March 2020 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Zoom is Leaking Peoples' Email Addresses and Photos To Strangers
by Peter Reutemann 01 Apr '20

01 Apr '20

'Popular video-conferencing Zoom is leaking personal information of at least thousands of users, including their email address and photo, and giving strangers the ability to attempt to start a video call with them through Zoom. From a report: The issue lies in Zoom's "Company Directory" setting, which automatically adds other people to a user's lists of contacts if they signed up with an email address that shares the same domain. This can make it easier to find a specific colleague to call when the domain belongs to an individual company. But multiple Zoom users say they signed up with personal email addresses, and Zoom pooled them together with thousands of other people as if they all worked for the same company, exposing their personal information to one another.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/20/03/31/201237 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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HPE, Intel and Linux Foundation Team Up For Open Source Software for 5G Core
by Peter Reutemann 01 Apr '20

01 Apr '20

'HPE announced on Tuesday it's working with Intel and the Linux Foundation on a new open source software project to help automate the roll out of 5G across multiple sites. From a report: The new partnership, which will be under the Linux Foundation umbrella, is called the Open Distributed Infrastructure Management Framework. The partnership represents HPE's move into the 5G core network space as it branches out from its enterprise roots. Other partners for the open source project include AMI, Apstra, IBM's Red Hat, Tech Mahindra and World Wide Technology. HPE will also introduce an enterprise offering, the HPE Open Distributed Infrastructure Management Resource Aggregator.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/03/31/1947203 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 Keyring Concept in Ubuntu: What is It and How to Use it?
by Peter Reutemann 31 Mar '20

31 Mar '20

'f you use automatic login in Ubuntu or other Linux distributions, you might have come across a pop-up message of this sort: Enter password to unlock your login keyring The login keyring did not get unlocked when you logged into your computer. It keeps on popping up several times before disappearing if you keep on clicking cancel. You may wonder why do you keep seeing this keyring message all the time? Let me tell you something. It’s not an error. It’s a security feature. Surprised? Let me explain the keyring concept in Linux.' -- source: https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-keyring/ 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 Pioneer Vint Cerf Tests Positive For Covid-19
by Peter Reutemann 31 Mar '20

31 Mar '20

'Tech pioneer Vint Cerf, one of the co-creators of the modern internet, has tested positive for covid-19, according to a tweet Cerf sent out Monday morning. The 76-year-old tweeted out a clip from HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver about the U.S. response to the global pandemic. "I tested positive for COVID-19 and am recovering," Cerf tweeted. "Listen to what John Oliver has to say about our national response so far." Cerf helped create the modern internet in the 1970s while working at UCLA with other pioneers like Bob Kahn and Leonard Kleinrock. Cerf worked on packet switching for the APRANET under Kleinrock and TCP/IP protocols with ARPA (now DARPA), the plumbing that makes the internet function. DARPA tweeted its support of Cerf, telling him to get well soon.' -- source: https://science.slashdot.org/story/20/03/30/214250 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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WireGuard VPN makes it to 1.0.0—and into the next Linux kernel
by Peter Reutemann 31 Mar '20

31 Mar '20

'We've been anticipating WireGuard's inclusion into the mainline Linux kernel for quite some time—but as of Sunday afternoon, it's official. Linus Torvalds released the Linux 5.6 kernel, which includes (among other things) an in-tree WireGuard. Phoronix has a great short list of the most interesting new features in the 5.6 kernel, as well as a longer "everything list" for those who want to make sure they don't miss anything. If this is the first time you're hearing about WireGuard, the TL;DR is that it's a relatively new VPN (Virtual Private Network) application that offers a leaner codebase, easier configuration, faster connect times, and the latest and most thoroughly peer-reviewed and approved encryption algorithms. You can find a more detailed introduction in our initial August 2018 coverage.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/03/wireguard-vpn-makes-it-to-1-0-0-and… 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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#IsTheInternetDown
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Mar '20

28 Mar '20

Parts of it, anyway. Currently having trouble accessing github.com and anz.co.nz. Well, what else is there to do? ;)

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Public Crash Screens: Linux For A Change
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 27 Mar '20

27 Mar '20

The Register runs a regular series of reports on public signage showing crash messages instead of the ones they are supposed to show. Usually these are Microsoft Windows messages, often for hilariously out-of-date versions of Windows. This one, for a change <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/24/bork_walmart/>, shows a Linux boot failure. But it is still a hilariously out-of-date version of Linux.

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Moving To Life Online ... With A Vengeance
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Mar '20

26 Mar '20

ISPs are having a few hiccups adjusting to the massive increase in Internet usage, particularly in the daytime <https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=123201…>. Even phone calls, it seems, are overloading the landline network: Meanwhile, Spark says the indu[s]try-wide congestion problems that stopped many voice calls getting through on Monday and Tuesday are slowly starting to ease - but the telco is still encouraging people to use internet apps like Apple Facetime, WhatsApp or Skype for calls to help ease the pressure. Yeah, push even more load onto the Internet ...

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Singapore Government To Make Its Contact-Tracing App Freely Available To Developers Worldwide
by Peter Reutemann 26 Mar '20

26 Mar '20

'In a move to help the international community combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Singapore government will be making the software for its contact-tracing application TraceTogether, which has already been installed by more than 620,000 people, freely available to developers around the world. From a report: In a post on Monday, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan said that the app, developed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and the Ministry of Health, will be open-sourced. This means that the software's source code will be made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. "We believe that making our code available to the world will enhance trust and collaboration in dealing with a global threat that does not respect boundaries, political systems or economies," said Dr Balakrishnan, who is also Foreign Minister. "Together, we can make our world safer for everyone."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/20/03/25/1651232 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 exFAT Filesystem Is Coming To Linux -- Paragon Software's Not Happy About It
by Peter Reutemann 26 Mar '20

26 Mar '20

'When software and operating system giant Microsoft announced its support for inclusion of the exFAT filesystem directly into the Linux kernel back in August, it didn't get a ton of press coverage. But filesystem vendor Paragon Software clearly noticed this month's merge of the Microsoft-approved, largely Samsung-authored version of exFAT into the VFS for-next repository, which will in turn merge into Linux 5.7 -- and Paragon doesn't seem happy about it. Yesterday, Paragon issued a press release about European gateway-modem vendor Sagemcom adopting its version of exFAT into an upcoming series of Linux-based routers. Unfortunately, it chose to preface the announcement with a stream of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that wouldn't have looked out of place on Steve Ballmer's letterhead in the 1990s.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/20/03/25/2136223 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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