April 2020 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

corp.com Saved From Falling Into The Wrong Hands
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

Seems that early versions of Windows Active Directory would offer a default path name of “corp” during setup. Back in the days before the Internet became a part of everyday life, many admins accepted this without thinking too much about it. But once you start connecting servers to the Internet, they are liable to do DNS lookups on names like this, and accidentally connecting to something like “corp.com”. So to avoid such a name from coming under the control of less-than-savoury elements, Microsoft has bought it over <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/08/microsoft_active_directory/>. One of the reader comments links to this old Microsoft blog post <https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061013-05/?p=29393>, which explains that example/default names like “Contoso” and “Fabrikam” used in Microsoft’s documentation and products were actually created by their legal department, after a careful vetting process to ensure that they are indeed entirely fictitious.

1 0

Cryptominer Linux Malware Infecting Docker Containers
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

Seems some people are not properly securing their Docker setups <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/08/docker_malware_attacks/>, allowing the “Kinsing” malware to gain entrance and hijack your CPU time to do cryptocurrency mining.

1 0

Longtime Mozilla Leader Mitchell Baker is Now CEO
by Peter Reutemann 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

'On Wednesday, Mozilla chair and longtime leader Mitchell Baker was named permanent CEO of the company that makes the Firefox web browser. >From a report: Mitchell became interim CEO of Mozilla in December 2019, after former CEO Chris Beard resigned. The company conducted an external candidate search over the last eight months, and concluded the Mitchell is the right leader for Mozilla at this time, according to a company blog post published Wednesday. "Increasingly, numbers of people recognize that the internet needs attention," Baker said in another Mozilla blog post Wednesday. "Mozilla has a special, if not unique role to play here. It's time to tune our existing assets to meet the challenge. It's time to make use of Mozilla's ingenuity and unbelievable technical depth and understanding of the "web" platform to make new products and experiences. It's time to gather with others who want these things and work together to make them real."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/20/04/08/1720218 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

Chrome 81 Arrives With Web NFC Origin Trial, AR Features, and Mixed Images Autoupgraded To HTTPS
by Peter Reutemann 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

'Google today launched Chrome 81 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Chrome 81 includes an Origin Trial of Web NFC for mobile, early Augmented Reality support, mixed images autoupgraded to HTTPS, TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 deprecated, and more developer features. With over 1 billion users, Chrome is both a browser and a major platform that web developers must consider. In fact, with Chrome's regular additions and changes, developers have to stay on top of everything available -- as well as what has been deprecated or removed. Among other things, Chrome 81 removes the "discard" element and FTP support.' -- source: https://slashdot.org/story/20/04/08/1641238 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

Tails, the Security-Focused OS, Adds Support For Secure Boot
by Peter Reutemann 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

'Tail OS, an operating system optimized for privacy and anonymity, has released version 4.5 this week, the first version that supports a crucial security feature named UEFI Secure Boot. From a report: Secure Boot works by using cryptographic signatures to verify that firmware files loaded during a computer's boot-up process are authentic and have not been tampered. If any of the firmware checks fail, Secure Boot has the authority to stop the boot process, preventing the operating system from launching. The feature has been available as part of the UEFI specification for almost two decades but is rarely used. The reason is because not all firmware vendors cryptographically sign their files, leaving the door open to verification errors that -- when Secure Boot is enabled -- block many operation systems from launching.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/20/04/08/1712239 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 makes seamless update support mandatory in Android 11
by Peter Reutemann 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

'Google is putting new rules in place for Android 11: it's going to make support for Android's "seamless update" feature mandatory for devices launching with the new OS. The news comes to us via an Android source code commit first spotted by XDA Developers, which reads, "Require Virtual A/B on R launches." In English, this means the seamless update system, which requires two partitions (labeled "A" and "B"), will be required on Android R, aka Android 11. Android's seamless update system was introduced in Android 7.0 Nougat (it was actually borrowed from Chrome OS) as a way to reduce the downtime caused by OS updates and to offer a recovery mechanism in case an update applies incorrectly. Applying an update to an operating system usually means taking the OS offline for an extended period of downtime. On Android, before seamless updates, the phone would boot into recovery and could be stuck on the "Installing System Update" screen for as much as 25 minutes. That's a lot of downtime, and during this time you can't run any apps, see any text messages, or get any phone calls. The downtime happens because updating the system files requires taking the system partition offline, but the seamless update system fixes this by just having a second copy of the system partition.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/google-makes-seamless-update-suppor… 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

Scratch Makes It To TIOBE Top 20
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 08 Apr '20

08 Apr '20

Scratch, the graphically-based language designed to teach kids how to program, has entered TIOBE’s latest Top 20 list <https://devclass.com/2020/04/06/kids-programming-language-scratch-nails-top…>. Stats language R has also made some gains, getting into the top 10 for the first time.

1 0

Firefox 75 Arrives With Revamped Address Bar; Mozilla To Stick With 2020 Schedule
by Peter Reutemann 08 Apr '20

08 Apr '20

'Mozilla today launched Firefox 75 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Firefox 75 includes a revamped address bar with significant search improvements, a few performance tweaks, and a handful of developer features. You can download Firefox 75 for desktop now from Firefox.com, and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. According to Mozilla, Firefox has about 250 million active users, making it a major platform for web developers to consider. When the coronavirus crisis took hold, millions found themselves spending more time in their browsers as they learn and work from home. But the crisis is also impacting software developers. Google was forced to pause its Chrome releases, which typically arrive every six weeks. Ultimately, Chrome 81 was delayed, Chrome 82 is being skipped altogether, and Chrome 83 has been moved up a few weeks. Microsoft has followed suit with Edge's release schedule, consistent with Google's open source Chromium project, which both Chrome and Edge are based on. Mozilla wants to make clear it is not in the same boat. The company took an indirect jab at Google and Microsoft today, saying: "We've built empathy into our systems for handling difficult or unexpected circumstances. These strengths are what allow us to continue to make progress where some of our competitors have had to slow down or stop work."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/04/07/162246 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 Announces IPE, a New Code Integrity Feature for Linux
by Peter Reutemann 08 Apr '20

08 Apr '20

'Microsoft has revealed details about a new project it has been working on for Linux kernel. From a report: Named Integrity Policy Enforcement -- or IPE -- the project is a Linux security module (LSM). LSMs are optional add-ons for the Linux kernel that enable additional security features. According to a documentation page published on Monday, IPE is Microsoft's attempt to solve the code integrity problem for Linux -- an operating system the company broadly uses in its Azure cloud service. On Linux systems where IPE is enabled, system administrators can create a list of binaries that are allowed to execute and then add the verification attributes the kernel needs to check for each binary before allowing it to run. If binaries have been altered by an attacker, IPE can block the execution of the malicious code.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/20/04/07/1615232 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 Backs Apple's SMS OTP Standard Proposal
by Peter Reutemann 08 Apr '20

08 Apr '20

'Google is now backing a standard proposed by Apple engineers in January to create a default format for one-time passcodes (OTP) sent via SMS to users during the two-factor authentication (2FA) process. >From a report: The standard, proposed by Apple engineers working on the Safari WebKit project, has now reached the status of official Web Platform Incubator Community Group (WICG) specification draft. "We've moved 'Origin-bound one-time codes delivered via SMS' to @wicg_, where we're working on a shared spec with our collaborators at Google. Please take a look! Updated explainer, and specification," wrote Apple's Ricky Mondello. The proposal aims to fix some issues with the current state of SMS 2FA/OTP codes, all of which have different formats, unique per the websites sending the codes.' -- source: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/20/04/07/199245 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