that... They're really good in feedback to the community. Because I want that testing -- I want to make sure that things are fixed. And if it is broken, I learn about it quickly and I fix it and push the stuff out. So that's actually a really good feedback loop. And that's some of the reasons I need it."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/09/02/0018252 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Intel Engineer Launches Working Group To Bring Rust 'Full Parity With C'
by Peter Reutemann 01 Sep '19

01 Sep '19

'Someone from the Rust language governance team gave an interesting talk at this year's Open Source Technology Summit. Josh Triplett (who is also a principal engineer at Intel), discussed "what Intel is contributing to bring Rust to full parity with C," in a talk titled Intel and Rust: the Future of Systems Programming. An anonymous reader quotes Packt: Triplett believes that C is now becoming what Assembly was years ago. "C is the new Assembly," he concludes. Developers are looking for a high-level language that not only addresses the problems in C that can't be fixed but also leverage other exciting features that these languages provide. Such a language that aims to be compelling enough to make developers move from C should be memory safe, provide automatic memory management, security, and much more... "Achieving parity with C is exactly what got me involved in Rust," says Triplett. Triplett's first contribution to the Rust programming language was in the form of the 1444 RFC, which was started in 2015 and got accepted in 2016. This RFC proposed to bring native support for C-compatible unions in Rust that would be defined via a new "contextual keyword" union... He is starting a working group that will focus on achieving full parity with C. Under this group, he aims to collaborate with both the Rust community and other Intel developers to develop the specifications for the remaining features that need to be implemented in Rust for system programming. This group will also focus on bringing support for systems programming using the stable releases of Rust, not just experimental nightly releases of the compiler. Last week Triplett posted that the FFI/C Parity working group "is in the process of being launched, and hasn't quite kicked off yet" -- but he promised to share updates when it does.' -- source: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/19/08/31/1540225 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Should the Linux Kernel Accept Drivers Written In Rust?
by Peter Reutemann 01 Sep '19

01 Sep '19

'Packt's recent story about Rust had the headline "Rust is the future of systems programming, C is the new Assembly." But there was an interesting discussion about the story on LWN.net. One reader suggested letting people write drivers for the Linux kernel in Rust. ("There's a good chance that encouraging people to submit their wacky drivers in Rust would improve the quality of the driver, partly because you can focus attention on the unsafe parts.") And that comment drew an interesting follow-up: "I spoke with Greg Kroah-Hartman, and he said he'd be willing to accept a framework in the kernel for writing drivers in Rust, as long as 1) for now it wasn't enabled by default (even if you did "make allyesconfig") so that people don't *need* Rust to build the kernel, and 2) it shows real benefits beyond writing C, such as safe wrappers for kernel APIs."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/31/2138249 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Microsoft Office’s New “Save Experience”
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 31 Aug '19

31 Aug '19

It should be so simple. Windows has a File Save dialog built in. Developers can call the API, with options to customise it if need be. Well, two APIs actually: the old Common File Dialog and the Common Item Dialog introduced in Windows Vista. But this was not good enough for the Office team and in Office 2010, Microsoft introduced the Backstage as a document management feature. ... If you are not so lucky and the location you want does not appear in the Backstage, you click Browse, and the old Windows Save dialog appears. In this case, instead of saving you time, the Backstage has added an extra step. There is a further wrinkle to the Backstage. In Options, you can set "Don't show the Backstage when opening or saving files with keyboard shortcut." As this option implies, this means you do not see the Backstage when invoking Save with Ctrl-S, but you do if you go to "File – Save As". However you do not if you go to "File – Save", even with an unsaved document. Consistency, who needs it? <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/30/saving_documents_in_microsoft_offi…>

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Fwd: GovHack 2019
by Peter Reutemann 30 Aug '19

30 Aug '19

Please see attached flyer for details. The venue at uni is open to non-university people as well. Cheers, Peter -------- Original Message -------- From: David Nichols <david.nichols(a)waikato.ac.nz> Sent: August 30, 2019 1:23:09 PM GMT+10:00 To: cs-staff(a)waikato.ac.nz, cs-phd <cs-phd(a)waikato.ac.nz> Subject: GovHack 2019 Hi, could you advertise GovHack in your Moodle course instances and lectures? ========================================= Can you make something useful from government data sources? A weekend of protoptying, hacking and collaborative fun: https://govhack.org/events/hamilton/ The event is free and there are usually some cash prizes put forward by the sponsors: https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news-opinion/media/2016/govhack-nz-success-for-un… <https://elearn.waikato.ac.nz/%20https:/www.waikato.ac.nz/news-opinion/media…> ====================================== thanks Dave -- Dr David Nichols Department of Computer Science University of Waikato Hamilton 3240, New Zealand https://cs.waikato.ac.nz/~daven/ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0321-7267 -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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How Insurance Companies Are Fuelling A Rise In Ransomware Attacks
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Aug '19

29 Aug '19

The cost to a business of trying to recover “kidnapped” documents from backups is often so high that it becomes cheaper to simply pay the ransom. And insurance companies seem happy to go along with this <https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/how-insurance-compan…>. And the consequence, of course, is that the crims get even more bold and more demanding ...

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Fwd: [nzpug] some CC licensed ebooks (PDF)
by Peter Reutemann 27 Aug '19

27 Aug '19

Apologies for cross-posting, but these ebooks may be of interest to you. Cheers, Peter -------- Original Message -------- From: "Guy K. Kloss" <guy(a)kloss.nz> Sent: August 27, 2019 6:01:51 PM GMT+10:00 To: New Zealand Python User Group <nzpug(a)googlegroups.com> Subject: [nzpug] some CC licensed ebooks (PDF) Kia ora, there's a Python book here as well, but I didn't check the quality of it. But there are a bunch of other books of varying levels of quality. All licensed in open source (CC-SA) and published (I think) by Stack Overflow. https://goalkicker.com/ The odd one might be interesting to the odd one ... Cheers, Guy -- ----> µ wisdom brought to you by Guy K. Kloss <---- »Wo kämen wir hin, wenn jeder sagen würde | ... guy(a)kloss.nz ... "wo kämen wir hin?" | Phone: +64-9-550 8499 und keiner ginge los, | Mobile: +64-210 2323 715 um zu sehen, wo wir hinkämen« -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "New Zealand Python User Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to nzpug+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nzpug/7f89885c-0c08-407b-d9bc-571c2028ed8…. -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Knoppix 8.6 - anyone have the iso?
by Ian Young 26 Aug '19

26 Aug '19

I have not so far been able to download the 4.3 gig DVD iso file after a number of attempts from various mirrors - I have not found any in New Zealand. Anyone have the iso? Professor Knopper has it seems removed systemd from Knoppix. "The still controversial startup systemd, which has been a little outrageous due to security vulnerabilities just recently <https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-linux-systemd-security-holes-uncovered/>, has been integrated in Debian since Jessie [8.0], and has been removed since Knoppix 8.5. I bypass hard dependencies on the boot system with my own packages. To still get a systemd-like session management, and thus retain the ability to shut down and restart the system as a normal user, I run the session manager "elogind" instead. This bypasses systemd's interference with many system components and reduces the complexity of the overall system. If you want to start your own services at startup, you do not need to create any systemd units, but simply enter them in the text file */etc/rc.local*, which contains explanatory examples."

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KDE Konsole v19
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 Aug '19

24 Aug '19

Just did my roughly-monthly Debian Unstable upgrade. The most noticeable change so far (apart from Linux kernel 5.2) is a new version of the KDE Konsole terminal emulator, going from version 18 to version 19. This one has close icons by default on each tab, which I have decided (after closing one tab I didn’t mean to) are too dangerous to click accidentally, so I have turned them off. Another change is that the shortcuts for moving tabs left/right have changed from ctrl-shift-left/right to ctrl-alt-left/right. This means I have to move my fingers slightly from the ctrl-shift-T shortcut that creates a new tab, to the ones for reordering it. On the other hand, I don’t do that too often ...

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Google Chrome Proposes 'Privacy Sandbox' To Reform Advertising Evils
by Peter Reutemann 24 Aug '19

24 Aug '19

'Google's Chrome team proposed a "privacy sandbox" Thursday that's designed to give us the best of both worlds: ads that publishers can target toward our interests but that don't infringe our privacy. From a report: It's a major development in an area where Chrome, the dominant browser, has lagged competitors. Browsers already include security sandboxes, restrictions designed to confine malware to limit its possible damage. Google's proposed privacy sandbox would similarly restrict tracking technology, according to proposal details Google published. The privacy sandbox is "a secure environment for personalization that also protects user privacy," said Justin Schuh, a director of Chrome Engineering focused on security matters, in a privacy sandbox blog post. "Our goal is to create a set of standards that is more consistent with users' expectations of privacy." For example, Chrome would restrict some private data to the browser -- an approach rival Brave Software has taken with its privacy-focused rival web browser. And it could restrict sharing personal data until it's shared across a large group of people using technologies called differential privacy and federated learning.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/08/22/1453220 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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How The National Library Preserves New Zealand’s Digital Heritage
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 Aug '19

24 Aug '19

A nice overview <https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115118698/how-the-national-library-preserv…> of what it means to preserve historical documents in the digital online age. What happens when the legal obligations of the National Library collide with the terms and conditions of overseas-run sites hosting content posted by New Zealanders? How do you deal with private/defamatory/pornographic material? Proprietary file formats? Some people are even donating their e-mail archives to the Library.

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Fwd: [NZLUG] Windows rebate?
by Peter Reutemann 23 Aug '19

23 Aug '19

Apologies for cross-posting, but this will be of interest to this group as well. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Atom Smasher <atom(a)smasher.org> Date: Fri, Aug 23, 2019 at 10:49 AM Subject: Re: [NZLUG] Windows rebate? To: NZ Linux Users Group <nzlug(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz> I was hoping this battle had already been fought, but apparently not. After some phone calls, it seems the best course of action now is to contact The Commerce Commission of New Zealand and file a complaint pursuant to the Fair Trading Act. They don't handle these complaints individually, but they will consider them in aggregate. So the more people complain, the more likely that it will be taken seriously. * 0800 943 600 * contact(a)comcom.govt.nz * https://comcom.govt.nz/make-a-complaint Relevant points seem to be that Microsoft has effectively created a monopoly whereby purchasers of new computers are forced to purchase a copy of, and non-transferable license for, their Windows operating system (approx retail price of OEM Windows 10 is $160). Building ones own computer from parts, or purchasing a computer from specialty retailers may be an option in some cases, but this severely limits consumer choices and they're not viable options for a lot of people. While it may not be practical to "force" retailers to stock Windows-free PC hardware, there should be a standard process for obtaining a fair refund for unused and unwanted Windows operating system licenses. -- ...atom ________________________ http://atom.smasher.org/ 762A 3B98 A3C3 96C9 C6B7 582A B88D 52E4 D9F5 7808 ------------------------------------------------- "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering." -- Arthur C. Clarke _______________________________________________ NZLUG mailing list NZLUG(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz http://lists.nzoss.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/nzlug -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Security Researchers Find Several Bugs In Nest Security Cameras
by Peter Reutemann 23 Aug '19

23 Aug '19

'Hackers could have logged into your Nest Cam IQ Indoor and watch whatever was happening in your home by taking advantage of a vulnerability found by security researchers. The hackers could have also prevented you from using the camera, or use access to it to break into your home network. Researchers Lilith Wyatt and Claudio Bozzato of Cisco Talos discovered the vulnerabilities and disclosed them publicly on August 19. The two found eight vulnerabilities that are based in the Nest implementation of the Weave protocol. The Weave protocol is designed specifically for communications among Internet of Things or IoT devices. Nest has provided a firmware update that the company says will fix the vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities apply to version 4620002 of the Nest Cam IQ indoor device. You can check the version of your camera on the Nest app. Nest says that the updates will happen automatically if your camera is connected to the internet. "We've fixed the disclosed bugs and started rolling them out to all Nest Camera IQs," Google said in a statement to ZDNet. "The devices will update automatically so there's no action required from users."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/22/2134208 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Backdoor found in Webmin, a popular web-based utility for managing Unix servers
by Peter Reutemann 22 Aug '19

22 Aug '19

'A backdoor mechanism was found in Webmin, a popular web-based application used by system administrators to manage remote Unix-based systems, such as Linux, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD servers. The backdoor mechanism would allow a remote attacker to execute malicious commands with root privileges on the machine running Webmin. Once this machine is compromised, an attacker could then use it to launch attacks on the systems managed through Webmin. [...] According to one of the Webmin developers, the vulnerability was not the result of a coding mistake, but was actually "malicious code injected into compromised build infrastructure."' -- source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/backdoor-found-in-webmin-a-popular-web-based-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Android Ditches Desserts as Q Becomes 10
by Peter Reutemann 22 Aug '19

22 Aug '19

'The next version of the Android operating system (OS) will not be named after a dessert or sweet treat, ending a tradition that started in 2009. From a report: Following the pattern, the name of the new version would have started with Q. But Google said it had ditched the naming scheme because it made it difficult for consumers to know which version of the OS was the latest. The new edition, which will be released later this year, will be called Android 10. Previous versions of the mobile operating system have been nicknamed Jellybean, Kitkat and Lollipop' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/08/22/187243 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Planet Needs a New Internet
by Peter Reutemann 22 Aug '19

22 Aug '19

'When climate change comes for our coffee and our wine, we'll moan about it on Twitter, read about it on our favorite websites, and watch diverting videos on YouTube to fill the icy hole in our hearts. We'll do all this until the websites go dark and the networks go down because eventually, climate change will come for our internet, too. That is, unless we can get the web ready for the coming storms. Huge changes will be needed because right now, the internet is unsustainable. On the one hand, rising sea levels threaten to swamp the cables and stations that transmit the web to our homes; rising temperatures could make it more costly to run the data centers handling ever-increasing web traffic; wildfires could burn it all down. On the other, all of those data centers, computers, smartphones, and other internet-connected devices take a prodigious amount of energy to build and to run, thus contributing to global warming and hastening our collective demise. To save the internet and ourselves, we'll need to harden and relocate the infrastructure we've built, find cleaner ways to power the web, and reimagine how we interact with the digital world. Ultimately, we need to recognize that our tremendous consumption of online content isnâ(TM)t free of consequences -- if we're not paying, the planet is. You probably don't think about it when you're liking a photo or reading an article, but everything you do online is underpinned by a globe-spanning labyrinth of physical infrastructure. There are the data centers hosting the web and managing enormous flows of information on the daily. There are the fiber cables transmitting data to into our homes and offices, and even across oceans. There are cell towers sending and receiving countless calls and texts on the daily.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/08/22/1733253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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KNOPPIX Live GNU/Linux System Is Now Based on Debian GNU/Linux 10 "Buster"
by Peter Reutemann 21 Aug '19

21 Aug '19

'KNOPPIX 8.6 is now available based on the software repositories of the recently released Debian GNU/Linux 10 "Buster" operating system series, but also packing some elements from the Debian Uunstable (Sid) repos. It's powered by the latest Linux 5.2 kernel series and X.Org Server 7.7 display server to support newer graphics cards and computer hardware. Best of all, Knoppix 8.6 is shipping with both 32-bit and 64-bit kernels to support old and new computers. The 64-bit version of KNOPPIX 8.6 supports machines with more than 4GB of RAM (system memory), as well as chroot into 64-bit installations for system rescue tasks. Moreover, the bootloader starts the 64-bit kernel automatically whenever a 64-bit CPU is detected.' -- source: https://news.softpedia.com/news/knoppix-live-gnu-linux-system-is-now-based-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Bitbucket Dropping Support For Mercurial
by Peter Reutemann 21 Aug '19

21 Aug '19

'Bitbucket, once one of the largest Mercurial repository hosting sites, said Tuesday it plans to remove Mercurial features and repositories from its platform on June 1, 2020. In a blog post, Bitbucket wrote: As we surpass 10 million registered users on the platform, we're at a point in our growth where we are conducting a deeper evaluation of the market and how we can best support our users going forward. After much consideration, we've decided to remove Mercurial support from Bitbucket Cloud and its API. Bitbucket will stop letting users create new Mercurial repositories starting February 1, 2020, and start removing all the Mercurial repositories four months later. So you will want to backup your repositories and switch to a different platform in the coming months. A different user pointed out, "Another shitty aspect of bitbucket dropping mercurial support and deleting all the old repositories in 2020: all yt pull request discussions from before 2017 are going to be deleted. There's valuable context for how the code got written in those discussions." Several users have expressed their concerns over this decision. Sebastien Jodogne, CSO at Osimis, said, "This is an extremely concerning decision that endangers diversity in the computer science industry by pushing the de facto hegemony of git." For those of you affected by this, you can consider a number of platforms including SourceForge to host and manage your repositories. ' -- source: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/19/08/20/1654253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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IBM is Moving OpenPower Foundation To The Linux Foundation
by Peter Reutemann 21 Aug '19

21 Aug '19

'IBM makes the Power Series chips, and as part of that has open sourced some of the underlying technologies to encourage wider use of these chips. The open source pieces have been part of the OpenPower Foundation. Today, the company announced it was moving the foundation under The Linux Foundation, and while it was at it, announced it was open sourcing several other important bits. From a report: Ken King, general manager for OpenPower at IBM, says that at this point in his organization's evolution, they wanted to move it under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. But IBM didn't stop there. It also announced that it was open sourcing some of the technical underpinnings of the Power Series chip to make it easier for developers and engineers to build on top of the technology. Perhaps most importantly, the company is open sourcing the Power Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). These are "the definitions developers use for ensuring hardware and software work together on Power," the company explained. King sees open sourcing this technology as an important step for a number of reasons around licensing and governance. "The first thing is that we are taking the ability to be able to implement what we're licensing, the ISA instruction set architecture, for others to be able to implement on top of that instruction set royalty free with patent rights," he explained. The company is also putting this under an open governance workgroup at the OpenPower Foundation.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/08/20/197244 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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WebKit Introduces New Tracking Prevention Policy
by Peter Reutemann 21 Aug '19

21 Aug '19

'WebKit, the open source HTML engine used by Apple's Safari browser and a number of others, has created a new policy on tracking prevention. The short version is that many forms of tracking will now be treated the same way as security flaws, being blocked or mitigated with no exceptions. While on-site tracking will still be allowed (and is practically impossible to prevent anyway), all forms of cross-site tracking and covert tracking will be actively and aggressively blocked.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/20/1522235 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

tilix - terminal emulator
by Peter Reutemann 20 Aug '19

20 Aug '19

Hi everyone I've been a long-term user of the gnome terminal and then the mate terminal (after switching to Linux Mint). Despite the tab-support that these terminals offer, there were occasions when I missed being able to tile (ie vertical or horizontal split) in the same window rather than opening another window (and then moving/resizing it to make it fit better). Over the last month or so, I've been trialing "tilix" as my everyday terminal and I have to say that I'm very happy with it! According to the website, tilix is "an advanced GTK3 tiling terminal emulator that follows the Gnome Human Interface Guidelines" Here is the project page (incl screenshots) if you want to know more: https://gnunn1.github.io/tilix-web/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Is Your HDMI Cable Streaming-Compatible?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 20 Aug '19

20 Aug '19

It seems <https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/115128021/rugby-world-c…> that some people hoping to watch streams of the Rugby World Cup on a TV or external monitor connected via an HDMI cable from their PC may be out of luck. If the client software thinks you’re trying to record the stream, it will block it. And some cables will trigger this block, even if they’re just connecting to a monitor.

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New Attack exploiting serious Bluetooth weakness can intercept sensitive data
by Peter Reutemann 20 Aug '19

20 Aug '19

'Researchers have demonstrated a serious weakness in the Bluetooth wireless standard that could allow hackers to intercept keystrokes, address books, and other sensitive data sent from billions of devices. Dubbed Key Negotiation of Bluetooth—or KNOB for short—the attack forces two or more devices to choose an encryption key just a single byte in length before establishing a Bluetooth connection. Attackers within radio range can then use commodity hardware to quickly crack the key. From there, attackers can use the cracked key to decrypt data passing between the devices. The types of data susceptible could include keystrokes passing between a wireless keyboard and computer, address books uploaded from a phone to a car dashboard, or photographs exchanged between phones. KNOB doesn't require an attacker to have any previously shared secret material or to observe the pairing process of the targeted devices. The exploit is invisible to Bluetooth apps and the operating systems they run on, making the attack almost impossible to detect without highly specialized equipment. KNOB also exploits a weakness in the Bluetooth standard itself. That means, in all likelihood, that the vulnerability affects just about every device that's compliant with the specification. The researchers have simulated the attack on 14 different Bluetooth chips—including those from Broadcom, Apple, and Qualcomm—and found all of them to be vulnerable. "The Key Negotiation Of Bluetooth (KNOB) attack exploits a vulnerability at the architectural level of Bluetooth," the researchers wrote in a research paper published this week. "The vulnerable encryption key negotiation protocol endangers potentially all standard compliant Bluetooth devices, regardless [of] their Bluetooth version number and implementation details. We believe that the encryption key negotiation protocol has to be fixed as soon as possible."' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/new-attack-exploitin… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Should HTTPS Certificates Expire After Just 397 Days?
by Peter Reutemann 19 Aug '19

19 Aug '19

'Google has made a proposal to the unofficial cert industry group that "would cut lifespan of SSL certificates from 825 days to 397 days," reports ZDNet. No vote was held on the proposal; however, most browser vendors expressed their support for the new SSL certificate lifespan. On the other side, certificate authorities were not too happy, to say the least. In the last decade and a half, browser makers have chipped away at the lifespan of SSL certificates, cutting it down from eight years to five, then to three, and then to two. The last change occured in March 2018, when browser makers tried to reduce SSL certificate lifespans from three years to one, but compromised for two years after pushback from certificate authorities. Now, barely two years later after the last change, certificate authorities feel bullied by browser makers into accepting their original plan, regardless of the 2018 vote... This fight between CAs and browser makers has been happening in the shadows for years. As HashedOut, a blog dedicated to HTTPS-related news, points out, this proposal is much more about proving who controls the HTTPS landscape than everything. "If the CAs vote this measure down, there's a chance the browsers could act unilaterally and just force the change anyway," HashedOut said. "That's not without precendent, but it's also never happened on an issue that is traditionally as collegial as this. "If it does, it becomes fair to ask what the point of the CA/B Forum even is. Because at that point the browsers would basically be ruling by decree and the entire exercise would just be a farce." Security researcher Scott Helme "claims that this process is broken and that bad SSL certificates continue to live on for years after being mississued and revoked -- hence the reason he argued way back in early 2018 that a shorter lifespan for SSL certificates would fix this problem because bad SSL certs would be phased out faster." But the article also notes that Timothy Hollebeek, DigiCert's representative at the CA/B Forum argues that the proposed change "has absolutely no effect on malicious websites, which operate for very short time periods, from a few days to a week or two at most. After that, the domain has been added to various blacklists, and the attacker moves on to a new domain and acquires new certificates."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/08/18/1833223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Intel Patches Three High-Severity Vulnerabilities
by Peter Reutemann 18 Aug '19

18 Aug '19

'Intel's latest patches "stomped out three high-severity vulnerabilities and five medium-severity flaws," reports Threatpost: One of the more serious vulnerabilities exist in the Intel Processor Identification Utility for Windows, free software that users can install on their Windows machines to identify the actual specification of their processors. The flaw (CVE-2019-11163) has a score of 8.2 out of 10 on the CVSS scale, making it high severity. It stems from insufficient access control in a hardware abstraction driver for the software, versions earlier than 6.1.0731. This glitch "may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege, denial of service or information disclosure via local access" according to Intel. Users are urged to update to version 6.1.0731. Intel stomped out another high-severity vulnerability in its Computing Improvement Program, which is program that Intel users can opt into that uses information about participants' computer performance to make product improvement and detect issues. However, the program contains a flaw (CVE-2019-11162) in the hardware abstraction of the SEMA driver that could allow escalation of privilege, denial of service or information disclosure... A final high-severity flaw was discovered in the system firmware of the Intel NUC (short for Next Unit of Computing), a mini-PC kit used for gaming, digital signage and more. The flaw (CVE-2019-11140) with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, stems from insufficient session validation in system firmware of the NUC. This could enable a user to potentially enable escalation of privilege, denial of service and information disclosure. An exploit of the flaw would come with drawbacks -- a bad actor would need existing privileges and local access to the victim system. The article notes that the patches "come on the heels of a new type of side-channel attack revealed last week impacting millions of newer Intel microprocessors manufactured after 2012."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/18/0030201 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Slackware, the Longest Active Linux Distro, Finally Has a Patreon Page
by Peter Reutemann 18 Aug '19

18 Aug '19

'"Slackware is the longest active Linux distribution project, founded in 1993," writes TheBAFH (Slashdot reader #68,624). "Today there are many Linux distributions available, but I've remained dedicated to this project as I believe it still holds an important place in the Linux ecosystem," writes Patrick J. Volkerding on a new Patreon page. He adds that Slackware's users "know that Slackware can be trusted not to constantly change the way things work, so that your investment in learning Slackware lasts longer than it would with a system that's a moving target... Your support is greatly appreciated, and will make it possible for me to continue to maintain this project." TheBAFH writes: The authenticity of the Patreon page has been confirmed by Mr. Volkerding in a post in the Slackware forum of LinuxQuestions.org. "I was going to wait to announce it until I had a few more planned updates done in -current that would be getting things closer to an initial 15.0 beta release, but since it's been spotted in the wild I'll confirm it." Slashdot also emailed Patrick J. Volkerding at Slackware.com last summer and confirmed that that is indeed the account that he's posting from on LinuxQuestions. At the time, he was still trying to find the time to get a Patreon page set up. "I've been trying to catch up on nearly a decade of neglecting everything other than Slackware, but I'm at least getting more caught up."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/16/238254 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Unique Kaspersky AV User ID Allowed 3rd-Party Web Tracking
by Peter Reutemann 15 Aug '19

15 Aug '19

'Kaspersky antivirus solutions injected in the web pages visited by its users an identification number unique for each system. This started in late 2015 and could be used to track a user's browsing interests. From a report: Versions of the antivirus product, paid and free, up to 2019, displayed this behavior that allows tracking regardless of the web browser used, even when users started private sessions. Signaled by c't magazine editor Ronald Eikenberg, the problem was that a JavaScript from a Kaspersky server loaded from an address that included a unique ID for every user. Scripts on a website can read the HTML source and glean the Kaspersky identifier, which Eikenberg determined to remain unchanged on the system.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/15/1849235 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Researchers Found World-Readable Database Used To Secure Buildings Around the Globe
by Peter Reutemann 15 Aug '19

15 Aug '19

'Researchers said they have found a publicly accessible database containing almost 28 million records -- including plain-text passwords, face photos, and personal information -- that was used to secure buildings around the world. Ars Technica reports: Researchers from vpnMentor reported on Wednesday that the database was used by the Web-based Biostar 2 security system sold by South Korea-based Suprema. Biostar uses facial recognition and fingerprint scans to identify people authorized to enter warehouses, municipal buildings, businesses, and banks. vpnMentor said the system has more than 1.5 million installations in a wide range of countries including the U.S., the UK, Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka. According to vpnMentor, the 23-gigabyte database contained more than 27.8 million records used by Biostar to secure customer facilities. The data included usernames, passwords and user IDs in plaintext, building access logs, employee records including start dates, personal details, mobile device data, and face images. The researchers said the data also included more than 1 million records containing actual fingerprint scans, but the report provided no data to support the claim. "The vpnMentor researchers said they discovered the exposed database on August 5 and privately reported the finding two days later," reports Ars Technica. "The data wasn't secured until Tuesday, six days later."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/14/2256231 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Quote Of The Week
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 15 Aug '19

15 Aug '19

Well, my nomination, anyway <https://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/all/2019/08/13/windows_notepad_flaw/…>: ... looking at XP era material with a code profiler is like looking at a Vegas motel room under a strong blacklight. Some things cannot be unseen.

1 0

Tech firms “can and must” put backdoors in encryption, AG Barr says
by Peter Reutemann 15 Aug '19

15 Aug '19

'US Attorney General William Barr today launched a new front in the feds' ongoing fight against consumer encryption, railing against the common security practice and lamenting the "victims" in its wake. "The deployment of warrant-proof encryption is already imposing huge costs on society," Barr claimed in remarks at a cybersecurity conference held at Fordham University Tuesday morning. Barr added that encryption "seriously degrades" law enforcement's ability to "detect and prevent a crime before it occurs," as well as making eventual investigation and prosecution of crime more difficult. The existence of encryption means "converting the Internet and communications into a law-free zone" that criminals will happily take advantage of to do more crimes, Barr added, likening it to a neighborhood that local cops have abandoned. The cost of encryption, he said, is measured in "victims" who might have been saved from crime if law enforcement had been able to lawfully intercept communications earlier. He also accused tech firms of "dogmatic" posturing, saying lawful backdoor access "can be and must be" done, adding, "We are confident that there are technical solutions that will allow lawful access to encrypted data and communications by law enforcement, without materially weakening the security provided by encryption."' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/07/tech-firms-can-and-must-put-bac… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 2

Researcher Makes Legit-Looking iPhone Lightning Cables That Will Hijack Your Computer
by Peter Reutemann 14 Aug '19

14 Aug '19

'A researcher known as MG has modified Lightning cables with extra components to let him remotely connect to the computers that the cables are connected to. "It looks like a legitimate cable and works just like one. Not even your computer will notice a difference. Until I, as an attacker, wirelessly take control of the cable," MG said. Motherboard reports: One idea is to take this malicious tool, dubbed O.MG Cable, and swap it for a target's legitimate one. MG suggested you may even give the malicious version as a gift to the target -- the cables even come with some of the correct little pieces of packaging holding them together. MG typed in the IP address of the fake cable on his own phone's browser, and was presented with a list of options, such as opening a terminal on my Mac. From here, a hacker can run all sorts of tools on the victim's computer. The cable comes with various payloads, or scripts and commands that an attacker can run on the victim's machine. A hacker can also remotely "kill" the USB implant, hopefully hiding some evidence of its use or existence. MG made the cables by hand, painstakingly modifying real Apple cables to include the implant. "In the end, I was able to create 100 percent of the implant in my kitchen and then integrate it into a cable. And these prototypes at Def con were mostly done the same way," he said. MG did point to other researchers who worked on the implant and graphical user interface. He is selling the cables for $200 each. ' -- source: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/19/08/13/2240213 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Hack in the box: Hacking into companies with “warshipping”
by Peter Reutemann 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

'Penetration testers have long gone to great lengths to demonstrate the potential chinks in their clients' networks before less friendly attackers exploit them. But in recent tests by IBM's X-Force Red, the penetration testers never had to leave home to get in the door at targeted sites, and the targets weren't aware they were exposed until they got the bad news in report form. That's because the people at X-Force Red put a new spin on sneaking in—something they've dubbed "warshipping." Using less than $100 worth of gear—including a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a small battery, and a cellular modem—the X-Force Red team assembled a mobile attack platform that fit neatly within a cardboard spacer dropped into a shipping box or embedded in objects such as a stuffed animal or plaque. At the Black Hat security conference here last week, Ars got a close look at the hardware that has weaponized cardboard. We've looked at such devices, typically referred to as "drop boxes," before. Ars even used one in our passive surveillance of an NPR reporter, capturing his network traffic and routing a dump of his packets across the country for us to sift through. Covert drop boxes (once a specialty of Pwnie Express) have taken the form of "wall wart" device chargers, Wi-Fi routers, and even power strips. And mobile devices have also been brought to play, allowing "war walking"—attacks launched remotely as a device concealed in a bag, suitcase, or backpack is carried nonchalantly into a bank, corporate lobby, or other targeted location. But unless you're trying to get your daily steps in, IBM X-Force Red Global Managing Partner and Head Charles Henderson told Ars that you can just let a shipping company do the work for you. "There have been people that have shipped cell phones, things like that," Henderson noted. "The thing that's cool about this is, this is the wall of the box. It can be easily built into the cardboard. If you get a phone shipped to you, you're suspicious of it. If you get a box or maybe a plaque that says you're the new [chief information security officer] of the year, you might not." The plaque might just go right up on the wall. "Put a $13 solar charger panel on the plaque, and that makes it a permanent fixture in a CISO's office... a $13 panel that, and actually, by the time it discharges the battery, between times when we check in, that can charge it back up. So technically you could do pretty much infinite, up to the life of the battery, if you set that in the right place." The hardware has also been planted in a stuffed animal and even inside the case of a normal Wi-Fi router.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/hack-in-the-box-hack… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Facebook Paid Contractors To Transcribe Users' Audio Chats
by Peter Reutemann 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

'Facebook has been paying hundreds of outside contractors to transcribe clips of audio from users of its services, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the work. From the report: The work has rattled the contract employees, who are not told where the audio was recorded or how it was obtained -- only to transcribe it, said the people, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their jobs. They're hearing Facebook users' conversations, sometimes with vulgar content, but do not know why Facebook needs them transcribed, the people said. Facebook confirmed that it had been transcribing users' audio and said it will no longer do so, following scrutiny into other companies. "Much like Apple and Google, we paused human review of audio more than a week ago," the company said Tuesday. The company said the users who were affected chose the option in Facebook's Messenger app to have their voice chats transcribed. The contractors were checking whether Facebook's artificial intelligence correctly interpreted the messages, which were anonymized. [...] The social networking giant, which just completed a $5 billion settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission after a probe of its privacy practices, has long denied that it collects audio from users to inform ads or help determine what people see in their news feeds.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/08/13/200217 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Landmark 2.80 Release of Open Source Blender 3D With Improved UI Now Available
by Peter Reutemann 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

'"In the 3D content creation space, where are lot of professional 3D software costs anywhere from 2K to 8K Dollars a license, people have always hoped that the free, open source 3D software Blender would some day be up to the job of replacing expensive commercial 3D software packages," writes Slashdot reader dryriver: This never happened, not because Blender didn't have good 3D features technically, but rather because the Blender Foundation simply did not listen to thousands of 3D artists screaming for a "more standard UI design" in Blender. Blender's eccentric GUI with reversed left-click-right-click conventions, keyboard shortcuts that don't match commercial software and other nastiness just didn't work for a lot of people. After years of screaming, Blender finally got a much better and more familiar UI design in release 2.80, which can be downloaded here. Version 2.80 has many powerful features, but the standout feature is that after nearly 10 years of asking, 3D artists finally get a better, more standard, more sensible User Interface. This effectively means that for the first time, Blender can compete directly with expensive commercial 3D software made by industry leaders like Autodesk, Maxon, NewTek and SideFX. Why the Blender Foundation took nearly a decade to revise the software's UI is anybody's guess.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/08/11/1842258 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Can Swap Space Solve System Performance Issues?
by Peter Reutemann 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

'Earlier this week on the Linux kernel mailing list, Artem S. Tashkinov described a low-memory scenario where "the system will stall hard. You will barely be able to move the mouse pointer. Your disk LED will be flashing incessantly..." "I'm afraid I have bad news for the people snickering at Linux here," wrote Chris Siebenmann, a sys-admin at the University of Toronto's CS lab. "If you're running without swap space, you can probably get any Unix to behave this way under memory pressure..." In the old days, this usually was not very much of an issue because system RAM was generally large compared to the size of programs and thus the amount of file-backed pages that were likely to be in memory. That's no longer the case today; modern large programs such as Firefox and its shared libraries can have significant amounts of file-backed code and data pages (in addition to their often large use of dynamically allocated memory, ie anonymous pages). A production engineer (now on Facebook's Web Foundation team) wrote about experiencing similar issues years ago when another company had disabled swapping when they replaced or reinstalled machines -- leading to lots of pages from hosts that had to be dealt with. This week they wrote: I stand by my original position: have some swap. Not a lot. Just a little. Linux boxes just plain act weirdly without it. This is not permission to beat your machine silly in terms of memory allocation, either... If you allocate all of the RAM on the machine, you have screwed the kernel out of buffer cache it sorely needs. Back off. Put another way, disk I/O that isn't brutally slow costs memory. Network I/O costs memory. All kinds of stuff costs memory. It's not JUST the RSS of your process. Other stuff you do needs space to operate. If you try to fill a 2 GB box with 2 GB of data, something's going to have a bad day! You have to leave room for the actual system to run or it's going to grind to a stop.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/10/041223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

New Spectre-like CPU Vulnerability Bypasses Existing Defenses
by Peter Reutemann 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

'Researchers from security firm Bitdefender discovered and reported a year ago a new CPU vulnerability that 'abuses a system instruction called SWAPGS and can bypass mitigations put in place for previous speculative execution vulnerabilities like Spectre,' writes Lucian Constantin for CSO. There are three attack scenarios involving SWAPGS, the most serious of which 'can allow attackers to leak the contents of arbitrary kernel memory addresses. This is similar to the impact of the Spectre vulnerability.' Microsoft released mitigations for the vulnerability in July's Patch Tuesday, although details were withheld until August 6 when Bitdefender released its whitepaper and Microsoft published a security advisory.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/10/0523206 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Remember Autorun.inf Malware In Windows? Turns Out KDE Offers Something Similar
by Peter Reutemann 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

'A security researcher has published proof-of-concept (PoC) code for a vulnerability in the KDE software framework. A fix is not available at the time of writing. The bug was discovered by Dominik "zer0pwn" Penner and impacts the KDE Frameworks package 5.60.0 and below. The KDE Frameworks software library is at the base of the KDE desktop environment v4 and v5 (Plasma), currently included with a large number of Linux distributions. The vulnerability occurs because of the way the KDesktopFile class (part of KDE Frameworks) handles .desktop or .directory files. It was discovered that malicious .desktop and .directory files could be created that could be used to run malicious code on a user's computer. When a user opens the KDE file viewer to access the directory where these files are stored, the malicious code contained within the .desktop or .directory files executes without user interaction — such as running the file. Zero user interaction is required to trigger code execution — all you have to do is to browse a directory with a malicious file using any of KDE file system browsing applications like Dolphin. When ZDNet contacted KDE for a comment Tuesday, their spokesperson provided this response. "We would appreciate if people would contact security(a)kde.org before releasing an exploit into the public, rather than the other way around, so that we can decide on a timeline together."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/10/2257259 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Severe local 0-Day escalation exploit found in Steam Client Services
by Peter Reutemann 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

'Earlier today, disgruntled security researcher Vasily Kravets released a zero-day vulnerability in the Windows version of the ubiquitous gaming service Steam. The vulnerability allows any user to run arbitrary code with LOCALSYSTEM privileges using just a very few simple commands. The vulnerability lies within Steam Client Service. The service may be started or stopped by unprivileged users. This becomes a problem because, when run,Steam Client Service automatically sets permissions on a range of registry keys. If a mischievous—or outright malicious—user were to symlink one of these keys to that belonging to another service, it becomes possible for arbitrary users to start or stop that service as well. This becomes even more problematic when you realize that it's possible to pass arguments to services that run under extremely privileged accounts—such as msiserver, the Windows Installer service.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/08/severe-local-0-day-escalation-exploi… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Linux Journal Ceases Publication
by Peter Reutemann 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

'Not too long after Linus Torvalds wrote his own Unix kernel, which he called Linux, in the summer of 1991, a magazine was founded by enthusiasts to focus on the operating system. For nearly three decades Linux Journal has been an authority magazine on all things Linux, but it is now shuttering doors, it said late Wednesday. The announcement comes about two years after the periodical said it would cease to exist, but it was able to find some backing -- from Privacy Internet Access group -- to resume operations later on. The team said on Wednesday that all staff members had been laid off and the company was left with no operating funds to continue in any capacity. It remains committed to keeping the website afloat for another few weeks.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/08/08/1354211 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

3 3

Red Hat Joins the RISC-V Foundation
by Peter Reutemann 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

'Red Hat has joined the RISC-V Foundation to help foster this open-source processor ISA. Phoronix reports: While we're still likely years away from seeing any serious RISC-V powered servers at least that can deliver meaningful performance, Red Hat has been active in promoting RISC-V as an open-source processor instruction set architecture and one of the most promising libre architectures we have seen over the years. Red Hat developers have already helped in working on Fedora's RISC-V support and now the IBM-owned company is helping out more and showing their commitment by joining the RISC-V Foundation. Red Hat joins the likes of Google, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, SiFive, Western Digital, IBM, and Samsung as among the many RISC-V members. ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/08/213253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

WordPress Team Working on Daring Plan To Forcibly Update Old Websites
by Peter Reutemann 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

'The developers behind the WordPress open-source content management system (CMS) are working on a plan to forcibly auto-update older versions of the CMS to more recent releases. From a report: The goal of this plan is to improve the security of the WordPress ecosystem, and the internet as a whole, since WordPress installations account for more than 34% of all internet websites. Officially supported versions include only the last six WordPress major releases, which currently are all the versions between v4.7 and v5.2. The plan is to slowly auto-update old WordPress sites, starting with v3.7, to the current minimum supported version, which is the v4.7 release. The WordPress team said it plans to monitor this tiered forced auto-update process for errors and site breakage. If there's something massively wrong, then auto-update can be stopped altogether. If only a few individual sites break, than those site will be rolled back to their previous versions and the owner will be notified via email.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/08/1523212 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

AMD Lands Google, Twitter as Customers With Newest Server Chip
by Peter Reutemann 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

'Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday released the second generation of its processor chip for data centers and said that it had landed Alphabet's Google and Twitter as customers. From a report: AMD competes against Intel to supply chips for data centers that power internet-based services. Both firms have come to rely on data center chips for growth because personal computer sales have stagnated as users shifted to mobile devices. AMD's newest generation of server chip, called EPYC, uses a new chip-making technology from its contract manufacturers that helps the chips have better performance while consuming less power. Intel, which makes chips in its own factories instead of relying on contractors, is behind schedule delivering chips made with its own newer manufacturing process. It plans to release them next year.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/08/08/1553202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Less TV, More Online
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

In Britain, at least <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/07/punters_switching_off_telly_boxes_…>, people are spending less time watching conventional broadcast TV and more time watching vids on YouTube and Netflix. In related news, famed (and feared) US ratings agency Nielsen <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190805/08212442723/after-missing-cord-c…> has fallen on hard times as its broadcast (FTA and cable) company customers suffer a similar trend. The irony was that they were the ones forcing it not to make any measurements of the “cord-cutting” phenomenon, because it made them look bad; and as a result its service has now declined into irrelevance.

1 0

What all the stuff in email headers means—and how to sniff out spoofing
by Peter Reutemann 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

'I pretty frequently get requests for help from someone who has been impersonated—or whose child has been impersonated—via email. Even when you know how to "view headers" or "view source" in your email client, the spew of diagnostic wharrgarbl can be pretty overwhelming if you don't know what you're looking at. Today, we're going to step through a real-world set of (anonymized) email headers and describe the process of figuring out what's what. Before we get started with the actual headers, though, we're going to take a quick detour through an overview of what the overall path of an email message looks like in the first place. (More experienced sysadmin types who already know what stuff like "MTA" and "SPF" stand for can skip a bit ahead to the fun part!)' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/ars-forensic-files-h… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Skype, Slack, other Electron-based apps can be easily backdoored
by Peter Reutemann 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

'The Electron development platform is a key part of many applications, thanks to its cross-platform capabilities. Based on JavaScript and Node.js, Electron has been used to create client applications for Internet communications tools (including Skype, WhatsApp, and Slack) and even Microsoft's Visual Studio Code development tool. But Electron can also pose a significant security risk because of how easily Electron-based applications can be modified without triggering warnings. At the BSides LV security conference on Tuesday, Pavel Tsakalidis demonstrated a tool he created called BEEMKA, a Python-based tool that allows someone to unpack Electron ASAR archive files and inject new code into Electron's JavaScript libraries and built-in Chrome browser extensions. The vulnerability is not part of the applications themselves but of the underlying Electron framework—and that vulnerability allows malicious activities to be hidden within processes that appear to be benign. Tsakalidis said that he had contacted Electron about the vulnerability but that he had gotten no response—and the vulnerability remains. While making these changes required administrator access on Linux and MacOS, it only requires local access on Windows. Those modifications can create new event-based "features" that can access the file system, activate a Web cam, and exfiltrate information from systems using the functionality of trusted applications—including user credentials and sensitive data. In his demonstration, Tsakalidis showed a backdoored version of Microsoft Visual Studio Code that sent the contents of every code tab opened to a remote website.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/skype-slack-other-el… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Google releases the 6th and final beta for Android Q
by Peter Reutemann 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

'We are quickly approaching launch day for Android Q, Google's 29th release of Android. At some point in the near future we should see a statue-unveiling, official confirmation that this is "Android 10," and the highly anticipated "Q" snack name [Editor's suggestion]. First though, we have to see the sixth-and-final beta release out the door, which is happening today. Android Q Beta 6 is rolling out to Pixel phones now and participating third-party devices in the coming weeks. Final APIs for developers were locked down in Beta 4, so Beta 5 and 6 are mostly about squishing bugs and polishing up the final interface. Fully gestural navigation is a major feature of Android Q, and with the Beta 5 launch came the announcement that gesture navigation would not work with third-party home apps at launch, presumably due to a lack of time to work out the pile of bugs that have been reported. Even with third-party home screen compatibility off the table, it seems like Google will be working on gesture navigation down to the wire. Beta 5 came with a new gesture for the Google Assistant and new rules for developers. In Beta 6, Google says it has "made further refinements to Gesture Navigation in Beta 6 based on user feedback" and now has a sensitivity setting for the back gesture. The back gesture involves swiping in from the edge of the screen, which can interfere with apps that require horizontal scrolling. Newly updated apps are supposed to design around the new back gesture; the sensitivity setting should help find a balance for older apps with conflicting swipe areas.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/08/google-releases-the-6th-and-final-b… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Microsoft Contractors Are Listening To Some Skype Calls
by Peter Reutemann 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

'Contractors working for Microsoft are listening to personal conversations of Skype users conducted through the app's translation service, according to a cache of internal documents, screenshots, and audio recordings obtained by Motherboard. From a report: Although Skype's website says that the company may analyze audio of phone calls that a user wants to translate in order to improve the chat platform's services, it does not say some of this analysis will be done by humans. The Skype audio obtained by Motherboard includes conversations from people talking intimately to loved ones, some chatting about personal issues such as their weight loss, and others seemingly discussing relationship problems. Other files obtained by Motherboard show that Microsoft contractors are also listening to voice commands that users speak to Cortana, the company's voice assistant.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/08/07/1432204 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

FFmpeg 4.2, Open-Source Multimedia Framework Released
by Peter Reutemann 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

'Dubbed "Ada," the FFMpeg 4.2 series introduces some exciting new features and improvements, among which we can mention support for decoding AV1 files via the libdav1d library, support for ARIB STD-B24 caption (profiles A and C) based on the libaribb24 library, and support for decoding HEVC 4:4:4 content in nvdec and cuviddec. FFmpeg 4.2 also comes with support for decoding HEVC 4:4:4 content in VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix), support for using Clang to compile CUDA kernels, the ability for the mov muxer to write tracks with unspecified language instead of English by default, a GIF parser, as well as the removal of the libndi-newtek component.' -- source: https://news.softpedia.com/news/ffmpeg-4-2-ada-open-source-multimedia-frame… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Microsoft Catches Russian State Hackers Using IoT Devices To Breach Networks
by Peter Reutemann 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

'Hackers working for the Russian government have been using printers, video decoders, and other so-called Internet-of-things devices as a beachhead to penetrate targeted computer networks, Microsoft officials warned on Monday. "These devices became points of ingress from which the actor established a presence on the network and continued looking for further access," officials with the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center wrote in a post. "Once the actor had successfully established access to the network, a simple network scan to look for other insecure devices allowed them to discover and move across the network in search of higher-privileged accounts that would grant access to higher-value data." Microsoft researchers discovered the attacks in April, when a voice-over-IP phone, an office printer, and a video decoder in multiple customer locations were communicating with servers belonging to "Strontium," a Russian government hacking group better known as Fancy Bear or APT28. In two cases, the passwords for the devices were the easily guessable default ones they shipped with. In the third instance, the device was running an old firmware version with a known vulnerability. While Microsoft officials concluded that Strontium was behind the attacks, they said they weren't able to determine what the group's ultimate objectives were. Microsoft says they have notified the makers of the targeted IoT devices so they can add new protections. "Monday's report also provided IP addresses and scripts organizations can use to detect if they have also been targeted or infected," adds Ars Technica. "Beyond that, Monday's report reminded people that, despite Strontium's above-average hacking abilities, an IoT device is often all it needs to gain access to a targeted network."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/08/06/0115233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Linux Performs Poorly In Low RAM / Memory Pressure Situations On The Desktop
by Peter Reutemann 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

'It's been a gripe for many running Linux on low RAM systems especially is that when the Linux desktop is under memory pressure the performance can be quite brutal with the system barely being responsive. The discussion over that behavior has been reignited this week. From a report: Developer Artem S Tashkinov took to the kernel mailing list over the weekend to express his frustration with the kernel's inability to handle low memory pressure in a graceful manner. If booting a system with just 4GB of RAM available, disabling SWAP to accelerate the impact/behavior, and launching a web browser and opening new web pages / tabs can in a matter of minutes bring the system down to its knees. Artem elaborated on the kernel mailing list, "Once you hit a situation when opening a new tab requires more RAM than is currently available, the system will stall hard. You will barely be able to move the mouse pointer. Your disk LED will be flashing incessantly (I'm not entirely sure why). You will not be able to run new applications or close currently running ones. This little crisis may continue for minutes or even longer. I think that's not how the system should behave in this situation. I believe something must be done about that to avoid this stall."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/06/1839206 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Final Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Version Released
by Peter Reutemann 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

'The last RHEL release, RHEL 7.7, is now available for current Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscribers via the Red Hat Customer Portal. ZDNet reports on what's new: RHEL 7.7's most important updates are support for the latest generation of enterprise hardware and remediation for the recently disclosed ZombieLoad vulnerabilities. The latest RHEL 7 also includes network stack performance enhancements. With this release, you can offload virtual switching operations to network interface card (NIC) hardware. What that means for you is, if you're using virtual switching and network function virtualization (NFV), you'll see better network performance on cloud and container platforms such as Red Hat OpenStack Platform and Red Hat OpenShift. RHEL 7.7 users can also use Red Hat's new predictive problem shooter: Red Hat Insights. This uses a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based predictive analytics approach to spot, assess, and mitigate potential problems to their systems before they can cause trouble. For developers, RHEL 7.7 comes with Python 3.6 interpreter, and the pip and setup tools utilities. Previously, Python 3 versions were available only as a part of Red Hat Software Collections. Moving on to the cloud, RHEL 7.7 Red Hat Image Builder is now supported. This feature, which is also in RHEL 8, enables you to easily create custom RHEL system images for cloud and virtualization platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), VMware vSphere, and OpenStack. To help cloud-native developers, RHEL 7.7 includes full support for Red Hat's distributed-container toolkit -- buildah, podman, and skopeo -- on RHEL workstations. After building on the desktop, programmers can use Red Hat Universal Base Image to build, run, and manage containerized applications across the hybrid cloud.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/06/208202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Half of All Google Chrome Extensions Have Fewer Than 16 Installs
by Peter Reutemann 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

'There are 188,620 extensions available on the Chrome Web Store, and while you might think this provides a wide variety of choices for Chrome users, in reality, most of these extensions are dead or dwindling, with very few having active installations. From a report: All in all, about 50% of all Chrome extensions have fewer than 16 installs, meaning that half of the Chrome extension ecosystem is actually more of a ghost town, according to a recent scan of the entire Chrome Web Store conducted by Extension Monitor. Further, 19,379 extensions (just over 10%) have zero installs, and 25,540 extensions (13% of the total) have just one user. The scan found that there are very few Chrome extensions that managed to establish a dedicated userbase. According to Extension Monitor, around 87% of all extensions have fewer than 1,000 installs.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/08/05/144246 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Huawei Tests Smartphone With Own OS, Could Potentially Start Selling Them Later This Year
by Peter Reutemann 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

'Huawei is testing a smartphone equipped with Hongmeng, the company's self-developed operating system, which could potentially go on sale by the end of this year, Chinese state-media outlet Global Times reported. From a report: The release of a Hongmeng-powered smartphone would mark a major step for China's Huawei, the world's second-biggest maker of smartphones, as U.S. government actions threaten its access to Google's Android operating system. The device will be priced at around 2,000 yuan ($288), the Global Times said on Sunday, citing unnamed sources. That will place the device toward the low-end segment of the smartphone market. Huawei executives have previously described Hongmeng as an operating system designed for internet-of-things products. Last month the company said the first major devices powered by Hongmeng would be its upcoming line of Honor-brand smart TVs.' -- source: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/19/08/05/1515218 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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GNOME and KDE Join Forces To Co-Host Linux App Summit
by Peter Reutemann 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

'GNOME and KDE are co-hosting this year's Linux App Summit (LAS) in Barcelona from November 12th to 15th. An anonymous reader shared the big announcement: LAS is the first collaborative event co-hosted by the two organizations since the Desktop Summit in 2009. Both organizations are eager to bring their communities together in building an application ecosystem that transcends individual distros and broadens the market for everyone involved. KDE and GNOME will no longer be taking a passive role in the free desktop sector. With the joint influence of the two desktop projects, LAS will shepherd the growth of the FOSS desktop by encouraging the creation of quality applications, seeking opportunities for compensation for FOSS developers, and fostering a vibrant market for the Linux operating system. * "I am excited to see GNOME and KDE working together on LAS, and I believe that the event will help lay down strong foundations for collaborative cross-project development that would benefit Linux users across all distributions and on any compatible device." -- Christel Dahlskjaer, Private Internet Access and freenode Project Lead. * "Together with GNOME, counting with the collaboration of many distributions and application developers, we'll have the opportunity to work side by side, share our perspectives and offer the platform that the next generation of solutions will be built on." -- Aleix Pol Gonzalez, KDE e.V Vice-President says about the inaugural effort about LAS. * "By partnering with KDE we show the desire to build the kind of application ecosystem that demonstrates that Open Source and Free Software are important; the technology and organization we build to achieve this is valuable and necessary." -- GNOME executive director, Neil McGovern * "The desktop wars is not really a thing any more. It makes more sense to work together and pool resources." -- Paul Brown, a KDE Communications Specialist (quoted by ZDNet) ZDNet called the collaboration "a major step forward," giving their story the headline "GNOME and KDE work together on the Linux desktop." But the Twitter feed for the KDE community quickly clarified that KDE "is working with GNOME to create a common, fair, sustainable and open app ecosystem, not a desktop." "The GNOME and KDE communities want to provide users with free and open applications that will respect their privacy and rights. That is what Linux App Summit is about."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/03/0240209 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Just Stopped Displaying 'www' and 'https' In Chrome's Address Bar
by Peter Reutemann 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

'"Google has finally chopped the 'www' from Chrome's address bar after delaying the controversial move due to a backlash," reports TechRepublic: The move to remove 'www' was initially planned for last year, when Google announced it would cut "trivial subdomains" from the address bar in Chrome 69. Now Google has begun truncating the visible URL in Chrome for desktop and Android, rolling out the change in version 76 of the browser, released this week. By default sites in Chrome now no longer display the "https" scheme or the "www" subdomain, with the visible address starting after this point. To view the full URL, users now have to click the address bar twice on desktop and once on mobile. Google has argued the move is driven by a desire for greater simplicity and usability of Chrome... However the announcement provoked a fresh wave of criticism, from those who say the move will confuse users and even potentially make it easier for them to inadvertently connect to fake sites... There are also some who claim Google's motivation in changing how the URL is displayed may be to make it harder for users to tell whether they are on a page hosted on Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages subdomain... Google says it has also built a Chrome extension that doesn't obfuscate the URL to "help power users recognize suspicious sites and report them to Safe Browsing". Despite the backlash from some online, Chrome isn't the first browser to truncate the URL in this way, with Apple's Safari similarly hiding the full address. ' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/08/03/0317238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Amazon Quietly Gives Alexa's Voice Recordings a 'No Human Review' Option
by Peter Reutemann 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

'"Amazon Alexa users can now choose whether human reviewers listen to recordings of their exchanges with the AI assistant," reports VentureBeat, citing an Amazon spokesperson. To ensure people don't listen to voice recordings collected following each exchange with Alexa, go to Settings, tap the Alexa Privacy link, then choose Manage How Your Data Improves Alexa. Users can also delete their voice recordings via the Alexa app or Amazon website. The news follows Amazon's introduction of an "Alexa, delete what I said today" voice command in May... Earlier this week, Google and Apple both pledged to suspend some of their voice data review by people. ' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/08/04/0159227 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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New Vulnerabilities Found In WPA3 WiFi Standard
by Peter Reutemann 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

'Slashdot reader Artem S. Tashkinov writes: Mathy Vanhoef and Eyal Ronen have recently disclosed two new additional bugs impacting WPA3. The security researched duo found the new bugs in the security recommendations the WiFi Alliance created for equipment vendors in order to mitigate the initial Dragonblood attacks [found by the same two security researchers]. "Just like the original Dragonblood vulnerabilities from April, these two new ones allow attackers to leak information from WPA3 cryptographic operations and brute-force a WiFi network's password," reports ZDNet. More from ZDNet: "[The] Wi-Fi standard is now being updated with proper defenses, which might lead to WPA3.1," Vanhoef said. "Although this update is not backwards-compatible with current deployments of WPA3, it does prevent most of our attacks," the researchers said. But besides just disclosing the two new Dragonblood vulnerabilities, the two researchers also took the chance to criticize the WiFi Alliance again for its closed standards development process that doesn't allow for the open-source community to contribute and prevent big vulnerabilities from making it into the standard in the first place. "This demonstrates that implementing Dragonfly and WPA3 without side-channel leaks is surprisingly hard," the researchers said. "It also, once again, shows that privately creating security recommendations and standards is at best irresponsible and at worst inept." While these type of feedback might be ignored when coming from other researchers, it means more when it comes from Vanhoef. The Belgian researchers is the one who discovered the KRACK attack that broke the WPA2 WiFi authentication standard and forced the WiFi Alliance to develop the WPA3 standard, which it launched in June 2018.' -- source: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/19/08/04/1821237 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Listening Post On VPNs
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

This week’s episode of “The Listening Post” on Al Jazeera <https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2019/07/vazajato-dirty-d…> covers, in the latter part, an overview of the increasing popularity of VPNs. It also mentions some of their potential pitfalls.

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Did Facebook End The Encryption Debate?
by Peter Reutemann 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

'Forbes contributor Kalev Leetaru argues that "the encryption debate is already over -- Facebook ended it earlier this year." The ability of encryption to shield a user's communications rests upon the assumption that the sender and recipient's devices are themselves secure, with the encrypted channel the only weak point... [But] Facebook announced earlier this year preliminary results from its efforts to move a global mass surveillance infrastructure directly onto users' devices where it can bypass the protections of end-to-end encryption. In Facebook's vision, the actual end-to-end encryption client itself such as WhatsApp will include embedded content moderation and blacklist filtering algorithms. These algorithms will be continually updated from a central cloud service, but will run locally on the user's device, scanning each cleartext message before it is sent and each encrypted message after it is decrypted. The company even noted that when it detects violations it will need to quietly stream a copy of the formerly encrypted content back to its central servers to analyze further, even if the user objects, acting as true wiretapping service... If Facebook's model succeeds, it will only be a matter of time before device manufacturers and mobile operating system developers embed similar tools directly into devices themselves, making them impossible to escape... Governments would soon use lawful court orders to require companies to build in custom filters of content they are concerned about and automatically notify them of violations, including sending a copy of the offending content. Rather than grappling with how to defeat encryption, governments will simply be able to harness social media companies to perform their mass surveillance for them, sending them real-time alerts and copies of the decrypted content. Putting this all together, the sad reality of the encryption debate is that after 30 years it is finally over: dead at the hands of Facebook. If the company's new on-device content moderation succeeds it will usher in the end of consumer end-to-end encryption and create a framework for governments to outsource their mass surveillance directly to social media companies, completely bypassing encryption. In the end, encryption's days are numbered and the world has Facebook to thank. ' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/27/206248 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Apple’s AirDrop and password sharing features can leak iPhone numbers
by Peter Reutemann 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

'Apple makes it easy for people to locate lost iPhones, share Wi-Fi passwords, and use AirDrop to send files to other nearby devices. A recently published report demonstrates how snoops can capitalize on these features to scoop up a wealth of potentially sensitive data that in some cases includes phone numbers. Simply having Bluetooth turned on broadcasts a host of device details, including its name, whether it's in use, if Wi-Fi is turned on, the OS version it’s running, and information about the battery. More concerning: using AirDrop or Wi-Fi password sharing broadcasts a partial cryptographic hash that can easily be converted into an iPhone’s complete phone number. The information—which in the case of a Mac also includes a static MAC address that can be used as a unique identifier—is sent in Bluetooth Low Energy packets. The information disclosed may not be a big deal in many settings, such as work places where everyone knows everyone anyway. The exposure may be creepier in public places, such as a subway, a bar, or a department store, where anyone with some low-cost hardware and a little know-how can collect the details of all Apple devices that have BLE turned on. The data could also be a boon to companies that track customers as they move through retail outlets. As noted above, in the event someone is using AirDrop to share a file or image, they’re broadcasting a partial SHA256 hash of their phone number. In the event Wi-Fi password sharing is in use, the device is sending partial SHA256 hashes of its phone number, the user’s email address, and the user’s Apple ID. While only the first three bytes of the hash are broadcast, researchers with security firm Hexway (which published the research) say those bytes provide enough information to recover the full phone number.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/apples-airdrop-and-p… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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When Open Source Software Comes With a Few Catches
by Peter Reutemann 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

'As open source software grows more popular, and important, developers face an existential question: How to make money from something you give away for free? An anonymous reader shares a report: The Open Source Initiative standards body says an open source license must allow users to view the underlying source code, modify it, and share it as they see fit. Independent developers and large companies alike now routinely release software under these licenses. Many coders believe open collaboration results in better software. Some companies open their code for marketing purposes. Open source software now underpins much technology, from smartphone operating systems to government websites. Companies that release software under open source licenses generate revenue in different ways. Some sell support, including Red Hat, which IBM acquired for $34 billion earlier this month. Others, like cloud automation company HashiCorp, sell proprietary software based on the open source components. But with the rise of cloud computing, developers see their open source code being bundled into services and sold by other companies. Amazon, for example, sells a cloud-hosted service based on the popular open source database Redis, which competes with a similar cloud-hosted service offered by Redis Labs, the sponsor of the open source project. To protect against such scenarios, companies behind popular open source projects are restricting how others can use their software. Redis Labs started the trend last year when it relicensed several add-ons for its core product under terms that essentially prohibit offering those add-ons as part of a commercial cloud computing service. That way, Amazon and other cloud providers can't use those add-ons in their competing Redis services. Companies that want the functionality provided by those add-ons need to develop those features themselves, or get permission from Redis Labs. [...] Analytics company Confluent and database maker CockroachDB added similar terms to their licenses, preventing cloud computing companies from using some or all of their code to build competing services. Taking a slightly different tack, MongoDB relicensed its flagship database product last year under a new "Server Side Public License" (SSPL) that requires companies that sell the database system as a cloud service also release the source code of any additional software they include.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/08/01/1522211 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Microsoft Office 365 Declared Illegal In German Schools Over Privacy Concerns
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Rules over data access mean that none of the cloud-based suites (whether from Apple, Google or Microsoft) can be used in the German state of Hesse <https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/germany-threatens-to…>. Who will blink first?

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GitHub Starts Blocking Developers In Countries Facing US Trade Sanctions
by Peter Reutemann 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

'After a developer based in the Crimea region of Ukraine was blocked from GitHub this week, the Microsoft-owned software development platform said it has started restricting accounts in countries facing U.S. trade sanctions. GitHub lists Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syris as countries facing U.S. sanctions. ZDNet reports: As the developer reports, his website https://tkashkin.tk, which is hosted on GitHub, now returns a 404 error. He also can't create new private GitHub repositories or access them. While his website could easily be moved to another hosting provider, the block does pose a challenge for his work on GameHub, which has an established audience on GitHub. GitHub does offer developers an appeal form to dispute restrictions but [the developer] told ZDNet that, at this point, there's nothing to gain by appealing the restriction. "It is just pointless. My account is flagged as restricted and, in order to unflag it, I have to provide a proof that I don't live in Crimea. I am in fact a Russian citizen with Crimean registration, I am physically in Crimea, and I am living in Crimea my entire life," he said. "For individual users, who are not otherwise restricted by U.S. economic sanctions, GitHub currently offers limited restricted services to users in these countries and territories. This includes limited access to GitHub public repository services for personal communications only," it says. GitHub notes on its page about U.S. trade controls that its paid-for on-premise software -- aimed to enterprise users -- may be an option for users in those circumstances. "Users are responsible for ensuring that the content they develop and share on GitHub.com complies with the U.S. export control laws, including the EAR (Export Administration Regulations) and the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)," GitHub says. "The cloud-hosted service offering available at Github.com has not been designed to host data subject to the ITAR and does not currently offer the ability to restrict repository access by country. If you are looking to collaborate on ITAR- or other export-controlled data, we recommend you consider GitHub Enterprise Server, GitHub's on-premises offering."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/26/2157202 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Reveals Fistful of Flaws In Apple's iMessage App
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

'Google researchers have shared details of five flaws in Apple's iMessage software that could make its devices vulnerable to attack. The BBC reports: In one case, the researchers said the vulnerability was so severe that the only way to rescue a targeted iPhone would be to delete all the data off it. Another example, they said, could be used to copy files off a device without requiring the owner to do anything to aid the hack. Apple released fixes last week. But the researchers said they had also flagged a sixth problem to Apple, which had not been rectified in the update to its mobile operating system. Apple's own notes about iOS 12.4 indicate that the unfixed flaw could give hackers a means to crash an app or execute commands of their own on recent iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches if they were able to discover it. Apple has not commented on this specific issue, but has urged users to install the new version of iOS, which addresses Google's other discoveries as well as a further range of glitches and threats. One of the two Google researchers involved - Natalie Silvanovich - intends to share more details of her findings at a presentation at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas next month.' -- source: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/19/07/30/237228 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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The Hottest Phones For the Next Billion Users Aren't Smartphones
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

'Millions of first-time internet consumers from the Ivory Coast to India and Indonesia are connecting to the web on smart feature phones that cost only about $25. "[T]hese hybrid phones, fueled by inexpensive mobile data, provide some basic apps and internet access in addition to calling and texting," the Wall Street Journal reports. >From the report: While global smartphone sales began sliding last year as markets became saturated, smart feature phone shipments tripled to around 75 million from 2017, according to research firm Counterpoint. Some 84 million are likely to be shipped this year. Even as rich nations start to roll out 5G technologies, some 3.4 billion people around the world remain cut off from the internet, according to We Are Social, another research firm. Most of them already use traditional, unconnected mobile phones, meaning they can easily make the transition to similarly shaped devices capable of high-speed web connections. Smart feature phones aren't only inexpensive, but they also have physical keypads that are less intimidating than touch screens for those new to the technology. Meanwhile, their batteries last for days, a bonus in places where electricity is unreliable. There is a trade-off for the low price. The devices typically have slower and less powerful components, only basic cameras and their screens are usually just a few inches in size, factors that contribute to their longer battery life. There also are fewer apps available for smart feature phones.' -- source: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/19/07/30/2317234 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Chrome 76 Arrives With Flash Blocked By Default
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

'Google today launched Chrome 76 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The release includes Adobe Flash blocked by default, Incognito mode detection disabled, multiple PWA improvements, and more developer features. You can update to the latest version now using Chrome's built-in updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome. Google has been taking baby steps to kill off Flash for years. In 2015, Chrome started automatically pausing less important Flash content. In 2016, Chrome started blocking "behind the scenes" Flash content and using HTML5 by default. In July 2017, however, Adobe said it would kill Flash by 2020. With Chrome 76, Flash is now blocked by default. Users can still turn it on in settings, but next year, Flash will be removed from Chrome entirely.' -- source: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/19/07/30/2059214 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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New Bill Would Ban Autoplay Videos and Endless Scrolling
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Though not relevant to NZ legally speaking, it is still good to see that there is movement to avoid design that disadvantages the user: 'A new bill, sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), targets snapstreaks, YouTube autoplay, and endless scrolling that, the bill alleges, are designed in a way to make services "addictive." Reader Zorro writes: Hawley's Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act, or the SMART Act, would ban these features that work to keep users on platforms longer, along with others, like Snapstreaks, that incentivize the continued use of these products. If approved, the Federal Trade Commission and Health and Human Services could create similar rules that would expire after three years unless Congress codified them into law. "Big tech has embraced a business model of addiction," Hawley said. "Too much of the 'innovation' in this space is designed not to create better products, but to capture more attention by using psychological tricks that make it difficult to look away." Deceptive design played an enormous part in last week's FTC settlement with Facebook, and Hawley's bill would make it unlawful for tech companies to use dark patterns to manipulate users into opting into services. For example, "accept" and "decline" checkboxes would need to be the same font, color, and size to help users make better, more informed choices. "Social media companies deploy a host of tactics designed to manipulate users in ways that undermines their wellbeing," said Josh Golin, executive director of campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/30/1742213 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Apple's AWDL Protocol Plagued By Flaws That Enable Tracking and MitM Attacks
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

'Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL), a protocol installed on over 1.2 billion Apple devices, contains vulnerabilities that enable attackers to track users, crash devices, or intercept files transferred between devices via man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks. From a report: These are the findings of a research project that started last year at the Technical University of Darmstadt, in Germany, and has recently concluded, and whose findings researchers will be presenting later this month at a security conference in the US. The project sought to analyze the Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL), a protocol that Apple rolled out in 2014 and which also plays a key role in enabling device-to-device communications in the Apple ecosystem. While most Apple end users might not be aware of the protocol's existence, AWDL is at the core of Apple services like AirPlay and AirDrop, and Apple has been including AWDL by default on all devices the company has been selling, such as Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple watches, Apple TVs, and HomePods. But in the past five years, Apple has never published any in-depth technical details about how AWDL works. This, in turn, has resulted in very few security researchers looking at AWDL for bugs or implementation errors.' -- source: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/19/07/30/1723254 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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200 Million Devices -- Some Mission-Critical -- Vulnerable To Remote Takeover
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

'About 200 million Internet-connected devices -- some that may be controlling elevators, medical equipment, and other mission-critical systems -- are vulnerable to attacks that give attackers complete control, researchers warned on Monday. In all, researchers with security firm Armis identified 11 vulnerabilities in various versions of VxWorks, a slimmed-down operating system that runs on more than 2 billion devices worldwide. Billed collectively as Urgent 11, the vulnerabilities consist of six remote code flaws and five less-severe issues that allow things like information leaks and denial-of-service attacks. None of the vulnerabilities affects the most recent version of VxWorks or any of the certified versions of the OS, including VxWorks 653 or VxWorks Cert Edition. For the 200 million devices Armis estimated are running a version that's susceptible to a serious attack, however, the stakes may be high. Because many of the vulnerabilities reside in the networking stack known as IPnet, they can often be exploited by little more than boobytrapped packets sent from outside the Internet. Depending on the vulnerability, exploits may also be able to penetrate firewalls and other types of network defenses. The most dire scenarios are attacks that chain together multiple exploits that trigger the remote takeover of multiple devices. "Such vulnerabilities do not require any adaptations for the various devices using the network stack, making them exceptionally easy to spread," Armis researchers wrote in a technical overview. "In most operating systems, such fundamental vulnerabilities in the crucial networking stacks have become extinct, after years of scrutiny unravelled and mitigated such flaws." VxWorks-maker Wind River says the latest release of VxWorks "is not affected by the vulnerability, nor are any of Wind Rivers' safety-critical products that are designed for safety certification, such as VxWorks 653 and VxWorks Cert Edition used in critical infrastructure." Wind River issued patches last month and is in the process of notifying affected customers of the threat.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/29/2059248 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Open Source RISC-V License Helps Alibaba Sidestep US Trade War
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

'"RISC-V is open source, so it's much more resistant to government bans," reports Tom's Hardware: The Alibaba Group Holding, China's largest e-commerce company, unveiled its first self-designed chip, Xuantie 910, based on the open source RISC-V instruction set architecture. As reported by Nikkei Asian Review, the chip will target edge computing and autonomous driving, while the RISC-V's open source license may help Alibaba side-step the U.S. trade war altogether. Alibaba doesn't intend to manufacture the chips itself. Instead, it could outsource production to other Chinese semiconductor companies, such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. According to Nikkei, the Chinese government has been encouraging wealthy Chinese companies from various industries to enter the semiconductor industry in recent years. The government's efforts accelerated when the trade war with the U.S. started last year. It reportedly forced foreign companies to transfer their technology and IP to Chinese companies if they wanted any chance at the local Chinese market. "Most Chinese companies are still wary about whether Arm's architecture and Intel's architecture and technical support would remain accessible amid tech tension and further geopolitical uncertainties," Sean Yang, an analyst at research company CINNO in Shanghai, said, according to Nikkei. "It would be very helpful for China to increase long-term semiconductor sufficiency if big companies such as Alibaba jump in to build a chip (design) platform which smaller Chinese developers can just use without worrying about being cut off from supplies." The article also notes that using RISC-V will give Alibaba "the ability to completely customize and extend the ISA of the processors built on top of it without having to get permission from any company first."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/29/0224256 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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'No More Ransom' Decryption Tools Prevent $108M In Ransomware Payments
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

'On the three-year anniversary of the No More Ransom project, Europol announced today that users who downloaded and decrypted files using free tools made available through the No More Ransom portal have prevented ransomware gangs from making profits estimated at at least $108 million... However, an Emsisoft spokesperson told ZDNet that the $108 million estimate that Europol shared today is "actually a huge underestimate. They're based on the number of successful decryptions confirmed by telemetry -- in other words, when the tools phone home to confirm they've done their job," Emsisoft told ZDNet... Just the free decryption tools for the GandCrab ransomware alone offered on the No More Ransom website have prevented ransom payments of nearly $50 million alone, Europol said. The project, which launched in July 2016, now hosts 82 tools that can be used to decrypt 109 different types of ransomware. Most of these have been created and shared by antivirus makers like Emsisoft, Avast, and Bitdefender, and others; national police agencies; CERTs; or online communities like Bleeping Computer. By far the most proficient member has been antivirus maker Emsisoft, which released 32 decryption tools for 32 different ransomware strains... All in all, Europol said that more than three million users visited the site and more than 200,000 users downloaded tools from the No More Ransom portal since its launch. One Emisoft researcher said they were "pretty proud" of their decryptor for MegaLocker, "as not only did it help thousands of victims, but it really riled up the malware author."' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/28/2358258 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Penetration Testing Toolkit Includes Exploit For 'Incredibly Dangerous' Bluekeep Vulnerability
by Peter Reutemann 28 Jul '19

28 Jul '19

'In May, Microsoft released a patch for a bug in several versions of Windows that is so bad that the company felt it even had to release a fix for Windows XP, an operating system that (has been unsupported) for five years. That vulnerability is known as BlueKeep, and it has kept a lot of security researchers up at night. They are worried that someone could write an exploit for it and make a worm that could wreak havoc the way WannaCry or NotPetya -- two viruses that spread almost uncontrollably all over the world locking thousands of computers -- did.... Researchers were so worried about this vulnerability that for months, no one has published the code for a proof-of-concept exploit. In other words, no one wanted to be the guy to even prove that this type of malware was even possible to write. Until now. On Tuesday, Immunity, a long time US government contractor, announced that it had developed an exploit for BlueKeep and included it into its penetration testing toolkit Canvas, which is available only to paying subscribers. Canvas customers, can now exploit this bug using Immunity's own code. ZDNet notes that Canvas licenses "cost between thousands and tens of thousands of US dollars," but also adds that "hackers have been known to pirate or legitimately buy penetration testing tools."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/27/042203 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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In 80 Days, Google Will Require Chrome Extensions To Request 'The Least Amount of Data'
by Peter Reutemann 28 Jul '19

28 Jul '19

'"Google is giving Chrome extension makers until October 15 to minimize the amount of data they collect during browser sessions or face expulsion from the Chrome Web Store," reports PC Magazine: The change addresses how the extensions generally need to request certain permissions from your browser in order to function. However, some of these permissions can be pretty powerful; they can include the ability to take desktop screenshots, capture audio from a microphone, and collect data from the local file system, among other things, which can open the door to potential abuse. The risks prompted Google to work toward securing the 180,000+ Chrome extensions on the company's official web store. "We're requiring extensions to only request access to the least amount of data," the company said in a Tuesday blog post. "While this has previously been encouraged of developers, now we're making this a requirement for all extensions."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/07/27/0420225 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Privacy-Focused Android Q Still Lets Advertisers Track You
by Peter Reutemann 28 Jul '19

28 Jul '19

'"The upcoming version of the Android operating system is taking a strong focus on privacy," reports SD Times, "but the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) believes it could still do better." Android Q's new privacy features include: user control over app access to device location, new limits on access to files in shared external storage, restrictions on launching activities, and restrictions on access to the device's hardware and sensors... "However, in at least one area, Q's improvements are undermined by Android's continued support of a feature that allows third-party advertisers, including Google itself, to track users across apps," Bennett Cyphers, engineer for the EFF, wrote in a post. "Furthermore, Android still doesn't let users control their apps' access to the Internet, a basic permission that would address a wide range of privacy concerns." According to Cyphers, while Android Q has new restrictions on non-resettable device identifies, it will allow unrestricted access for its own tracking identifier [called "advertising ID"]... "Facebook and other targeting companies allow businesses to upload lists of ad IDs that they have collected in order to target those users on other platforms," he wrote... "On Android, there is no way for the user to control which apps can access the ID, and no way to turn it off. While we support Google taking steps to protect other hardware identifiers from unnecessary access, its continued support of the advertising ID -- a "feature" designed solely to support tracking -- undercuts the company's public commitment to privacy," he wrote... Cypher also noted that while Apple's iOS has similar identifiers for advertisers that contradict with its privacy campaign, it does enable users to turn off the tracking. In fact, Android Q also ships with an "opt out of ad personalization" checkbox where users can indicate that they don't want Google's identifier to track them, Cyphers reports -- but "the checkbox doesn't affect the ad ID in any way. "It only encodes the user's 'preference', so that when an app asks Android whether a user wants to be tracked, the operating system can reply 'no, actually they don't.' Google's terms tell developers to respect this setting, but Android provides no technical safeguards to enforce this policy."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/07/27/0526206 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Airbus A350 Software Bug Forces Airlines To Turn Planes Off and On Every 149 Hours
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jul '19

26 Jul '19

'Some models of Airbus A350 airliners still need to be hard rebooted after exactly 149 hours, despite warnings from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) first issued two years ago. In a mandatory airworthiness directive (AD) reissued earlier this week, EASA urged operators to turn their A350s off and on again to prevent "partial or total loss of some avionics systems or functions." The revised AD, effective from tomorrow (26 July), exempts only those new A350-941s which have had modified software pre-loaded on the production line. For all other A350-941s, operators need to completely power the airliner down before it reaches 149 hours of continuous power-on time. Concerningly, the original 2017 AD was brought about by "in-service events where a loss of communication occurred between some avionics systems and avionics network" (sic). The impact of the failures ranged from "redundancy loss" to "complete loss on a specific function hosted on common remote data concentrator and core processing input/output modules." In layman's English, this means that prior to 2017, at least some A350s flying passengers were suffering unexplained failures of potentially flight-critical digital systems.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/25/1932229 Oh dear... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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VLC player has a critical flaw – and there’s no patch yet
by Peter Reutemann 25 Jul '19

25 Jul '19

'On the flip side, there are currently no known cases of the vulnerability being exploited in the wild Germany’s national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-Bund) has issued a security advisory to alert users of VLC media player of a severe vulnerability affecting this extremely popular open-source software. “A remote, anonymous attacker can exploit the vulnerability in VLC to execute arbitrary code, cause a denial-of-service condition, exfiltrate information, or manipulate files,” said CERT-Bund, which also discovered the security loophole. The memory-corruption flaw is known to reside in the player’s latest release, 3.0.7.1, but may also be present in its earlier versions. It affects the program’s Windows, Linux and UNIX versions and has earned a score of 4 out of 5 on the German agency’s severity scale.' -- source: https://cybersafe.mcttrainingconsultant.com/?p=14585 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Advanced mobile surveillanceware, made in Russia, found in the wild
by Peter Reutemann 24 Jul '19

24 Jul '19

'Researchers have discovered some of the most advanced and full-featured mobile surveillanceware ever seen. Dubbed Monokle and used in the wild since at least March 2016, the Android-based application was developed by a Russian defense contractor that was sanctioned in 2016 for helping that country’s Main Intelligence Directorate meddle in the 2016 US presidential election. Monokle uses several novel tools, including the ability to modify the Android trusted-certificate store and a command-and-control network that can communicate over Internet TCP ports, email, text messages, or phone calls. The result: Monokle provides a host of surveillance capabilities that work even when an Internet connection is unavailable.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/advanced-mobile-surv… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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'The Raspberry Pi 4 Needs a Fan'
by Peter Reutemann 24 Jul '19

24 Jul '19

'Author and programmer Jeff Geerling explains in a blog post why the new Raspberry Pi 4 needs a fan. Unlike previous Pis that didn't require a fan or heatsink to avoid CPU throttling, the Pi 4 is a different beast and "pretty much demands a fan," writes Geerling. "Not only does the CPU get appreciably hot even under normal load, there are a number of other parts of the board that heat up to the point they are uncomfortable to touch." After 5 minutes at idle, he recorded the CPU/System-on-a-Chip (SoC) was around 60C, and it climbed to the 60-70C range when using the USB ports. "[I]magine if you're truly using the Pi 4 as a desktop replacement, with at least one external USB 3.0 hard drive attached, WiFi connected and transferring large amounts of data, a USB keyboard and mouse, a few browser windows open (the average website these days might as well be an AAA video game with how resource-intense it is), a text editor, and a music player," writes Geerling. "This amount of load is enough to cause the CPU to throttle in less than 10 minutes." So, Geerling did what any programmer and DIYer would do and decided to add a fan himself to the official case -- and in addition to the blog post describing the process, he made a 22-minute-long video showing you what he did. From the post: Without any ventilation, it's kind of a little plastic oven inside the Pi 4 case. A heat sink might help in some tiny way, but that heat has nowhere to go! So I decided to follow the lead of Redditor u/CarbyCarberson and put a fan in the top cover. [...] After installing the fan, I booted the Pi and ran "stress --cpu 4" and let it go for an hour. The entire time, the CPU's temperature stayed at or under 60C (140F), a full 20C lower than the throttling point. There are some other options which may be even easier than modifying the official case, like the Fan Shim from Pimoroni or purchasing a 3rd party case with a fan built in. But this option was easy enough and all I needed to complete the project was a $4 fan and a $7 hole saw drill bit (which I can use for other projects in the future). ' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/07/17/2254204 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

'Fortnite' Creator Epic Games Supports Blender Foundation With $1.2 Million
by Peter Reutemann 24 Jul '19

24 Jul '19

'Apparently having a lot of people playing Fortnite is good for the open source community too. Epic Games' MegaGrants program just awarded the Blender Foundation with $1.2 million over the next three years...to further the success of the free and open source 3D creation suite. It's part of the company's $100 million "MegaGrants" program, according to the announcement. "Open tools, libraries and platforms are critical to the future of the digital content ecosystem," said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games. "Blender is an enduring resource within the artistic community, and we aim to ensure its advancement to the benefit of all creators."' -- source: https://games.slashdot.org/story/19/07/21/1551251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Chances of destructive BlueKeep exploit rise with new explainer posted online
by Peter Reutemann 23 Jul '19

23 Jul '19

'A security researcher has published a detailed guide that shows how to execute malicious code on Windows computers still vulnerable to the critical BlueKeep vulnerability. The move significantly lowers the bar for writing exploits that wreak the kinds of destructive attacks not seen since the WannaCry and NotPetya attacks of 2017, researchers said. As of three weeks ago, more than 800,000 computers exposed to the Internet were vulnerable to the exploit, researchers from security firm BitSight said last week. Microsoft and a chorus of security professionals have warned of the potential for exploits to sow worldwide disruptions. The risk of the bug, found in Microsoft's implementation of the remote desktop protocol, stems from the ability for attacks to spread from one vulnerable computer to another with no interaction required of end users.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/explainer-for-exploi… May you live in interesting times (as a Windows users)... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

cycling through windows of same application
by Peter Reutemann 23 Jul '19

23 Jul '19

Hi everyone Just learned something new by accident... ;-) Using "Alt+`" (the key above Tab), you can limit the cycling to the windows of that application, e.g., all Firefox or LibreOffice Writer/Calc windows in a workspace. Useful alternative to "Alt+Tab" which cycles through all Windows in a workspace. >From the looks of it, cycling through multiple terminal windows doesn't work. I presume, this is because they are different processes rather than child windows. Tested on Linux Mint 19.1 MATE desktop. -- source: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1160167 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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SUSE Names Melissa Di Donato New CEO
by Peter Reutemann 22 Jul '19

22 Jul '19

'Melissa Di Donato, SAP's former COO, has been named SUSE's new CEO. ZDNet reports: London-based Di Donato is a well-known technology leader. In particular, she has a proven track record in sales and business operations. Besides being SAP's COO, she was also the company's chief revenue officer. In SAP's latest quarter, SAP saw an increase of 11% year-over-year revenues. Much of that came from the cloud -- where SAP saw 40% year-over-year growth. SAP's cloud is built on SUSE's Linux servers and OpenStack cloud. Di Donato succeeds Nils Brauckmann. While officially Brauckmann is retiring, there seems to be more to the story. On LinkedIn, Brauckmann wrote: "I care very deeply for the SUSE business and its employees, and this difficult decision is based entirely on personal reasons. I am pleased to be handing over the reins to such a talented and accomplished leader as Melissa Di Donato." In his SUSE statement, Brauckman added: "She is a proven and dynamic change agent, and many of her achievements have occurred in subscription businesses that exist in high-growth cloud environments." In April, then-CEO Nils Brauchmann said his company would soon be the largest independent Linux company. This comes after Brauckmann delivered eight years of continuous expansion during his tenure, including record-breaking revenues in FY18, reports ZDNet. "Under Di Donato's leadership, SUSE will continue to focus on growth and expansion. What that means is she's expected to advance SUSE's core business and emerging technologies, both organically and through add-on acquisitions."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/22/2038259 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Dropbox Brings Back Support For ZFS, XFS, Btrfs And eCryptFS On Linux
by Peter Reutemann 22 Jul '19

22 Jul '19

'Speaking of Dropbox, the online storage cloud service has enabled support for ZFS and XFS on 64-bit Linux systems, and eCryptFS and Btrfs on all Linux systems. The move comes after it recently pulled support for all file storage systems on Linux except Ext4. From a report: Dropbox stopped supporting folder syncing to drives with filesystems it deemed "uncommon", which on Linux meant anything but Ext4, upsetting quite a few users. The reason cited for this was that "a supported file system is required as Dropbox relies on extended attributes (X-attrs) to identify files in the Dropbox folder and keep them in sync", which doesn't really make sense since there are many filesystems that support xattr (extended attributes) on Linux. After this change was announced, various workarounds started to appear online, including one that I posted on Linux Uprising. There was even a new unofficial, open source Dropbox client developed for this reason (which is also much lighter than the official client by the way). But this didn't last long though, as last week, the Dropbox 77.3.127 beta changelog says that Dropbox has added back support for ZFS (on 64-bit systems only), XFS (on 64bit systems only), Btrfs and eCryptFS.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/07/22/1534200 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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This pixel tracking demo shows how easy it is to make a creepy surveillance tool
by Peter Reutemann 19 Jul '19

19 Jul '19

'The Superhuman controversy from earlier this month, in which a former Silicon Valley exec blew the lid off a series of controversial email surveillance tools offered by the up-and-coming startup, has prompted a bit of soul searching among those in the tech industry. But in twisted fashion, the public blasting of a company like Superhuman has been the tech equivalent of opening Pandora’s Box, unearthing all sorts of free and easily available tools that have done this for years and can be employed by anyone with just the tiniest shred of tech savvy. For instance, an open source, Python-based web tool called Supertracker has popped up on Github, courtesy of Delian Asparouhov, an investor with the venture capital firm Founder’s Fund. It lets anyone create their own tracking pixel, coyly disguised as either a transparent image, an image of the pokémon pikachu, or a not-so-subtle magnifying glass. Creating it is as easy as inputting a user name, picking a tracking pixel image, and hitting the enter key. From there, you can save the image, paste it in the body of any email, and send it off. Whoever opens it will have the when and even the where transmitted back to you. Of course, you can do similar styles of tracking with any number of available Superhuman competitors and browser extensions. But Asparouhov’s tool has the added benefit of walking you through the process step by step and laying out just how simple it is to siphon away this kind of sensitive info with a few simple lines of code. (He also outlines some good defenses against this type of surveillance.) ' -- source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/19/20700843 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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China's Tech Giants Have a Second Job: Helping Beijing Spy on Its People
by Peter Reutemann 19 Jul '19

19 Jul '19

'Tencent and Alibaba are among the firms that assist authorities in hunting down criminal suspects, silencing dissent and creating surveillance cities. From a report: Alibaba Group's sprawling campus has collegial workspaces, laid-back coffee bars and, on the landscaped grounds, a police outpost. Employees use the office to report suspected crimes to the police, according to people familiar with the operation. Police also use it to request data from Alibaba for their own investigations, these people said, tapping into the trove of information the tech giant collects through its e-commerce and financial-payment networks. In one case, the police wanted to find out who had posted content related to terrorism, said a former Alibaba employee. "They came to me and asked me for the user ID and information," he recalled. He turned it over. The Chinese government is building one of the world's most sophisticated, high-tech systems to keep watch over its citizens, including surveillance cameras, facial-recognition technology and vast computers systems that comb through terabytes of data. Central to its efforts are the country's biggest technology companies, which are openly acting as the government's eyes and ears in cyberspace. Companies including Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and Baidu, are required to help China's government hunt down criminal suspects and silence political dissent. Their technology is also being used to create cities wired for surveillance.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/07/19/1443207 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Huawei Says Hongmeng OS Isn't Designed as an Android Replacement
by Peter Reutemann 19 Jul '19

19 Jul '19

'Huawei reportedly wants to keep using Google's Android operating system in its phones instead of jumping to its self-developed Hongmeng system. From a report: Company senior vice president Catherine Chen told reporters in Brussels this week that the Hongmeng OS isn't even designed for phones, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Chen apparently said Hongmeng is for industrial use, noting that it contains far fewer lines of code than a phone OS, and has much lower latency than a phone, meaning it can process a very high volume of data messages with little delay. Latest episode in a confusing narrative about what Huawei even intends to do. The company's executives have previously said on record that its homegrown operating system is designed to replace Android on its handsets. One executive said the operating system would be released by last month -- a target that Huawei has missed.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/19/1524253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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A Rust-Based TLS Library Outperformed OpenSSL in Almost Every Category
by Peter Reutemann 19 Jul '19

19 Jul '19

'A tiny and relatively unknown TLS library written in Rust, an up-and-coming programming language, outperformed the industry-standard OpenSSL in almost every major category. From a report: The findings are the result of a recent four-part series of benchmarks carried out by Joseph Birr-Pixton, the developer behind the Rustls library. The findings showed that Rustls was 10% faster when setting up and negotiating a new server connection, and between 20 and 40% faster when setting up a client connection. But while handshake speeds for new TLS connections are important, most TLS traffic relies on resuming previously negotiated handshakes. Here, too, Rustls outperformed the aging OpenSSL, being between 10 and 20% in resuming a connection on the server-side, and being between 30 and 70% quicker to resume a client connection. Furthermore, Rustls also fared better in sheer bulk performance -- or the speed at which data is transferred over the TLS connection. Birr-Pixton said Rustls could send data 15% faster than OpenSSL, and receive it 5% faster as well.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/19/1546224 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

My browser, the spy: How extensions slurped up browsing histories from 4M users
by Peter Reutemann 18 Jul '19

18 Jul '19

'When we use browsers to make medical appointments, share tax returns with accountants, or access corporate intranets, we usually trust that the pages we access will remain private. DataSpii, a newly documented privacy issue in which millions of people’s browsing histories have been collected and exposed, shows just how much about us is revealed when that assumption is turned on its head. DataSpii begins with browser extensions—available mostly for Chrome but in more limited cases for Firefox as well—that, by Google's account, had as many as 4.1 million users. These extensions collected the URLs, webpage titles, and in some cases the embedded hyperlinks of every page that the browser user visited. Most of these collected Web histories were then published by a fee-based service called Nacho Analytics, which markets itself as “God mode for the Internet” and uses the tag line “See Anyone’s Analytics Account.” Web histories may not sound especially sensitive, but a subset of the published links led to pages that are not protected by passwords—but only by a hard-to-guess sequence of characters (called tokens) included in the URL. Thus, the published links could allow viewers to access the content at these pages. (Security practitioners have long discouraged the publishing of sensitive information on pages that aren't password protected, but the practice remains widespread.)' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/dataspii-inside-the-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Slack Resets Passwords For 1% of Its Users Because of 2015 Hack
by Peter Reutemann 18 Jul '19

18 Jul '19

'Slack published more details about a password reset operation that ZDNet reported earlier today. According to a statement the company published on its website, the password reset operation is related to the company's 2015 security breach. In March 2015, Slack said hackers gained access to some Slack infrastructure, including databases storing user credentials. Hackers stole hashed passwords, but they also planted code on the company's site to capture plaintext passwords that users entered when logging in. At the time, Slack reset passwords for users who it believed were impacted, and also added support for two-factor authentication for all accounts. But as ZDNet reported earlier today, the company recently received a batch of Slack users credentials, which prompted the company to start an investigation into its source and prepare a password reset procedure. "We immediately confirmed that a portion of the email addresses and password combinations were valid, reset those passwords, and explained our actions to the affected users," Slack said. In a message on its website, Slack said this batch of credentials came via its bug bounty program. The company said it initially believed the data came from users who had their PCs infected with malware, or users who reused passwords across different services.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/18/1610221 Yep, been one of them... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Microsoft To Explore Using Rust
by Peter Reutemann 18 Jul '19

18 Jul '19

'Microsoft plans to explore using the Rust programming language as an alternative to C, C++, and others, as a way to improve the security posture of its and everyone else's apps. From a report: The announcement was made yesterday by Gavin Thomas, Principal Security Engineering Manager for the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). "You're probably used to thinking about the Microsoft Security Response Center as a group that responds to incidents and vulnerabilities," Thomas said. "We are a response organization, but we also have a proactive role, and in a new blog series we will highlight Microsoft's exploration of safer system programming languages, starting with Rust." The end game is to find a way to move developers from the aging C and C++ programming language to so-called "memory-safe languages." Memory-safe languages, such as Rust, are designed from the ground up with protections against memory corruption vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflows, race conditions, memory leaks, use-after free and memory pointer-related bug' -- source: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/19/07/17/1630241 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox To Warn When Saved Logins are Found in Data Breaches
by Peter Reutemann 18 Jul '19

18 Jul '19

'Starting in Firefox 70, Mozilla aims to have the browser report when any of your saved logins were found in data breaches. This will be done through their partnership with the Have I Been Pwned data breach site. From a report: Mozilla is slowly integrating their independent Firefox Monitor service and the new Firefox Lockwise password manager directly into Firefox. Mozilla is also considering premium services based around these features in the future. As part of this integration, Firefox will scan the saved login names and passwords and see if they were exposed in a data breach listed on Have I been Pwned. If one is found, Firefox will alert the user and prompt them to change their password. This new feature will only work, though, for data breaches that exposed passwords and when the password was saved prior to an associated data breach.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/17/1933231 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Fwd: Join us at the Red Hat & Ingram Micro Partner Day!
by Roger Hardy 17 Jul '19

17 Jul '19

Below was the source of that. In my experience, this is usually more sales than technical, but can be interesting all the same. Sorry for the spam..... What’s new with Red Hat?To make sure our emails get to your inbox, add imnz_ms(a)ingrammicro.co.nz to your address book.Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.Dear Rodger, You’re invited to join Ingram Micro and Red Hat as we bring you the very first Red Hat Partner Day. We’ll be presenting updates and insights on the newest technologies and architectures in hybrid multi-cloud solutions to help you: Learn how Red Hat's latest technologies can help you and your customers break down the barriers to true hybrid and multi-cloud environments.Understand how to use automation and intelligent management of cloud technologies to reduce security risks and exposures.Find out what’s new and happening at Red Hat.LOCATIONSAucklandRydges Hotel Hobson Room Tuesday, 23 July 2019 8:30 am - 11:40 am WellingtonThe Intercontinental Wellington Room Thursday, 25 July 2019 8:30 am - 11:40 amAGENDA8:30 - 9:30Breakfast9:30 - 9:35Welcome9:30 - 10:15Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 with Insights and Ansible Automation10:15 - 10:55Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4: Enterprise Kubernetes & the Future of Open Hybrid Cloud10:55 - 11:10Industry Trends11:10 - 11:40Panel Discussion on Strategic portfolio Hybrid Cloud Register Now For more information, please contact: helen.chan(a)ingrammicro.com.Ingram Micro (N.Z.) Ltd 78 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632nz.ingrammicro.com Follow on Twitter Follow on Linkedin Like on Facebook Copyright © 2019, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Ingram Micro New Zealand 78 Apollo Drive Rosedale Auckland, 0632 New Zealand Standard terms and conditions apply View our privacy policy Update preferences Unsubscribe

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Red Hat Tech Talk: Hybrid Cloud New Zealand
by Peter Reutemann 17 Jul '19

17 Jul '19

Just saw the following (free, I believe) event come through on the NZOSS mailing list and thought people on here might be interested as well: Red Hat Tech Talk: Hybrid Cloud New Zealand At this afternoon event, meet our experts, hear what's new at Red Hat and get the latest insights on: - How to deliver innovative apps through containers - Security, compliance and governance for apps and workloads that run on a mix of public and private clouds - Automation and management capabilities for genuine portability of workloads into public cloud - How Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat OpenShift 4 are transformational for hybrid clouds Select from two cities: Auckland - 23 July Wellington - 25 July Event registration: https://events.redhat.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x69788abcd# Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Giving Greylisting A Try
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 15 Jul '19

15 Jul '19

I have decided to try installing sqlgrey on my VPS to see if that cuts down on the volume of spam. The basic idea is more than a decade old, and I can’t find much in the way of newer testimonials as to how wonderful it continues to be. On the other hand, I can’t see anyone saying it is now a terrible idea that should have a stake put through its heart and buried in an unmarked grave at midnight and forgotten. (Actually I’m posting this message just to see how legitimate mail makes it through the greylist obstacle course; it’s only been running less than an hour, and has already blocked 10 spam messages so far.)

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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 15 Jul '19

15 Jul '19

Hi everyone We have a WLUG meeting next Monday: "Ben Radburnd will showcase GalliumOS (https://galliumos.org/) on his Chromebook." Details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/257884291/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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What Does Ubuntu's Post-Unity Future Look Like?
by Peter Reutemann 14 Jul '19

14 Jul '19

'Following Canonical's pivot away from its internally-developed Unity user interface and Mir display server, Ubuntu has enjoyed two relatively low-drama years, as the Linux Desktop market homogenized during its transition back to a customized GNOME desktop. In a review of the most recent release, TechRepublic's Jack Wallen declared that "Ubuntu 19.04 should seriously impress anyone looking for a fast and reliable Linux desktop platform." Largely, it's been a slow-and-steady pace for Ubuntu since the pivot from Unity to GNOME, though the distribution made headlines for plans to end support for 32-bit support. This prompted Valve, operators of games marketplace Steam, to re-think its approach toward Ubuntu, which it previously characterized as "as the best-supported path for desktop users." TechRepublic's James Sanders interviewed Will Cooke, director of engineering for Ubuntu Desktop at Canonical, about the distribution's long-term plans for legacy 32-bit support, shipping a desktop in a post-Unity-era Ubuntu, and why Linux should be the first choice for users migrating from Windows 7 prior to the end of support. >From the interview: When we did the switch to GNOME Shell from Unity, we did a survey [asking] people straightforward questions like, "What sort of features do you want to see continue in Ubuntu Desktop?" The answer came through very, very clearly that people liked having the launcher on the left, and they wanted to keep that feature there. They liked having desktop icons and they wanted to keep that feature there. We've made decisions based on data from our user base, from our community. They have provided that feedback and we've done what the majority of people want. Sometimes that doesn't go with the ideals of GNOME design, but we're comfortable with delivering what we see as value on top of GNOME. That's delivering a product which gives people consistency between the old days of Unity 7, and the new days of GNOME Shell. That transition was as easy as possible, everybody had a chance to have a say in it, and the answers were pretty clear. ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/13/0425257 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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What's New in Linux 5.2?
by Peter Reutemann 14 Jul '19

14 Jul '19

'Linux 5.2 has been released. This release includes Sound Open Firmware, a project that brings open source firmware to DSP audio devices; open firmware for many Intel products is also included. This release also improves the Pressure Stall Information resource monitoring to make it usable by Android; the mount API has been redesigned with new syscalls; the BFQ I/O scheduler has gained some performance improvements; a new CLONE_PIDFD flag lets clone(2) return pidfs usable by pidfd_send_signal(2); Ext4 has gained support for case-insensitive name lookups; there is also a new device mapper target that simulates a device that has failing sectors and/or read failures; open source drivers for the ARM Mali t4xx and newer 6xx/7xx have been added. Many other new drivers, features and changes can be found in the changelog. But there's more besides supporting "a handful of extra ARM-powered single-board computers," according to CRN: The biggest feature in 5.2 is probably support for Intel's forthcoming Comet Lake architecture, which will power the tenth generation of its Core desktop and mobile CPUs due. The new silicon is due to ship late in 2019 and appear in products early the next year. Linux 5.2 also includes many tweaks that improve its performance on laptops.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/13/0436246 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Intel Patches Two New Security Flaws
by Peter Reutemann 14 Jul '19

14 Jul '19

'This week Intel announced two new patches, according to Tom's Hardware: The flaw in the processor diagnostic tool (CVE-2019-11133) is rated 8.2 out 10 on the CVSS 3.0 scale, making it a high-severity vulnerability. The flaw [found by security researcher Jesse Michael from Eclypsium] "may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege, information disclosure or denial of service via local access," according to Intel's latest security advisory. Versions of the tool that are older than 4.1.2.24 are affected. The second vulnerability, found by Intel's internal team, is a medium-severity vulnerability in Intel's SSD DC S4500/S4600 series sold to data center customers. The flaw found in the SSD firmware versions older than SCV10150 obtained a 5.3 score on the CVSS 3.0 scale, so it was labeled medium-severity. The bug may allow an unprivileged user to enable privilege escalation via physical access. As one of the flaws was uncovered by Intel itself and for the other the Eclypsium research coordinated with Intel for its disclosure, Intel was able to have ready the patches in time for the public announcement. ' -- source: https://slashdot.org/story/19/07/13/2027223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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PC Sales Are Up--Or Are They?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 12 Jul '19

12 Jul '19

Another report highlighting the usual discrepancy in analysis of PC sales between IDC and Gartner <https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/gartner-idc-agree-th…>: the difference seems down to the fact that one includes Chromebooks in their definition of a “PC”, while the other one counts Microsoft Surface tablets instead. Obvious conclusion: if it weren’t for Chromebooks, the PC market would be a pretty gloomy place indeed.

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The Most Clever 'Zip Bomb' Ever Made Explodes a 46MB File To 4.5 Petabytes
by Peter Reutemann 11 Jul '19

11 Jul '19

'Programmer and engineer David Fifield has unveiled a brand-new Zip bomb that explodes a 46-megabyte file to 4.5 petabytes of data. Fifield's new type of "Zip bomb" or "compression bomb" is particularly novel because he "figured out how to 'overlap' files inside of a Zip archive, allowing for compression rates far beyond those of a traditional archive," reports Motherboard. From the report: In an email interview, Fifield noted that, while 42.zip (which has a 106 billion-to-one compression ratio and has been hosted on the same single-serving website for at least 15 years) gets much of the attention, he finds later attempts more technically interesting. "eI find 42.zip inspiring on an aesthetic level -- not so much the file itself but the circumstances around it," Fifield said. "It's like folklore. There must have been many examples of the same basic idea, but for whatever reason 42.zip is the one that had staying power." Fifield noted that part of what makes his process possible was by coming up with ways to handle cyclic redundancy checks, or CRCs, a basic error-correction functionality baked into Zip, PNG, Ethernet, and numerous other technical standards. Messing around with CRC -- 32 checksums, as they're called, was where Fifield said he learned the most. Fifield, who will present his findings at the USENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies (WOOT) conference next month, noted that while the work itself adds to a history of research and likely will be superseded in the future, its benefit from an awareness standpoint is importan' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/07/10/2341251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linode Democratizes Cloud GPUs: Brings Powerful Nvidia GPUs To Its Linux Cloud
by Peter Reutemann 11 Jul '19

11 Jul '19

'Linode today launched new GPU-optimized cloud computing instances tailored specifically for developers and businesses requiring massive parallel computational power. The new instances are built on NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 GPU cards with all three major types of processing cores (CUDA, Tensor, and Real-Time Ray Tracing) available to users. Linode is one of the first cloud providers to deploy NVIDIA's latest GPU architecture. These new GPU instances give scientists, artists, and engineers working on artificial intelligence, graphic visualization, and complex modeling a cost-competitive alternative to hyperscale cloud providers.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/10/1826238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Academics Steal Data From Air-Gapped Systems Via a Keyboard's LEDs
by Peter Reutemann 11 Jul '19

11 Jul '19

'The Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock LEDs on a keyboard can be used to exfiltrate data from a secure air-gapped system, academics from an Israeli university have proved. From a report: The attack, which they named CTRL-ALT-LED, is nothing that regular users should worry about but is a danger for highly secure environments such as government networks that store top-secret documents or enterprise networks dedicated to storing non-public proprietary information. he attack requires some pre-requisites, such as the malicious actor finding a way to infect an air-gapped system with malware beforehand. CTRL-ALT-LED is only an exfiltration method. But once these prerequisites are met, the malware running on a system can make the LEDs of an USB-connected keyboard blink at rapid speeds, using a custom transmission protocol and modulation scheme to encode the transmitted data. A nearby attacker can record these tiny light flickers, which they can decode at a later point, using the same modulation scheme used to encode it.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/10/1836232 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Samba 4.11 Removes SMB1 File-Sharing Protocol Version By Default
by Peter Reutemann 11 Jul '19

11 Jul '19

'Samba says version 4.11.0 will switch off previously on-by-default support for the aging and easily subverted SMB1 protocol. Slashdot reader Jeremy Allison - Sam shares a report from The Register detailing the new changes: The open-source SMB toolkit's developers say the Samba 4.11 build, currently in preview, will by default set SMB2_02 as the earliest supported version of the Windows file-sharing protocol. Admins will still have the option to allow SMB1 on their servers if they so choose, but support will be turned off by default. The move by Samba to drop SMB1 can be seen as long overdue, given that Microsoft has been moving to get rid of the file-server protocol version from its operating systems for several years now, even before it was revealed to be one of the NSA's favorite weak points to exploit. ' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/10/2119238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Contractors Are Secretly Listening To Your Assistant Recordings
by Peter Reutemann 11 Jul '19

11 Jul '19

'A new report from Belgian broadcaster VRT News describes the process by which Google Home recordings end up being listened to by contractors -- and the scary part is that it apparently doesn't take much, if anything, to start a recording. While the recordings are not listened to live, audio clips are sent to subcontractors. The Next Web reports: VRT, with the help of a whistleblower, was able to listen to some of these clips and subsequently heard enough to discern the addresses of several Dutch and Belgian people using Google Home -- in spite of the fact some hadn't even uttered the words "Hey Google," which are supposed to be the device's listening trigger. The person who leaked the recordings was working as a subcontractor to Google, transcribing the audio files for subsequent use in improving its speech recognition. They got in touch with VRT after reading about Amazon Alexa keeping recordings indefinitely. According to the whistleblower, the recordings presented to them are meant to be carefully annotated, with notes included about the speakers presumed identity and age. From the sound of the report, these transcribers have heard just about everything. Personal information? Bedroom activities? Domestic violence? Yes, yes, and yes. While VRT only listened to recordings from Dutch and Belgian users, the platform the whistleblower showed them had recordings from all over the world -- which means there are probably thousands of other contractors listening to Assistant recordings. The VRT report states that the Google Home Terms of Service don't mention that recordings might be listened to by other humans. The report says that the recordings are identified by numbers rather than user names, but VRT "was able to pick up enough data from the recordings to find the addresses of the users in question, and even confront some of the users in the recordings -- to their great dismay," reports The Next Web. What does Google have to say about all this? That they only transcribe and use "about 0.2% of all audio clips" to improve their voice recognition technology.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/07/10/2153210 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Internet group brands Mozilla ‘internet villain’ for supporting DNS privacy feature
by Peter Reutemann 10 Jul '19

10 Jul '19

'An industry group of internet service providers has branded Firefox browser maker Mozilla an “internet villain” for supporting a DNS security standard. The U.K.’s Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA), the trade group for U.K. internet service providers, nominated the browser maker for its proposed effort to roll out the security feature, which they say will allow users to “bypass UK filtering obligations and parental controls, undermining internet safety standards in the UK.” Mozilla said late last year it was planning to test DNS-over-HTTPS to a small number of users.' -- source: https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/05/isp-group-mozilla-internet-villain-dns-pr… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Skype Snap App Remains Hopelessly Outdated
by Peter Reutemann 10 Jul '19

10 Jul '19

'The official Skype Snap app for Linux has not been updated in nearly six months, and Microsoft is yet to say why. When introducing the cross-distro build in early 2018, the company said the Skype Snap app would give it the "... ability to push the latest features straight to our users, no matter which device or distribution they happen to use." Clearly, not. Because at the time of writing this post the Skype Snap app sits on version 8.34.0.78, which the Snapcraft store reports was 'last updated' in November 2018. However, the "regular" Linux version available to download from the Skype website is on version 8.47.0.73, released June 2019.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/09/2014250 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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IBM Closes Its $34 Billion Acquisition of Red Hat
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '19

09 Jul '19

'IBM closed its $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, the companies announced Tuesday. From a report: The deal was originally announced in October, when the companies said IBM would buy all shares in Red Hat for $190 each in cash. The acquisition of Red Hat, an open-source, enterprise software maker, marks the close of IBM's largest deal ever. It's one of the biggest in U.S. tech history. Excluding the AOL-Time Warner merger, it follows the $67 billion deal between Dell and EMC in 2016 and JDS Uniphase's $41 billion acquisition of optical-component supplier SDL in 2000. Under the deal, Red Hat will now be a unit of IBM's hybrid cloud division, according to the original announcement. The companies said Red Hat's CEO, Jim Whitehurst, would join IBM's senior management team and report to CEO Ginni Rometty. IBM previously said it hoped its acquisition of Red Hat will help it do more work in the cloud, one of its four key growth drivers, which are also social, mobile and analytics. The company lags behind Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud infrastructure business. IBM has seen three consecutive quarters of declining year-over-year revenue. But some analysts are hopeful about the Red Hat deal's opportunity to bring in new business.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/09/1740223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Logitech Wireless USB Dongles Vulnerable To New Hijacking Flaws
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '19

09 Jul '19

'A security researcher has publicly disclosed new vulnerabilities in the USB dongles (receivers) used by Logitech wireless keyboards, mice, and presentation clickers. New submitter raikoseagle shares a report: The vulnerabilities allow attackers to sniff on keyboard traffic, but also inject keystrokes (even into dongles not connected to a wireless keyboard) and take over the computer to which a dongle has been connected. When encryption is used to protect the connection between the dongle and its paired device, the vulnerabilities also allow attackers to recover the encryption key. Furthermore, if the USB dongle uses a "key blacklist" to prevent the paired device from injecting keystrokes, the vulnerabilities allow the bypassing of this security protection system. Marcus Mengs, the researcher who discovered these vulnerabilities, said he notified Logitech about his findings, and the vendor plans to patch some of the reported issues, but not all.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/09/182246 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Raspberry Pi Admits To Faulty USB-C Design On the Pi 4
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '19

09 Jul '19

'The Raspberry Pi 4 was announced two weeks ago as a major new upgrade to the line of cheap single-board hobbyist computers. The Pi 4 featured a faster CPU, options for up to 4GB of RAM, and a new, modern USB-C port for power delivery. The Pi 4 was the Raspberry Pi Foundation's first ever USB-C device, and, well, they screwed it up. As detailed by Tyler Ward, the Raspberry Pi 4 has a non-compliant USB-C charging port and doesn't work with as many chargers as it should. Thanks to the open nature of Raspberry Pi (even the schematics are online!), Ward was able to discover that Raspberry Pi just didn't design its USB-C port correctly. Two "CC" pins on a USB-C port are supposed to each get their own 5.1K ohms resistor, but Raspberry Pi came up with its own circuit design that allows them to share a single resistor. This is not a compliant design and breaks compatibility with some of the more powerful USB-C chargers out there. Whether your USB-C charger works with the Pi 4 has to do with whether it uses an "e-marked" cable. E-marked cables are fully featured USB-C cables with chips inside that negotiate power management, accessory modes, data rates, and other communication specs. Since the Pi 4 USB-C port is wired incorrectly, these smart cables will detect the Pi 4 as an "Audio Adaptor Accessory" and refuse to charge them. Usually, e-marked cables are more expensive and come with larger, higher-powered items, like a USB-C laptop. After reports started popping up on the Internet, Raspberry Pi cofounder Eben Upton admitted to TechRepublic that "A smart charger with an e-marked cable will incorrectly identify the Raspberry Pi 4 as an audio adapter accessory and refuse to provide power." Upton went on to say, "I expect this will be fixed in a future board revision, but for now users will need to apply one of the suggested workarounds. It's surprising this didn't show up in our (quite extensive) field testing program."' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/07/09/1934205 I'll stick with my RPi3 for the time being... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Mozilla Blocks UAE Bid To Become an Internet Security Guardian After Hacking Reports
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '19

09 Jul '19

'Firefox browser maker Mozilla is blocking the United Arab Emirates' government from serving as one of its internet security gatekeepers, citing Reuters reports on a UAE cyber espionage program. From a report: Mozilla said in a statement on Tuesday it was rejecting the UAE's bid to become a globally recognized internet security watchdog, empowered to certify the safety of websites for Firefox users. Mozilla said it made the decision because cybersecurity firm DarkMatter would have administered the gatekeeper role and it had been linked by Reuters and other reports to a state-run hacking program. Reuters reported in January that Abu Dhabi-based DarkMatter provided staff for a secret hacking operation, codenamed Project Raven, on behalf of an Emirati intelligence agency. The unit was largely comprised of former U.S. intelligence officials who conducted offensive cyber operations for the UAE government. Former Raven operatives told Reuters that many DarkMatter executives were unaware of the secretive program, which operated from a converted Abu Dhabi mansion away from DarkMatter's headquarters.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/09/1945241 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox 68 Arrives With Darker Reader View, Recommended Extensions, and IT Customizations
by Peter Reutemann 09 Jul '19

09 Jul '19

'Mozilla today launched Firefox 68 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Firefox 68 includes a darker reader view, recommended extensions, IT Pro customizations, and more. From a report: As part of this release, Mozilla has curated a list of recommended extensions "that have been thoroughly reviewed for security, usability, and usefulness." You can find the list on the Get Add-ons page in the Firefox Add-ons Manager (about:addons). While Firefox has had dark mode for months, the Reader View's dark contrast only covered the text area. Now, when you change the contrast to dark, all sections of the site (including sidebars and toolbars) will be immersed in dark mode. With Firefox 60, Mozilla introduced an enterprise version of the browser that employers can customize. This let IT professionals configure Firefox for their organization, either using Group Policy on Windows or a JSON file that works across Windows, Mac, and Linux. With Firefox 68, Mozilla has added more enterprise policies -- to configure or remove the new tab page, turn off search suggestions, and so on.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/09/1959238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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After 25 Months, Debian 10 'buster' Released
by Peter Reutemann 07 Jul '19

07 Jul '19

'"After 25 months of development the Debian project is proud to present its new stable version 10 (code name 'buster'), which will be supported for the next 5 years thanks to the combined work of the Debian Security team and of the Debian Long Term Support team." In this release, GNOME defaults to using the Wayland display server instead of Xorg. Wayland has a simpler and more modern design, which has advantages for security. However, the Xorg display server is still installed by default and the default display manager allows users to choose Xorg as the display server for their next session. Thanks to the Reproducible Builds project, over 91% of the source packages included in Debian 10 will build bit-for-bit identical binary packages. This is an important verification feature which protects users against malicious attempts to tamper with compilers and build networks. Future Debian releases will include tools and metadata so that end-users can validate the provenance of packages within the archive. For those in security-sensitive environments AppArmor, a mandatory access control framework for restricting programs' capabilities, is installed and enabled by default. Furthermore, all methods provided by APT (except cdrom, gpgv, and rsh) can optionally make use of "seccomp-BPF" sandboxing. The https method for APT is included in the apt package and does not need to be installed separately... Secure Boot support is included in this release for amd64, i386 and arm64 architectures and should work out of the box on most Secure Boot-enabled machines. The announcement touts Debian's "traditional wide architecture support," arguing that it shows Debian "once again stays true to its goal of being the universal operating system." It ships with several desktop applications and environments, including the following: - Cinnamon 3.8 - GNOME 3.30 - KDE Plasma 5.14 - LXDE 0.99.2 - LXQt 0.14 - MATE 1.20 - Xfce 4.12 "If you simply want to try Debian 10 'buster' without installing it, you can use one of the available live images which load and run the complete operating system in a read-only state via your computer's memory... Should you enjoy the operating system you have the option of installing from the live image onto your computer's hard disk."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/07/0426205 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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This Week On GitHub
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 07 Jul '19

07 Jul '19

Just some random things I found: * BOOTSTRA.386 <https://github.com/kristopolous/BOOTSTRA.386> -- a Bootstrap theme to make your website look like a text display from the 1980s. Does require JavaScript. * GitHarvester <https://github.com/metac0rtex/GitHarvester> -- scans through GitHub repos for wp-config.php files that people might have “accidentally” published. Those familiar with WordPress may realize that this file can contain such sensitive things username and password information for connecting to a MySQL database. * Arduino-TV-B-Gone <https://github.com/shirriff/Arduino-TV-B-Gone>. TV-B-Gone was intended as a universal remote that could switch off any TV. This project implements the same thing on an Arduino. And they wonder why we can’t have nice things ...

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Privacy-First Browsers Look To Take the Shine Off Google's Chrome
by Peter Reutemann 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

'Google's Chrome now reigns as the biggest browser on the block, and the company is facing challenges similar to Microsoft's from competitors, as well as government scrutiny. But Google faces a new wrinkle -- a growing realization among consumers that their every digital move is tracked. "I think Cambridge Analytica acted as a catalyst to get people aware that their data could be used in ways they didn't expect," said Peter Dolanjski, the product lead for Mozilla's Firefox web browser, referring to the scandal in which a political consulting firm obtained data on millions of Facebook users and their friends. And in something of a poetic role reversal, Microsoft is positioning itself to pick up the slack from people who may be fed up with Google's Chrome browser and its questionable privacy practices. Microsoft is expected to release an overhaul of its latest browser, called Edge, in the coming months. Microsoft is just one of a number of companies and organizations looking to take a piece out of Google -- some using the company's own open-source software. One name that might be familiar to most consumers -- Mozilla's Firefox browser -- is also a veteran of the "browser wars" of two decades ago. The nonprofit Mozilla, which has been biting at the heels of leading browsers for most of its existence, is introducing more aggressive privacy settings to try to stand out and take advantage of the privacy stumbles by Google and other tech giants.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/152233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Maintains a List of Everything You Ever Bought Using Gmail, Even if You Delete All Your Emails
by Peter Reutemann 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

'In May, I wrote up something weird I spotted on Google's account management page. I noticed that Google uses Gmail to store a list of everything you've purchased, if you used Gmail or your Gmail address in any part of the transaction. If you have a confirmation for a prescription you picked up at a pharmacy that went into your Gmail account, Google logs it. If you have a receipt from Macy's, Google keeps it. If you bought food for delivery and the receipt went to your Gmail, Google stores that, too. You get the idea, and you can see your own purchase history by going to Google's Purchases page. Google says it does this so you can use Google Assistant to track packages or reorder things, even if that's not an option for some purchases that aren't mailed or wouldn't be reordered, like something you bought at a store. At the time of my original story, Google said users can delete everything by tapping into a purchase and removing the Gmail. It seemed to work if you did this for each purchase, one by one. This isn't easy -- for years worth of purchases, this would take hours or even days of time. So, since Google doesn't let you bulk-delete this purchases list, I decided to delete everything in my Gmail inbox. That meant removing every last message I've sent or received since I opened my Gmail account more than a decade ago. Despite Google's assurances, it didn't work.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/1728200 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Fake Samsung Firmware Update App Tricks More Than 10 Million Android Users
by Peter Reutemann 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

'Over ten million users have been duped in installing a fake Samsung app named "Updates for Samsung" that promises firmware updates, but, in reality, redirects users to an ad-filled website and charges for firmware downloads. From a report: "I have contacted the Google Play Store and asked them to consider removing this app," Aleksejs Kuprins, malware analyst at the CSIS Security Group, told ZDNet this week in an interview, after publishing a report on the app's shady behavior earlier today. The app takes advantage of the difficulty in getting firmware and operating system updates for Samsung phones, hence the high number of users who have installed it. "It would be wrong to judge people for mistakenly going to the official application store for the firmware updates after buying a new Android device," the security researcher said. "Vendors frequently bundle their Android OS builds with an intimidating number of software, and it can easily get confusing."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/1456200 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Mozilla Set To Offer Ad-Free News Consumption Capability on Firefox For $5 Per Month
by Peter Reutemann 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

'As previously announced, Mozilla has started to tease the launch of a new $5 monthly subscription to a variety of online news publishers that involves no ads. The idea is that a single, low subscription fee gives you access to a number of sites with the ads removed. From a report: You pay a monthly fee to Mozilla, and this money is shared with its partners to help fund an ad-free internet experience. More than this, Mozilla says that the subscription fee will also grant access to audio versions of articles, article synchronization and more. In a page which promises people the chance to "support the sites you love, avoid the ads you hate", Mozilla says: "We've partnered with some of the world's greatest publishers to bring you a better journalism experience. We share your payment directly with the sites you read. They make more money which means they can bring you great content without needing to distract you with ads just to keep the lights on.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/1712247 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Almost a Third of World's Top VPNs Are Secretly Owned By Chinese Firms, Study Finds
by Peter Reutemann 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

'Almost a third (30%) of the world's top virtual private network (VPN) providers are secretly owned by six Chinese companies, according to a study by privacy and security research firm VPNpro. The study shows that the top 97 VPNs are run by just 23 parent companies, many of which are based in countries with lax privacy laws. Six of these companies are based in China and collectively offer 29 VPN services, but in many cases, information on the parent company is hidden to consumers. Researchers at VPNpro have pieced together ownership information through company listings, geolocation data, the CVs of employees and other documentation. In some instances, ownership of different VPNs is split amongst a number of subsidiaries. For example, Chinese company Innovative Connecting owns three separate businesses that produce VPN apps: Autumn Breeze 2018, Lemon Cove and All Connected. In total, Innovative Connecting produces 10 seemingly unconnected VPN products, the study shows. Although the ownership of a number of VPN services by one company is not unusual, VPNpro is concerned that so many are based in countries with lax or non-existence privacy laws. ' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/1944235 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Tor Project To Fix Bug Used For DDoS Attacks On Onion Sites For Years
by Peter Reutemann 06 Jul '19

06 Jul '19

'"The Tor Project is preparing a fix for a bug that has been abused for the past years to launch DDoS attacks against dark web (.onion) websites," reports ZDNet. "Barring any unforeseen problems, the fix is scheduled for the upcoming Tor protocol 0.4.2 release." The bug has been known to Tor developers for years, and has been used to launch Slow Loris-like attacks on the web servers that run the Tor service supporting an .onion site. It works by opening many connections to the server and maxing out the CPU. Since Tor connections are CPU intensive because of the cryptography involved to support the privacy and anonymity of the network, even a a few hundreds connections are enough to bring down dark web portals. A tool to exploit the bug and to automate DDoS attacks has been around for four years, and has been used by hackers to extort dark web marketplaces all spring. At least two markets selling illegal products have shut down after refusing to pay attackers. To get the bug fixed, members of a dark web forum banded together and donated to the Tor Project to sponsor the bug's patch.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/208230 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Apologizes To Andrew Little Over Botched Name Suppression
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 05 Jul '19

05 Jul '19

Whaddaya know, sometimes it is possible to get a response from a human at a powerful, faceless megacorporation that doesn’t feel it has to abide by your country’s laws <https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/07/google-apologises-to-andrew…>. However, the remedy involves turning off a service completely: “In light of the concerns you expressed this week, Google has… suspended Google Trends emails about searches trending in New Zealand.” Be careful what you wish for?

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Interview With PINE64 On the Upcoming Release of the PineBook Pro
by Peter Reutemann 05 Jul '19

05 Jul '19

'One of the consequences of the explosive popularity of the Raspberry Pi is the flourishing of competing ecosystems of single-board computers (SBCs). Aside from the accessibility a $35 price tag offers, the foremost benefit of the Raspberry Pi is the community -- the proliferation of projects and integrations that center around the Raspberry Pi, and the ease-of-use that creates, makes competing products that look better on spec sheets a disappointment when taken out of the box. PINE64 has attempted to head this off by fostering an involved community; the PINE64 website explains their philosophy as "the community gets to actively shape the devices, as well as the social platform, of PINE64 from the ground up. The goal is to deliver ARM64 devices that you really wish to engage with and a platform that you want to be a part of." The first-generation Pinebook was available in an 11.6" or 14" configuration, with a quad-core Allwinner A64, 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, and 1366x768 display for $99, beating Nicolas Negroponte's OLPC XO-1, a decade after that project sputtered. PINE64 is differentiating itself by building not just SBCs, but notebooks, tablets, and phones with community input and feedback. Ahead of the release of the Pinebook Pro this summer, a Rockchip RK3399-based ARM laptop with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB eMMC, and a 14" 1080p display, TechRepublic interviewed PINE64 community manager Lukasz Erecinski about the Pinebook Pro, and the PINE64 community philosophy. An excerpt from the interview: TechRepublic: Why is Pine64 building a device ecosystem of not just SBCs, but also finished devices, like tablets, laptops, and phones? Lukasz Erecinski: While SBCs are and will remain our bread and butter, there is no denying that our vision for PINE64 has expanded beyond the SBC market. The core aim of our project remains the same however -- to foster a community and bring affordable ARM64 devices to developers and end-users. You have correctly identified that we are building eco-systems; that is to say, we strive for convergence between our SBCs and other ARM64 devices we manufacture. In result, when evaluating future SOCs, we're not only considering if they'll make for good SBCs but also laptops, modules, tablets, etc. As time progresses, you will see more and more of this type of convergence across devices from us. Allwinner A64 and Rockchip RK3399 are two examples of what we strive for: the Pine64-LTS, the SOPine, Pinebook, PineTab and PinePhone all share the Allwinner A64, whilst the RockPro64, Pinebook Pro and SORock (upcoming module akin to the SOPine) use the Rockchip RK3399.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/07/05/0045229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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YouTube Bans Content 'Showing Users How To Bypass Secure Computer Systems'
by Peter Reutemann 04 Jul '19

04 Jul '19

'Kody Kinzie from the Null Byte YouTube channel on Tuesday said YouTube banned a video he made about launching fireworks over Wi-Fi for the 4th of July. According to YouTube's Community Guidelines, you are not allowed to post content "showing users how to bypass secure computer systems or steal user credentials and personal data." Doing so will apparently result in a strike. The Register notes that this written policy "first appears in the Internet Wayback Machine's archive of web history in an April 5, 2019 snapshot." "I'm worried for everyone that teaches about infosec and tries to fill in the gaps for people who are learning," Kinzie said on Twitter. "It is hard, often boring, and expensive to learn cybersecurity." Security professionals like Tim Erlin, VP of product management and strategy at cybersecurity biz Tripwire, also finds the policy questionable. "Google's intention here might be laudable, but the result is likely to stifle valuable information sharing in the information security community," he said. "In cybersecurity, we improve our defenses by understanding how attacks actually work. Theoretical explanations are often not the most effective tools, and forcing content creators onto platforms restricted in distribution, like a paid training course, simply creates roadblocks to the industry. Sharing real world examples brings more people to the industry, rather than creating more criminals." ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/03/2121250 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Android Q(&A): Android Engineers take us on a deep dive of Android Q
by Peter Reutemann 04 Jul '19

04 Jul '19

'As has become tradition for Ars at Google I/O, we recently sat down with some of the people who make Android to learn more about Google's latest OS. For 2019, the talk was all about Android Q and this year's big engineering effort, Project Mainline. Mainline's goal is to enable Google (and sometimes OEMs!) to directly update core parts of the OS without pushing out a whole system update. If that sounds technical and challenging, well, it is. This year running the Ars Android Interview Gauntlet we have veteran interviewee Dave Burke, VP of engineering for Android. As the head of Team Android, Burke is an encyclopedia of Android knowledge and always manages to come up with insightful answers to my grab bag of esoteric questions. And returning for the second year in a row is Iliyan Malchev, principal engineer at Android, the lead of Project Treble, and all-around Linux integration guru.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/07/android-qa-android-engineers-take-u… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Amazon confirms it keeps your Alexa recordings basically forever
by Peter Reutemann 04 Jul '19

04 Jul '19

'If you (like so many of us) hate listening to recordings of your own voice, you may be in for an unpleasant future, as Amazon has confirmed it hangs on to every conversation you've ever had with an Alexa-enabled device until or unless you specifically delete them. That confirmation comes as a response to a list of questions Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in May expressing "concerns" about how Amazon uses and retains customers' Alexa voice assistant data. Amazon's response to Coons, as first reported by CNET, confirms that the company keeps your data as long as it wants unless you deliberately specify otherwise. "We retain customers' voice recordings and transcripts until the customer chooses to delete them," Amazon said—but even then there are exceptions.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/07/amazon-confirms-it-keeps-your-a… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Someone Is Spamming and Breaking a Core Component of PGP's Ecosystem
by Peter Reutemann 04 Jul '19

04 Jul '19

'A new wave of spamming attacks on a core component of PGP's ecosystem has highlighted a fundamental weakness in the whole ecosystem. From a report: Unknown attackers are spamming a core component of the ecosystem of the well-known encryption software PGP, breaking users' PGP installations and clients. What's worse, there may be no way to stop them. Last week, contributors to the PGP protocol GnuPG noticed that someone was "poisoning" or "flooding" their certificates. In this case, poisoning refers to an attack where someone spams a certificate with a large number of signatures or certifications. This makes it impossible for the the PGP software that people use to verify its authenticity, which can make the software unusable or break. In practice, according to one of the GnuPG developers targeted by this attack, the hackers could make it impossible for people using Linux to download updates, which are verified via PGP.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/03/2048235 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

File-Storage App 4shared Caught Serving Invisible Ads and Making Purchases Without Consent
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jul '19

03 Jul '19

'With more than 100 million installs, file-sharing service 4shared is one of the most popular apps in the Android app store. But security researchers say the app is secretly displaying invisible ads and subscribes users to paid services, racking up charges without the user's knowledge -- or their permission -- collectively costing millions of dollars. From a report: "It all happens in the background... nothing appears on the screen," said Guy Krief, chief executive of London-based Upstream, which shared its research exclusively with TechCrunch. The researchers say the app contains suspicious third-party code that allowed the app to automate clicks and make fraudulent purchases. They said the component, built by Hong Kong-based Elephant Data, downloads code which is "directly responsible" for generating the automated clicks without the user's knowledge. The code also sets a cookie to determine if a device has previously been used to make a purchase, likely as a way to hide the activity.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/07/03/1738253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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D-Link To Undergo Security Audits For 10 Years as Part of FTC Settlement
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jul '19

03 Jul '19

'D-Link has agreed to a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission in regards to a 2017 lawsuit in which the US government agency accused the Taiwanese hardware maker of misrepresenting the security of its devices and ignoring vulnerability reports. From a report: As part of the settlement, D-Link has promised to implement a new software security program for its routers and Internet-connected cameras. The company has also agreed to subject itself to ten years of biennial security audits from a third-party, independent auditor. The FTC gets to choose the auditor, while D-Link got to decide the certifications the auditor must obtain before allowing it to review its security program.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/07/03/1926220 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google Earth Ported To Browsers With WebAssembly
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jul '19

03 Jul '19

'The Google Earth team recently released a beta preview of a WebAssembly port of Google Earth. The new port runs in Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, including Edge (Canary version) and Opera, as well as Firefox. From a report: The port thus brings cross-browser support to the existing Earth For Web version, which uses the native C++ codebase and Chrome's Native Client (NaCl) technology. Difference in multi-threading support between browsers leads to varying performance. Google Earth was released 14 years ago and allowed users to explore the earth through the comfort of their home. This original version of Google Earth was released as a native C++ based application intended for desktop install because rendering the whole world in real time required advanced technologies that weren't available in the browser. Google Earth was subsequently introduced for Android and iOS smartphones, leveraging the existing C++ codebase through technologies such as NDK and Objective-C++. In 2017, Google Earth was released for the Chrome browser, using Google's Native Client (NaCl) to compile the C++ code and run it in the browser.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/02/1919251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Mageia 7 Linux Distro Released
by Peter Reutemann 03 Jul '19

03 Jul '19

'If you're looking to try out a Linux distro that is not based on Ubuntu, Mageia 7 might be worth your consideration. It arrives two years after the release of Mageia 6 -- so unsurprisingly, the changelog is fairly long. The Mageia developers share the significant packages that have been updated below. Significant package updates include: kernel 5.1.14, rpm 4.14.2, dnf 4.2.6, Mesa 19.1, Plasma 5.15.4, GNOME 3.32, Xfce 4.14pre, Firefox 67, Chromium 73, and LibreOffice 6.2.3. Donald Stewart, Mageia developer, adds: There are lots of new features, exciting updates, and new versions of your favorite programs, as well as support for very recent hardware. There are classical installer images for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, as well as live DVDs for 64-bit Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, and 32-bit Xfce.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/02/201232 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Google's Robots.txt Parser is Now Open Source
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

'For 25 years, the Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP) was only a de-facto standard. This had frustrating implications sometimes. On one hand, for webmasters, it meant uncertainty in corner cases, like when their text editor included BOM characters in their robots.txt files. On the other hand, for crawler and tool developers, it also brought uncertainty; for example, how should they deal with robots.txt files that are hundreds of megabytes large? Today, we announced that we're spearheading the effort to make the REP an internet standard. While this is an important step, it means extra work for developers who parse robots.txt files. We're here to help: we open sourced the C++ library that our production systems use for parsing and matching rules in robots.txt files. This library has been around for 20 years and it contains pieces of code that were written in the 90's. Since then, the library evolved; we learned a lot about how webmasters write robots.txt files and corner cases that we had to cover for, and added what we learned over the years also to the internet draft when it made sense.' -- source: https://search.slashdot.org/story/19/07/01/153253 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Nostalgia At Glastonbury ...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

>From <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/07/01/microsoft_round_up/>, another sighting of Windows XP in mission-critical use: Unfortunate songstress Neneh Cherry was warbling through her set when the veteran OS finally gave up the ghost. Alas, XP was dealing with the stage back projection, meaning that the audience lurched from being vaguely surprised to learn that Cherry was still around to the horrifying realisation that so was XP.

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The Infrastructure Mess Causing Countless Internet Outages
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

'Border Gateway Protocol has served the internet well for decades. But when it goes wrong, you notice it. From a report: In a weeks-long stretch in 2014, hackers stole thousands of dollars a day in cryptocurrency from owners. In 2017, internet outages cropped up around the United States for hours. Last year, Google Cloud suffered hours of disruptions. Earlier this month, a large swath of European mobile data was rerouted through the state-backed China Telecom. And on Monday, websites and services around the world -- including the internet infrastructure firm Cloudflare -- experienced hours of outages. These incidents may sound different, but they actually all resulted from problems -- some accidental, some malicious -- with a fundamental internet routing system called the Border Gateway Protocol. The web is distributed, but it's also interconnected. It needs to be so that data can move around worldwide without all being controlled by a single entity. So every time you load a website or send an email, BGP is the system responsible for optimizing the route that data takes across these sprawling, intertwined networks. And when it goes wrong, the whole internet feels it. Originally conceived in 1989 (on two napkins), the version of BGP used today remains largely unchanged since 1994. And though BGP has scaled surprisingly well, there's no denying that the internet is very different than it was 25 years ago. In fact, the way BGP was designed introduces risk of outages, manipulations, and data interception -- all of which have come to pass. The internet's backbone routers -- massive industrial nodes usually run by internet service providers, not the Linksys at your house -- each control a set of IP addresses and routes. ISPs and other large organizations use BGP to announce these routes to the world and calculate paths. Think of it like planning a cross-country drive: You need to know the different route options in each area, so you can stop at all the right corn mazes and the world's largest rocking chair without adding too much extra driving each day. But if your GPS is outdated, you could wind up at a dead end or on a new road that totally bypasses the salt flats.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/07/01/1316206 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux Usage on Azure Has Surpassed Windows, Microsoft Developer Reveals
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

'Three and a half years ago, Mark Russinovich, Azure CTO, Microsoft's cloud, said, "One in four [Azure] instances are Linux." Next, in 2017, Microsoft revealed that 40% of Azure virtual machines (VM) were Linux-based. Then in the fall of 2018, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft's executive VP of the cloud and enterprise group, told me in an exclusive interview, "About half Azure VMs are Linux". Now, Sasha Levin, Microsoft Linux kernel developer, in a request that Microsoft be allowed to join a Linux security list, revealed that "the Linux usage on our cloud has surpassed Windows." Shocking you say? Not really. Linux is largely what runs enterprise computing both on in-house servers and on the cloud. Windows Server has been declining for years. In the most recent IDC Worldwide Operating Systems and Subsystems Market Shares report covering 2017, Linux had 68% of the market. Its share has only increased since then.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/07/01/1333252 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Germany to publish standard on modern secure browsers
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

'Germany's cyber-security agency is working on a set of minimum rules that modern web browsers must comply with in order to be considered secure. The new guidelines are currently being drafted by the German Federal Office for Information Security (or the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik -- BSI), and they'll be used to advise government agencies and companies from the private sector on what browsers are safe to use.' -- source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/germany-to-publish-standard-on-modern-secure-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Ebooks Purchased From Microsoft Will Be Deleted This Month Because You Don't Really Own Anything Anymore
by Peter Reutemann 02 Jul '19

02 Jul '19

'Anyone who bought ebooks through the Microsoft Store is in for a rude shock in the coming days. The good news? You can get a refund. The bad news? All of your books are going to be deleted this month. Microsoft announced in April that it would stop selling ebooks and that any books the company already sold would stop working in early July because the DRM servers were being shut off. Yes, you read that correctly. Those books that you “bought” are going to disappear. Even the “free” books that you downloaded through Microsoft will be deleted.' -- source: https://gizmodo.com/ebooks-purchased-from-microsoft-will-be-deleted-this-mo… Possible solution to keep the books - remove the DRM: https://www.techradar.com/news/software/how-to-remove-ebook-drm-with-calibr… https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/drm-removal-tools-for-ebooks/ https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/ebooks-formats-drm-and-you-%… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Ask Slashdot: What's Your 'Backup' Browser?
by Peter Reutemann 01 Jul '19

01 Jul '19

'Slashdot's gotten over 17,000 votes in its poll about which web browser people use on their desktop. (The current leader? Firefox, with 53% of the vote, followed by Chrome with 30%.) But Slashdot reader koavf asks an interesting follow-up question: "What's everyone's go-to Plan B browser and why?"' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/30/2220257 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linus Torvalds Sees Lots of Hardware Headaches Ahead
by Peter Reutemann 30 Jun '19

30 Jun '19

'Linux founder Linus Torvalds "warns that managing software is about to become a lot more challenging, largely because of two hardware issues that are beyond the control of DevOps teams," reports DevOps.com. An anonymous reader shares their report about Torvalds remarks at the KubeCon + CloudNative + Open Source Summit China conference: The first, Torvalds said, is the steady stream of patches being generated for new cybersecurity issues related to the speculative execution model that Intel and other processor vendors rely on to accelerate performance... Each of those bugs requires another patch to the Linux kernel that, depending on when they arrive, can require painful updates to the kernel, Torvalds told conference attendees. Short of disabling hyperthreading altogether to eliminate reliance on speculative execution, each patch requires organizations to update both the Linux kernel and the BIOS to ensure security. Turning off hyperthreading eliminates the patch management issue, but also reduces application performance by about 15 percent. The second major issue hardware issue looms a little further over the horizon, Torvalds said. Moore's Law has guaranteed a doubling of hardware performance every 18 months for decades. But as processor vendors approach the limits of Moore's Law, many developers will need to reoptimize their code to continue achieving increased performance. In many cases, that requirement will be a shock to many development teams that have counted on those performance improvements to make up for inefficient coding processes, he said.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/28/2245250 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Tech Press Rushes To Cover New Linus Torvalds Mailing List Outburst
by Peter Reutemann 30 Jun '19

30 Jun '19

'"Linux frontman Linus Torvalds thinks he's 'more self-aware' these days and is 'trying to be less forceful' after his brief absence from directing Linux kernel developers because of his abusive language on the Linux kernel mailing list," reports ZDNet. "But true to his word, he's still not necessarily diplomatic in his communications with maintainers..." Torvalds' post-hiatus outburst was directed at Dave Chinner, an Australian programmer who maintains the Silicon Graphics (SGI)-created XFS file system supported by many Linux distros. "Bullshit, Dave," Torvalds told Chinner on a mailing list. The comment from Chinner that triggered Torvalds' rebuke was that "the page cache is still far, far slower than direct IO" -- a problem Chinner thinks will become more apparent with the arrival of the newish storage-motherboard interface specification known as Peripheral Express Interconnect Express (PCIe) version 4.0. Chinner believes page cache might be necessary to support disk-based storage, but that it has a performance cost.... "You've made that claim before, and it's been complete bullshit before too, and I've called you out on it then too," wrote Torvalds. "Why do you continue to make this obviously garbage argument?" According to Torvalds, the page cache serves its correct purpose as a cache. "The key word in the 'page cache' name is 'cache'," wrote Torvalds.... "Caches work, Dave. Anybody who thinks caches don't work is incompetent. 99 percent of all filesystem accesses are cached, and they never do any IO at all, and the page cache handles them beautifully," Torvalds wrote. "When you say the page cache is slower than direct IO, it's because you don't even see or care about the *fast* case. You only get involved once there is actual IO to be done." "The thing is," reports the Register, "crucially, Chinner was talking in the context of specific IO requests that just don't cache well, and noted that these inefficiencies could become more obvious as the deployment of PCIe 4.0-connected non-volatile storage memory spreads." Here's how Chinner responded to Torvalds on the mailing list. "You've taken one single statement I made from a huge email about complexities in dealing with IO concurrency, the page cache and architectural flaws in the existing code, quoted it out of context, fabricated a completely new context and started ranting about how I know nothing about how caches or the page cache work." The Register notes their conversation also illustrates a crucial difference from closed-source software development. "[D]ue to the open nature of the Linux kernel, Linus's rows and spats play out in public for everyone to see, and vultures like us to write up about."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/28/2339245 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Google's New ReCAPTCHA Has a Dark Side
by Peter Reutemann 28 Jun '19

28 Jun '19

'We've all tried to log into a website or submit a form only to be stuck clicking boxes of traffic lights or storefronts or bridges in a desperate attempt to finally convince the computer that we're not actually a bot. For many years, this has been one of the predominant ways that reCaptcha -- the Google-run internet bot detector -- has determined whether a user is a bot or not. But last fall, Google launched a new version of the tool, with the goal of eliminating that annoying user experience entirely. Now, when you enter a form on a website that's using reCaptcha V3, you won't see the "I'm not a robot" checkbox, nor will you have to prove you know what a cat looks like. Instead, you won't see anything at all. Google is also now testing an enterprise version of reCaptcha v3, where Google creates a customized reCaptcha for enterprises that are looking for more granular data about users' risk levels to protect their site algorithms from malicious users and bots. But this new, risk-score based system comes with a serious trade-off: users' privacy. According to two security researchers who've studied reCaptcha, one of the ways that Google determines whether you're a malicious user or not is whether you already have a Google cookie installed on your browser. It's the same cookie that allows you to open new tabs in your browser and not have to re-log in to your Google account every time. But according to Mohamed Akrout, a computer science PhD student at the University of Toronto who has studied reCaptcha, it appears that Google is also using its cookies to determine whether someone is a human in reCaptcha v3 tests. Akrout wrote in an April paper about how reCaptcha v3 simulations that ran on a browser with a connected Google account received lower risk scores than browsers without a connected Google account. "Because reCaptcha v3 is likely to be on every page of a website, if you're signed into your Google account there's a chance Google is getting data about every single webpage you go to that is embedded with reCaptcha v3 -- and there many be no visual indication on the site that it's happening, beyond a small reCaptcha logo hidden in the corner," the report adds.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/06/27/2139219 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

WireGuard on Windows early preview
by Peter Reutemann 28 Jun '19

28 Jun '19

'WireGuard is a new peer-to-peer VPN technology that has the potential for greater speed, smaller attack surface, and easier configuration than commonly used and better-established VPN platforms such as OpenVPN and IPSec. It has been available on Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, Android, and even iOS for quite some time now, with Windows being the one platform frustratingly missing. There are good reasons for that—lead developer Jason Donenfeld didn't want to inherit the problems of OpenVPN's OpenTAP adapter code, and when he investigated Microsoft's built-in VPN API, he didn't like that either. So his first move was to take a giant step backward on the Windows platform and develop an extremely simple virtual adapter that could be used not only for WireGuard, but also for other projects that might need the same kind of very basic, socket-and-tunnel functionality. This became Wintun. For the moment, WireGuard for Windows is still in what creator Jason Donenfeld refers to as "pre-alpha," with an alpha build due out sometime in the next week or two. The good news is that it's an easy install now, with no dev-fu required to get it running happily on a Windows 10 (or Server 2016, as seen below) system. There are self-contained, signed MSI installers for both 64-bit and 32-bit builds there; downloading and running them just works, with no complaints from Defender about unsigned or untrusted anything. I was curious about what makes v0.0.14 "pre-alpha" rather than merely "alpha." Donenfeld told me one reason he called it pre-alpha was to keep journalists like me (as well as the generally unadventurous) from writing about it before it's ready.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/06/taking-a-spin-on-wir… Here's the link the article covering the Linux version: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/08/wireguard-vpn-review-fast-connectio… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Mozilla Launches GeckoView-Powered Firefox Preview For Android
by Peter Reutemann 27 Jun '19

27 Jun '19

'Mozilla today announced Firefox Preview, a pilot of its new Android browser. Firefox Preview, which is powered by Mozilla's own GeckoView engine, will ultimately replace the current Firefox for Android mobile app "this fall." At the same time, Mozilla has put Firefox Focus for Android development on hold. If you're a developer or just an early adopter, you can download Firefox Preview from Google Play. On desktop, Firefox is the second most popular browser after Chrome. Firefox holds about 10% desktop market share, according to Net Applications. On mobile, however, Firefox has less than 0.5% share. Despite regular releases alongside the desktop browser over the years, Firefox's mobile share has not improved.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/27/1720215 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Researchers Demonstrate How US Emergency Alert System Can Be Hijacked and Weaponized
by Peter Reutemann 27 Jun '19

27 Jun '19

'After an emergency alert was accidentally sent to Hawaii residents last year, warning of an impending nuclear ballistic missile attack, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder were prompted to ask the question: How easy would it be to exploit the nation's emergency alert systems, wreaking havoc on the American public via fake or misleading alerts? In short, they found that it wasn't very difficult at all. Motherboard reports: Their full study was recently unveiled at the 2019 International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services (MobiSys) in Seoul, South Korea. It documents how spoofing the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) program to trick cellular users wasn't all that difficult. To prove it, researchers built a mini "pirate" cell tower using easily-available hardware and open source software. Using isolated RF shield boxes to mitigate any real-world harm, they then simulated attacks in the 50,000 seat Folsom Field at the University. 90 percent of the time, the researchers say they were able to pass bogus alerts on to cell phones within range. The transmission of these messages from the government to the cellular tower is secure. It's the transmission from the cellular tower to the end user that's open to manipulation and interference, the researchers found. The vulnerability potentially impacts not just US LTE networks, but LTE networks from Europe to South Korea. ' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/06/26/2347257 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Security firms demonstrate subdomain hijack exploit vs. EA/Origin
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jun '19

26 Jun '19

'Israeli security firms Check Point and CyberInt partnered up this week to find, exploit, and demonstrate a nasty security flaw that allows attackers to hijack player accounts in EA/Origin's online games. The exploit chains together several classic types of attacks—phishing, session hijacking, and cross-site scripting—but the key flaw that makes the entire attack work is poorly maintained DNS.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/06/security-firms-demon… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Intel, Arm To Help Create New IoT Standard For Device Onboarding
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jun '19

26 Jun '19

'Intel is working with rival Arm to create a new industry standard for an important issue in the Internet of Things market: making sure that devices are properly configured and connected to the cloud. From a report: The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker announced on Wednesday that the company is a founding member of the new IoT Technical Working Group within the FIDO Alliance, an industry consortium founded by PayPal, Lenovo and others in 2012 to develop standards for password-less authentication. The goal of FIDO's IoT Technical Working Group, which will also include experts from Microsoft, Google and Amazon, is to create a standard specification for "large-scale IoT onboarding," the process in which devices are configured and connected to IoT cloud management services at the time of installation. Lorie Wigle, the executive in charge of Intel's platform security efforts, told CRN that it is important to create a standard around IoT onboarding because many companies currently face challenges with the practice when it comes to handling large-scale deployments and security. [...] Once FIDO develops the standard, market forces will compel companies to adhere and participate, according to Wigle, who said it will also increase device variety, lower costs and accelerate deployments.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/06/26/1524200 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Google Now Allows Users To Auto-Delete Their Location History
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jun '19

26 Jun '19

'Google today began rolling out location history deletion tools to Android and iOS, giving users a relatively simple way to limit the scope of Google's location tracking. Users can only choose between deleting data after three or 18 months. In a blog post, Google wrote: Choose a time limit for how long you want your activity data to be saved -- 3 or 18 months -- and any data older than that will be automatically deleted from your account on an ongoing basis. These controls are coming first to Location History and Web & App Activity and will roll out in the coming weeks.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/06/26/1730250 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Firefox Will Give You a Fake Browsing History To Fool Advertisers
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jun '19

26 Jun '19

'Security through obscurity is out, security through tomfoolery is in. >From a report: That's the basic philosophy sold by Track THIS, "a new kind of incognito" browsing project, which opens up 100 tabs crafted to fit a specific character -- a hypebeast, a filthy rich person, a doomsday prepper, or an influencer. The idea is that your browsing history will be depersonalized and poisoned, so advertisers won't know how to target ads to you. It was developed as a collaboration between mschf (pronounced "mischief") internet studios and Mozilla's Firefox as a way of promoting Firefox Quantum, the newest Firefox browser. [...] Just a warning -- if you use Track THIS it may take several minutes for all 100 tabs to load. (I used Chrome as my browser.) But when as it gradually loads, it's like taking a first-person journey through someone else's consciousness.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/19/06/26/192258 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Microsoft Discovers The Command Line
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Jun '19

26 Jun '19

A review <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/06/25/microsofts_new_terminal_put_throug…> of Microsoft’s revamped Windows Terminal app. Features like session tabs and customizable profiles should be familiar to users of Linux terminal apps. The biggest downside seems to be that this is a UWP app, which means it only works with specific versions of Window 10. Actually, Windows had a sort-of-remotable/virtualizable-command-line support before. The difference is, all the *nix-type systems implement this using “PTY” (“pseudo-terminal”) devices, which one process (like an SSH server or GUI terminal emulator) can open and use to drive other processes on the other side, which act as though they are connecting to a real terminal. All the fancy screen stuff (e.g. direct addressing, coloured text) is done by sending in-band “escape sequences”, which real terminals (which are all museum pieces now) used to respond to, and which the terminal emulators nowadays faithfully mimic. However, Microsoft didn’t like the whole escape-sequence idea; instead, it implemented a whole API it called “ConHost”, where the application had to make special calls to affect the display in special ways. This sounds more advanced than the crude-sounding escape-sequence idea from the 1970s, yet it turns out that the Microsoft approach makes it awkward to implement those same SSH servers and GUI terminal emulators that we take for granted in the Linux world. So now the company is back-pedalling away from that, and towards good old PTYs and escape sequences, in its new “ConPTY” architecture. There is still one issue I don’t think they’ve addressed yet, though <https://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/all/2019/06/25/microsofts_new_termin…>: ... a working select() would be nice. MS's function cannot wait across a set of fd's of different types (such as a serial port and a network socket). In the end I gave up and used the cygwin platform, which has a working select(), which was enough to do the job of talking to a telehone exchange via RS232 and fielding network requests at the same time. The unix philosophy that at the end of the day, everything is a file, pays huge dividends. Using cygwin also gave me a nice simple tcgetattr()/tcsetattr() which allowed serial port setup in a tiny amount of code, compared to the sheer lovecraftian horror that is the windows API for such things. I still find it remarkable that the Cygwin folks were able to implement a function on top of Windows that Microsoft itself seems unable to figure out.

2 1

Steam and Ubuntu clash over 32-bit libs
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jun '19

26 Jun '19

'It has been a tumultuous week for gaming on Linux. Last Tuesday afternoon, Canonical's Steve Langasek announced that 32-bit libs would be frozen (kept as-is, with no new builds or updates) as of this October's interim 19.10 release, codenamed "Eoan Ermine." Langasek was pretty clear that this did not mean abandoning support for running 32-bit applications, however. "While this means we will not provide 32-bit builds of new upstream versions of libraries, there are a number of ways that 32-bit applications can continue to be made available to users of later Ubuntu releases, as detailed in [4]. We will be working to polish the 32-bit support story over the course of the 19.10 development cycle. To follow the evolution of this support, you can participate in the discourse thread at [5]." Unfortunately, that part of the announcement may not have been entirely clear to all who read it. This group may include Steam lead Pierre-Loup Griffais, who responded by breaking up with Ubuntu in a tweet. "Ubuntu 19.10 and future releases will not be officially supported by Steam or recommended to our users. We will evaluate ways to minimize breakage for existing users, but will also switch our focus to a different distribution, currently TBD." Two days later, Canonical issued another public statement making it very explicit that support for commonly used 32-bit libs would be continued. That statement has been widely reported as an "about-face" from Canonical, but it appears to be more of a clarification of the original statement. The heart of the issue is that 32-bit computing represents an incredibly wide attack surface, with lessening amounts of active maintenance to discover, analyze, and patch flaws and exploits. Canonical, like any company, needs to apply its developer resources intelligently, so it looks for ways to remove unnecessary cruft where possible. The vast majority of 32-bit code is cruft. "We will put in place a community process to determine which 32-bit packages are needed to support legacy software, and can add to that list post-release if we miss something that is needed... We do think it’s reasonable to expect the community to participate and to find the right balance between enabling the next wave of capabilities and maintaining the long tail," Canonical said in a statement. "Nevertheless, in this case it’s relatively easy for us to change plan and enable natively in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS the applications for which there is a specific need." Canonical also promised it would work with "the WINE, Ubuntu Studio and gaming communities to use container technology to address the ultimate end of life of 32-bit libraries; it should stay possible to run old applications on newer versions of Ubuntu. Snaps and LXD enable us both to have complete 32-bit environments, and bundled libraries, to solve these issues in the long term."' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/06/steam-and-ubuntu-clash-over-32-bit-l… The article mentions "Solus", which I've only come across once before in 2017. Anybody keen on giving that a swirl at the next meeting? -- project page: https://getsol.us/home/ Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Oracle Dyn DNS Services Shutting Down in 2020
by Peter Reutemann 25 Jun '19

25 Jun '19

'Oracle has sent the following email to customers of DYN service: Since Oracle acquired Dyn in 2016 (and subsequently acquired Zenedge), the engineering teams have been working diligently to integrate Dyn;s products and network into the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. With the completion of this upgrade to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle is announcing the end-of-life for the free Standard DNS service in favor of the enhanced, paid subscription version on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure platform. On May 31, 2020, the 'EOL Date', the Standard DNS will be retired and will no longer be available. The following capabilities are not currently supported in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure DNS: Webhop (HTTP redirect), Dynamic DNS, Zone transfer to external nameservers, and DNSSEC. ' -- source: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/19/06/25/1920223 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

New Silex Malware is Bricking IoT Devices, Has Scary Plans
by Peter Reutemann 25 Jun '19

25 Jun '19

'A new strain of malware is wiping the firmware of IoT devices in attacks reminiscent of the old BrickerBot malware that destroyed millions of devices back in 2017. From a report: Named Silex, this malware began operating earlier today, about three-four hours before this article's publication. The malware had bricked around 350 devices when this reporter began investigating its operations, and the number quickly spiked to 2,000 wiped devices by the time we published, an hour later. Attacks are still ongoing, and according to an interview with the malware's creator, they are about to intensify in the coming days. According to Akamai researcher Larry Cashdollar, who first spotted the malware earlier today, Silex works by trashing an IoT device's storage, dropping firewall rules, removing the network configuration, and then halting the device. It's as destructive as it can get without actually frying the IoT device's circuits. To recover, victims must manually reinstall the device's firmware, a task too complicated for the majority of device owners' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/06/25/2018218 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Ubuntu Reverses Decision, Says It Will Continue To Support 32-bit Packages
by Peter Reutemann 25 Jun '19

25 Jun '19

'Canonical has issued a statement on Ubuntu's 32-bit future, saying it will continue to build and maintain a 32-bit archive going forward. >From a report: Of course, there was some negativity surrounding the decision -- as is common with everything in the world today. In particular, developers of WINE were upset, since their Windows compatibility layer depends on 32-bit, apparently. In a statement, Canonical said: "Thanks to the huge amount of feedback this weekend from gamers, Ubuntu Studio, and the WINE community, we will change our plan and build selected 32-bit i386 packages for Ubuntu 19.10 and 20.04 LTS. We will put in place a community process to determine which 32-bit packages are needed to support legacy software, and can add to that list post-release if we miss something that is needed. Community discussions can sometimes take unexpected turns, and this is one of those. The question of support for 32-bit x86 has been raised and seriously discussed in Ubuntu developer and community forums since 2014. That's how we make decisions."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/06/24/1826241 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 1

Raspberry Pi 4 Featuring Faster CPU, Up To 4GB of RAM Launched
by Peter Reutemann 25 Jun '19

25 Jun '19

'Raspberry Pi today introduced a new version of its popular line of single-board computer. The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is the fastest Raspberry Pi ever, with the company promising "desktop performance comparable to entry-level x86 PC systems." The specifications are: A 1.5GHz quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A72 CPU (~3x performance); 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM; full-throughput Gigabit; Ethernet; dual-band 802.11ac wireless networking; Bluetooth 5.0; two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports; dual monitor support, at resolutions up to 4K; VideoCore VI graphics, supporting OpenGL ES 3.x; 4Kp60 hardware decode of HEVC video; and complete compatibility with earlier Raspberry Pi products. It starts at $35.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/06/24/141229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

2 3

Resilient?
by Ian Young 24 Jun '19

24 Jun '19

Alas several attempts to unzip the Resilient desktop file have failed - never got as far as trying to write a USB. Mostly failure was silent - Engampra and File Roller. Ark in KDE did condescend to say 'Failed to write data for entry'. ~ Ian Y

2 1

Potent Firefox 0-day used to install undetected backdoors on Macs
by Peter Reutemann 23 Jun '19

23 Jun '19

'Hackers exploited a pair of potent zero-day vulnerabilities in Firefox to infect Mac users with a largely undetected backdoor, according to accounts pieced together from multiple people. Mozilla released an update on Tuesday that fixed a code-execution vulnerability in a JavaScript programming method known as Array.pop. On Thursday, Mozilla issued a second patch fixing a privilege-escalation flaw that allowed code to break out of a security sandbox that Firefox uses to prevent untrusted content from interacting with sensitive parts of a computer operating system. Interestingly, a researcher at Google's Project Zero had privately reported the code-execution flaw to Mozilla in mid April. On Monday, as Mozilla was readying a fix for the array.pop flaw, unknown hackers deployed an attack that combined working exploits for both vulnerabilities. The hackers then used the attack against employees of Coinbase, according to Philip Martin, chief information security officer for the digital currency exchange.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/06/potent-firefox-0day-… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Re: [wlug] Chrome 'Has Become Surveillance Software. It's Time to Switch'
by mailinglist 23 Jun '19

23 Jun '19

I thought Chrome being an extension of Google was fairly obvious.The thing I don't understand is why duck duck go and Firefox are free.Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.-------- Original message --------From: Peter Reutemann <fracpete(a)waikato.ac.nz> Date: 23/06/2019 10:49 (GMT+12:00) To: wlug List <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> Subject: [wlug] Chrome 'Has Become Surveillance Software. It's Time to Switch' '"You open your browser to look at the Web. Do you know who is lookingback at you?" warns Washington Post technology columnist Geoffrey A.Fowler:Over a recent week of Web surfing, I peered under the hood of GoogleChrome and found it brought along a few thousand friends. Shopping,news and even government sites quietly tagged my browser to let ad anddata companies ride shotgun while I clicked around the Web. This wasmade possible by the Web's biggest snoop of all: Google. Seen from theinside, its Chrome browser looks a lot like surveillance software...My tests of Chrome vs. Firefox unearthed a personal data caper ofabsurd proportions. In a week of Web surfing on my desktop, Idiscovered 11,189 requests for tracker "cookies" that Chrome wouldhave ushered right onto my computer but were automatically blocked byFirefox. These little files are the hooks that data firms, includingGoogle itself, use to follow what websites you visit so they can buildprofiles of your interests, income and personality... And that's notthe half of it. Look in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser.See a picture or a name in the circle? If so, you're logged in to thebrowser, and Google might be tapping into your Web activity to targetads. Don't recall signing in? I didn't, either. Chrome recentlystarted doing that automatically when you use Gmail.Chrome is even sneakier on your phone. If you use Android, Chromesends Google your location every time you conduct a search. (If youturn off location sharing it still sends your coordinates out, justwith less accuracy.)The columnist concludes that "having the world's biggest advertisingcompany make the most popular Web browser was about as smart asletting kids run a candy shop," and argues that through itsDoubleclick and other ad businesses, Google "is the No. 1 cookie maker-- the Mrs. Fields of the web."He also reports that Firefox is now working on ways to block browser"fingerprintin'-- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/21/1922233Cheers, Peter-- Peter ReutemannDept. of Computer ScienceUniversity of Waikato, NZ+64 (7) 858-5174http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/http://www.data-mining.co.nz/_______________________________________________wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nzUnsubscribe: https://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

1 0

Chrome 'Has Become Surveillance Software. It's Time to Switch'
by Peter Reutemann 22 Jun '19

22 Jun '19

'"You open your browser to look at the Web. Do you know who is looking back at you?" warns Washington Post technology columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler: Over a recent week of Web surfing, I peered under the hood of Google Chrome and found it brought along a few thousand friends. Shopping, news and even government sites quietly tagged my browser to let ad and data companies ride shotgun while I clicked around the Web. This was made possible by the Web's biggest snoop of all: Google. Seen from the inside, its Chrome browser looks a lot like surveillance software... My tests of Chrome vs. Firefox unearthed a personal data caper of absurd proportions. In a week of Web surfing on my desktop, I discovered 11,189 requests for tracker "cookies" that Chrome would have ushered right onto my computer but were automatically blocked by Firefox. These little files are the hooks that data firms, including Google itself, use to follow what websites you visit so they can build profiles of your interests, income and personality... And that's not the half of it. Look in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser. See a picture or a name in the circle? If so, you're logged in to the browser, and Google might be tapping into your Web activity to target ads. Don't recall signing in? I didn't, either. Chrome recently started doing that automatically when you use Gmail. Chrome is even sneakier on your phone. If you use Android, Chrome sends Google your location every time you conduct a search. (If you turn off location sharing it still sends your coordinates out, just with less accuracy.) The columnist concludes that "having the world's biggest advertising company make the most popular Web browser was about as smart as letting kids run a candy shop," and argues that through its Doubleclick and other ad businesses, Google "is the No. 1 cookie maker -- the Mrs. Fields of the web." He also reports that Firefox is now working on ways to block browser "fingerprintin' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/21/1922233 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

1 0

Mattermost Raises $50 Million For Its Open Source Slack Alternative
by Peter Reutemann 22 Jun '19

22 Jun '19

'Mattermost, a startup developing what it characterizes as an open source messaging alternative to Google's Hangouts Chat, Atlassian's HipChat, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, today announced the closure of a $50 million series B funding round. The round was led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund, with participation from new investor Battery Ventures, as well as existing investors Redpoint and S28 Capital. The capital infusion follows a $20 million series A in February and a $3.5 million seed round in February 2017 and brings the Palo Alto, California-based company's total raised to roughly $70 million. As part of the round, Twitter COO Ali Rowghani will join Mattermost as board director and Battery Ventures' Neeraj Agarwal will join as a board observer. The raise comes as monthly downloads of the open source project pass 10,000. To date, more than 1,000 contributors have helped translate Mattermost into 16 languages.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/22/0243233 Haven't even heard of Mattermost before... In terms of "Slack": "Should Slack-Like Chat Clients Replace Email?" https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/06/21/2233229 Personally, I'm not a fan of chat, as it is even more disruptive than email. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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China Has Almost Half of The World's Supercomputers, Explores RISC-V and ARM
by Peter Reutemann 22 Jun '19

22 Jun '19

'Ten years ago, China had 21 systems on the Top500 list of the world's largest supercomputing systems. It now has 219, according to the biannual listing, which was updated just this week. At its current pace of development, China may have half of the supercomputing systems on the Top500 list by 2021.... U.S. supercomputers make up 116 of the latest Top500 list. Despite being well behind China in total system count, the U.S. leads in overall performance, as measured by the High Performance Linpack (HPL) benchmark. The HPL benchmark is used to solve linear equations. The U.S. has about 38% of the aggregate Top500 list performance. China is in second, at nearly 30% of the performance total. But this performance metric has flip-flopped between China and the U.S., because it's heavily weighted by the largest systems. The U.S. owns the top two spots on the latest Top500 list, thanks to two IBM supercomputers at U.S. national laboratories. These systems, Summit and Sierra, alone, represent 15.6% of the HPL performance measure. Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64, says China is concerned the U.S. may limit its x86 chip imports, and while China may look to ARM, they're also investigating the RISC-V processor architecture. Paresh Kharya, director of product marketing at Nvidia, tells Tech Target "We expect x86 CPUs to remain dominant in the short term. But there's growing interest in ARM for supercomputing, as evidenced by projects in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Supercomputing centers want choice in CPU architecture.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/06/22/1617211 Looks like such sanctions would backfire for US companies, by losing major customers for their products. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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