August 2017 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

One of 1st-known Android DDoS malware infects phones in 100 countries
by Peter Reutemann 29 Aug '17

29 Aug '17

'Last year, a series of record-setting attacks hitting sites including KrebsOnSecurity and a French Web host underscored a new threat that had previously gone overlooked: millions of Internet-connected digital video recorders and similar devices that could easily be wrangled into botnets that challenged the resources of even large security services. Now, for one of the first times, researchers are reporting a new platform recently used to wage powerful denial-of-service attacks that were distributed among hundreds of thousands of poorly secured devices: Google's Android operating system for phones and tablets. The botnet was made up of some 300 apps available in the official Google Play market. Once installed, they surreptitiously conscripted devices into a malicious network that sent junk traffic to certain websites with the goal of causing them to go offline or become unresponsive.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/08/first-known-android-… 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 to Scan Your Linux Computer for Viruses and Rootkits
by rowan schischka 28 Aug '17

28 Aug '17

>Any volunteers? Especially people that have used one of these tools before. Unfortunately I am not in Hamilton atm, but if i was I would demonstrate an automated way to scan and alert the user. The tools are very straight forward to use. The hardest part I had was setting up local mail and sending a report to gmail without gmail marking it as spam.

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Raspberry Pi - Raspbian released based on Debian 9 - Stretch
by Ian Stewart 27 Aug '17

27 Aug '17

Raspbian, the main distro for the Raspberry Pi, has now been released based on Debian 9 (Stretch). While this provides the benefits and enhancements of a more recent Linux release, another benefit is the updated products available in the Debian repository. You can download Raspian from https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/ Raspbian Stretch with desktop Image with desktop based on Debian Stretch Version: August 2017 Release date: 2017-08-16 Kernel version: 4.9 Release notes: 2017-08-16: * Based on Raspbian Stretch (Debian version 9) * Version 60 of Chromium browser included * Version 3.0.1 of Sonic Pi included * Version 6.1.1 of RealVNC included * Version 0.17.4 of NodeRED included * Bluetooth audio routed via ALSA rather than Pulseaudio * SenseHAT extension added to Scratch 2 * Various desktop applications modified to prompt for sudo password if needed * lxinput control options for mouse speed simplified * lxpanel plugins moved into separate packages * Wireless firmware for Pi 3 and Pi 0W modified to address Broadpwn exploit * Latest kernel and firmware * Various small tweaks, bug fixes and theme modifications cheers, Ian.

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How to Scan Your Linux Computer for Viruses and Rootkits
by Peter Reutemann 27 Aug '17

27 Aug '17

'Are you worried that your Linux computer may be infected with malware? Have you ever checked? While Linux systems tend to be less susceptible to malware than Windows, they can still be infected. Many times they’re less obviously compromised, too. There are a handful of excellent open-source tools to help you check if your Linux system has been the victim of malware. While no software is perfect, these three have a solid reputation and can be trusted to find most known threats.' -- source: https://www.maketecheasier.com/scan-linux-for-viruses-and-rootkits/ 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 New Non-Money Oriented Crowdsourcing Platform Based On Code Contributions
by Peter Reutemann 27 Aug '17

27 Aug '17

An anonymous reader shares a new crowdfunding site built on open source principles to "remove the money element from project creation" so creators "don't have to take extreme actions such as quitting their jobs or compromising on their ideas because of investor demands. Because of the nature of crowdsourcer.io projects, project creators can remain as ambitious as funded projects and get all the contributors they need to make their idea a reality." >From the site: Crowdsourcer.io is an alternative crowd sourcing platform that allows developers and designers alike to create or join in on software related projects, build up their contribution and earn an income from the final product. Think of Crowdsourcer.io as something between open source software creation and Kickstarter start ups, a new crowd sourcing alternative, in its purest form" The site's creator recently answered questions on Reddit, saying they'd spent years fine-tuning the idea, and writing that "It's really focussed on people who don't want to quit their job to form their own software company, and don't want to become embroiled in debt or other financing." A note at the bottom of the site adds that "Crowdsourcer.io is young. We want your ideas!" -- source: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/17/08/27/0639253 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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screen with a scrollbuffer / scroll wheel support
by Peter Reutemann 25 Aug '17

25 Aug '17

Hi everyone Finally figured out (well, by that I mean googled) how to change the scrollbuffer for screen sessions (running + default setting): https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8760346/how-do-i-increase-the-scrollbac… And how to get the mouse scroll wheel working (works on mate-terminal): https://stackoverflow.com/questions/359109/using-the-scrollwheel-in-gnu-scr… 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 expr command tutorial for beginners (with examples)
by Peter Reutemann 25 Aug '17

25 Aug '17

'Sometimes, while working on the command line (especially when dealing with a shell script), you may find yourself in a situation where you have to perform actions like searching for a substring in a string, finding its index, as well as other things like performing comparisons and arithmetic operations. For those who aren't in the know, there exists a command line utility - dubbed expr - that lets you do all this. In this tutorial, we will discuss the basics of this command along with some of the features it provides.' -- source: https://www.howtoforge.com/linux-expr-command/ 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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Touch-panel PCs run Raspbian on Raspberry Pi CM3
by Peter Reutemann 25 Aug '17

25 Aug '17

'Comfile has launched two IP65 protected, resistive touch panel PCs with 7- and 10.2-inch 800 x 480 displays, built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3. In February, Saelig Co. announced distribution of Janz Tec’s Raspberry Pi 3-based emPC-A/RPI3 industrial controller. Now, Saelig has launched North American distribution of Korea-based Comfile’s ComfilePi line of touch panel computers built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 (CM3) computer-on-module version of the Raspberry Pi 3.' -- source: http://linuxgizmos.com/touch-panel-pcs-run-raspbian-on-raspberry-pi-cm3/ 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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You Can Help Purism Build the Secure Open Source Linux-based Librem 5 Smartphone
by Peter Reutemann 24 Aug '17

24 Aug '17

'Thankfully, consumers are starting to wake up and become more aware of security and privacy, and some companies, such as Purism, are designing products to safeguard users. The company's laptops, for instance, run an open source Linux-based operating system, called "PureOS" with a focus on privacy. These machines even have hardware "kill switches" so you can physically disconnect a webcam or Wi-Fi card. Today, Purism announces that it is taking those same design philosophies and using them to build a new $599 smartphone called Librem 5. The planned phone will use the GNOME desktop environment and PureOS by default, but users can install different distros too. Sound good? Well you can help the company build it through crowdfunding. "Purism, the social purpose corporation which designs and produces popular privacy conscious hardware and software, has revealed its plans to build the world's first encrypted, open platform smartphone that will empower users to protect their digital identity in an increasingly unsafe mobile world. After 18 months of R&D to test hardware specifications and engage with one of the largest phone fabricators, Purism is opening a self-hosted crowdfunding campaign to gauge demand for the initial fabrication order and add the features most important to users," says Puris' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/08/24/147204 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 .NET Core 2.0 For Linux Released; Redhat Will Bundle Microsoft's .NET
by Peter Reutemann 24 Aug '17

24 Aug '17

'Microsoft recently released Visual Studio 15.3 for Windows and Visual Studio 7.1 for Mac with .NET core 2.0. In addition to porting Microsoft Code and SQL Server to Linux, they have ported .NET. Redhat will bundle .NET in their software offerings instead of relying on Mono. .NET core is Microsoft's open-source .NET platform which is not based off Mono and available for Linux, Mac, and Windows here.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/08/23/2046234 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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