- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

January meeting - ideas?
by Peter Reutemann 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

Hi everyone Apart from a very short SGM, we haven't got anything planned yet for our January meeting. How about roundup of some distros? Some ideas: http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=devuan http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=fedora http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zorin And something a little different? ;-) http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=reactos 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 Takes the Next Step Towards Rolling Out Multi-Process To Everyone
by Peter Reutemann 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

'With Firefox 50, Mozilla has rolled out the first major piece of its new multi-process architecture. Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari all have a multiple process design that separates their rendering engine -- the part of the browser that reads and interprets HTML, CSS, and JavaScript -- from the browser frame. They do this for stability reasons (if the rendering process crashes, it doesn't kill the entire browser) and security reasons (the rendering process can be run in a low-privilege sandbox, so exploitable flaws in the rendering engine are harder to take advantage of). Moreover, these browsers can all create multiple rendering engine processes and use different processes for different tabs. This means that the scope of a crash is narrowed even further, typically to a single tab. Internet Explorer and Chrome both implemented this long ago, in 2009. Firefox, however, has not offered a similar design. Although work on a multi-process browser was started in 2009, under the codename Electrolysis, that work was suspended between 2011 and 2013 as priorities within the organization shifted. In response, Mozilla started switching to a new extension system in 2015 that opened the door to a multi-process design. The first stage of Firefox's move to multi-process involves separating the browser shell from a single rendering process that's used by every tab. In Firefox 48, that feature was enabled for a small number of users who used no extensions. Firefox 49 was rolled out to include users running a limited selection of extensions. Now, in Firefox 50, a separate renderer process is used for most users and most extensions. Developers are now able to mark their extensions as explicitly multi-process compatible. Firefox 51 will extend this even further to cover all extensions, except those that are explicitly marked as incompatible. Mozilla says that, even with the limited changes made in Firefox 50, responsiveness of the browser has improved by 400 percent due to the separation between the renderer and the browser shell. During page loads, responsiveness will increase to 700 percent.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/12/22/0120256 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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MUFFIN, a new tasty user interface concept for LibreOffice
by Peter Reutemann 21 Dec '16

21 Dec '16

'The Document Foundation announces the MUFFIN, a new tasty user interface concept for LibreOffice, based on the joint efforts of the development and the design teams, supported by the marketing team. MUFFIN is an acronym for My User Friendly & Flexible INterface, and focuses on the three areas suggested by LibreOffice users during the development of the concept: My: LibreOffice users want a “personal” UI, with different options capable of adapting to the user’s personal habits, and not a single UI without options. User Friendly: of course, any UI should be as user friendly as possible, but LibreOffice users have clearly asked for a “modular” UI, where they can set their own level of user friendliness, and not a single UI without options. Flexible: the increasing number of LibreOffice users deploying the software on different hardware platforms (for instance, a desktop and a laptop), each one with different characteristics and screen size and resolution, have asked for a UI that can be tweaked to leverage the screen real estate, and not a single UI without options. INterface: The MUFFIN concept is the combination of different UI elements, which are going to be available starting from LibreOffice 5.3 either as a standard or experimental feature: the Default UI (with toolbars), a Single Toolbar UI, the Sidebar with a Single Toolbar, and the new Notebook Bar (experimental). Each UI layout has been thought to serve a different cluster of LibreOffice users.' -- source: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2016/12/21/the-document-foundation… It's about choice, that's why I love open-source! :-) 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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Home routers under attack in ongoing malvertisement blitz
by Peter Reutemann 19 Dec '16

19 Dec '16

'As you read these words, malicious ads on legitimate websites are targeting visitors with malware. But that malware doesn't infect their computers, researchers said. Instead, it causes unsecured routers to connect to fraudulent domains. Using a technique known as steganography, the ads hide malicious code in image data. The hidden code then redirects targets to webpages hosting DNSChanger, an exploit kit that infects routers running unpatched firmware or are secured with weak administrative passwords. Once a router is compromised, DNSChanger configures it to use an attacker-controlled domain name system server. This causes most computers on the network to visit fraudulent servers, rather than the servers corresponding to their official domain.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/12/home-routers-under-attack-in-ongoin… 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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Old Masters Reinterpreted
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 16 Dec '16

16 Dec '16

“We Rolled Our Own Crypto”, by Peter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1562 <http://classicprogrammerpaintings.com/post/148027314949/we-rolled-our-own-c…>

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Razors Edge database
by Roderick Aldridge 16 Dec '16

16 Dec '16

Does anybody know about running Razors Edge database under Linux or anybody who does? I successfully installed Citrix Receiver and logged into the database and ran a Report to get information, but could not save it or export it. Although I used the Linux Debian Citrix Receiver the options to save were all Windows destinations. when I tried to save to the computer option the message says The operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on the computer. Please contact your system administrator. This could be a permissions problem. Any help welcome. Roderick Aldridge.

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0-days hitting Fedora and Ubuntu open desktops to a world of hurt
by Peter Reutemann 16 Dec '16

16 Dec '16

'If you run a mainstream distribution of Linux on a desktop computer, there's a good chance security researcher Chris Evans can hijack it when you do nothing more than open or even browse a specially crafted music file. And in the event you're running Chrome on the just-released Fedora 25, his code-execution attack works as a classic drive-by.' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/12/fedora-and-ubuntu-0days-show-that-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/

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Yahoo admits it’s been hacked again, and 1 billion accounts were exposed
by Peter Reutemann 15 Dec '16

15 Dec '16

'On December 14, Yahoo announced that after an investigation into data provided by law enforcement officials in November, the company and outside forensics experts have determined that there was in fact a previously undetected breach of data from more than 1 billion user accounts. The breach took place in August 2013 and is apparently distinct from the previous mega-breach revealed this fall—one Yahoo claims was conducted by a "state-sponsored actor." The information accessed from potentially exposed accounts "may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers," Yahoo's chief information security officer, Bob Lord, reported in the statement issued by the company. "The investigation indicates that the stolen information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected."' -- source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/12/yahoo-reveals-1-billion-more-accoun… 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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OpenStreetView
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 14 Dec '16

14 Dec '16

You’ve heard of OpenStreetMap, the (very popular) project to compile mapping information for the whole world under a freely shareable, open licence; now there is OpenStreetView, which attempts to do the same for street-level photos <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/14/open_source_insider_openstreetview_…>.

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First Version of Sandboxed Tor Browser Available
by Peter Reutemann 12 Dec '16

12 Dec '16

'To protect Tor users from FBI hacking tools that include all sorts of Firefox zero-days, the Tor Project started working on a sandboxed version of the Tor Browser in September. Over the weekend, the Tor Project released the first alpha version of the sandboxed Tor Browser. "Currently, this version is in an early alpha stage, and only available for Linux," reports BleepingComputer. "There are also no binaries available, and users must compile it themselves from the source code, which they can grab from here." The report notes: "Sandboxing is a security mechanism employed to separate running processes. In computer security, sandboxing an application means separating its process from the OS, so vulnerabilities in that app can't be leveraged to extend access to the underlying operating system. This is because the sandboxed application works with its own separate portion of disk and memory that isn't linked with the OS."' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/12/12/2042225 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 Mint 18.1 'Serena' BETA Ubuntu-based Operating System Now Available For Download
by Peter Reutemann 05 Dec '16

05 Dec '16

'Feeling fatigued by Windows 10 and its constant updates and privacy concerns? Can't afford one of those beautiful new MacBook Pro laptops? Don't forget, Linux-based desktop operating systems are just a free download away, folks! If you do decide to jump on the open source bandwagon, a good place to start is Linux Mint. Both the Mate and Cinnamon desktop environments should prove familiar to Windows converts, and since it is based on Ubuntu, there is a ton of compatible packages. Today, the first beta of Linux Mint 18.1 'Serena' becomes available for download.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/12/04/236236 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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Canonical Sues Cloud Provider Over 'Unofficial' Ubuntu Images
by Peter Reutemann 05 Dec '16

05 Dec '16

'Canonical posted Thursday that they've been in a dispute with "a European cloud provider" over the use of their own homespun version of Ubuntu on their cloud servers. Their implementation disables even the most basic of security features and Canonical is worried something bad could happen and it'd reflect badly back on them... They said they've spent months trying to get the unnamed provider to use the standard Ubuntu as delivered to other commercial operations to no avail. Canonical feels they have no choice but to "take legal steps to remove these images." They're sure Red Hat and Microsoft wouldn't be treated like this. Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu, wrote in his blog post that Ubuntu is "the leading cloud OS, running most workloads in public clouds today," whereas these homegrown images "are likely to behave unpredictably on update in weirdly creative and mysterious ways... We hear about these issues all the time, because users assume there is a problem with Ubuntu on that cloud; users expect that 'all things that claim to be Ubuntu are genuine', and they have a right to expect that... "To count some of the ways we have seen home-grown images create operational and security nightmares for users: clouds have baked private keys into their public images, so that any user could SSH into any machine; clouds have made changes that then blocked security updates for over a week... When things like this happen, users are left feeling let down. As the company behind Ubuntu, it falls to Canonical to take action."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/12/04/2235251 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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Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Linux Laptop?
by Peter Reutemann 04 Dec '16

04 Dec '16

'Long-Time Slashdot reader sconeu is finally replacing his 10-year-old Toshiba Satellite laptop, and needs suggestions on the best current laptops for running Linux. I'm looking to run some flavor of Linux (probably KDE-based UI, but not mandatory) while using a virtual machine to run Windows 7 (for stuff needed for work). For me personally, battery life and weight are more important than raw power. I'm not going to be running games on this. I've been considering an XPS 13 Developer Edition, or something from System76, ZaReason or Emperor Linux. What laptop do you use? Do you have any suggestions? It's your chance to share useful information, recommendations, and your own experiences with various brands of laptop. So leave your best answers in the comments. What's the best Linux laptop? ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/12/03/0727258 Personally, I've been very happy with my Dell Latitude 6430u at work in conjunction with Linux Mint 17. 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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Devuan's Systemd-Free Linux Hits Beta 2
by Peter Reutemann 04 Dec '16

04 Dec '16

'Long-time Slashdot reader Billly Gates writes, "For all the systemd haters who want a modern distro feel free to rejoice. The Debian fork called Devuan is almost done, completing a daunting task of stripping systemd dependencies from Debian." From The Register: Devuan came about after some users felt [Debian] had become too desktop-friendly. The change the greybeards objected to most was the decision to replace sysvinit init with systemd, a move felt to betray core Unix principles of user choice and keeping bloat to a bare minimum. Supporters of init freedom also dispute assertions that systemd is in all ways superior to sysvinit init, arguing that Debian ignored viable alternatives like sinit, openrc, runit, s6 and shepherd. All are therefore included in Devuan. Devuan.org now features an "init freedom" logo with the tagline, "watching your first step. Their home page now links to the download site for Devuan Jessie 1.0 Beta2, promising an OS that "avoids entanglement".' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/12/04/0142242 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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Easing Into That Leap-Second...
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 02 Dec '16

02 Dec '16

Google is offering time servers that will help you get over the upcoming leap-second hump. Instead of having a day with 61 seconds in it, their clock will run 0.0014% slower across a twenty-hour interval with the moment of the leap second in the middle. At the end of that interval, your clock will be correctly in sync with UTC again. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/02/google_public_ntp_servers/>

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Firefox: libavcodec may be vulnerable or is not supported, and should be updated to play video
by Peter Reutemann 01 Dec '16

01 Dec '16

Hi everyone Being on Linux Mint 17, I've noticed that Chromium stopped playing certain animated gifs a few weeks (probably after an upgrade of the browser). Switching to Firefox, I had the same problem, but I got at least a message: libavcodec may be vulnerable or is not supported, and should be updated to play video Following the instructions here solved my problem: http://superuser.com/a/1137409 However, Chromium still doesn't work. Maybe it's not linking to the libavcodec libraries, but including them in their build, using the outdated Mint 17 libraries. 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’s Market Share Grows Because It Can Fit Any Niche, Big Or Small
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Dec '16

01 Dec '16

<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/12/androids-market-share-grows-because-…> How Android began: Android started out as an advanced platform for digital cameras with network connections. When Android, Inc. founders Andy Rubin and Matias Duarte realized that the camera market was too small to carry a whole new business structure, the company ported its software over to the more promising smartphone sector. Not so convinced about this: These days, you can modify and build almost all of Android from freely available code, but the remaining Google-specific bits are almost compulsory in order to provide a high-quality user experience. considering that there are hundreds of millions of Android users in China who have probably never heard of Google. And for those hankering after more, shall we say, venerable form factors: Pining for a physical keyboard? There are still Android models with that feature. ... Looking for a flip-phone with smartphone features? Lesser-known device makers like Freetel can hook you up. Samsung took that idea one step further with the W2016 flip-phone, which comes with separate screens on the inside and the outside of the fold, along with a physical T9 keypad. etc etc.

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Oracle Abandoning Solaris?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Dec '16

01 Dec '16

Seems like every OS that gets to call itself “Unix” is either dead or dying... <http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Oracle-Solaris-Demise-Rumors>

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feature update (formerly known as upgrade)
by Ian Young 01 Dec '16

01 Dec '16

The detailed content is a bit beyond my pay grade but I did like the bit about upgrade being displaced by feature update. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/01/upgrade_shift_f10_pops_win10_system…

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Firefox Zero-Day Can Be Used To Unmask Tor Browser Users
by Peter Reutemann 01 Dec '16

01 Dec '16

'A Firefox zero-day being used in the wild to target Tor users is using code that is nearly identical to what the FBI used in 2013 to unmask Tor-users. A Tor browser user notified the Tor mailing list of the newly discovered exploit, posting the exploit code to the mailing list via a Sigaint darknet email address. A short time later, Roger Dingledine, co-founder of the Tor Project Team, confirmed that the Firefox team had been notified, had "found the bug" and were "working on a patch." On Monday, Mozilla released a security update to close off a different critical vulnerability in Firefox. Dan Guido, CEO of TrailofBits, noted on Twitter, that "it's a garden variety use-after-free, not a heap overflow" and it's "not an advanced exploit." He added that the vulnerability is also present on the Mac OS, "but the exploit does not include support for targeting any operating system but Windows." Security researcher Joshua Yabut told Ars Technica that the exploit code is "100% effective for remote code execution on Windows systems." "The shellcode used is almost exactly the shellcode of the 2013 one," tweeted a security researcher going by TheWack0lian. He added, "When I first noticed the old shellcode was so similar, I had to double-check the dates to make sure I wasn't looking at a 3-year-old post." He's referring to the 2013 payload used by the FBI to deanonymize Tor-users visiting a child porn site. The attack allowed the FBI to tag Tor browser users who believed they were anonymous while visiting a "hidden" child porn site on Freedom Hosting; the exploit code forced the browser to send information such as MAC address, hostname and IP address to a third-party server with a public IP address; the feds could use that data to obtain users' identities via their ISPs.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/11/30/2156218 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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More Than 1 Million Android Devices Rooted By Gooligan Malware
by Peter Reutemann 30 Nov '16

30 Nov '16

'A new version of an existing piece of malware has emerged in some third-party Android app stores and researchers say it has infected more than a million devices around the world, giving the attackers full access to victims' Google accounts in the process. The malware campaign, known as Gooligan, is a variant of older malware called Ghost Push that has been found in many malicious apps. Researchers at Check Point recently discovered several dozen apps, mainly in third-party app stores, that contain the malware, which is designed to download and install other apps and generate income for the attackers through click fraud. The malware uses phantom clicks on ads to generate revenue for the attackers through pay-per-install schemes, but that's not the main concern for victims. The Gooligan malware also employs exploits that take advantage of several known vulnerabilities in older versions of Android, including Kit Kat and Lollipop to install a rootlet that is capable of stealing users' Google credentials.Although the malware has full remote access to infected devices, it doesn't appear to be stealing user data, but rather is content to go the click-fraud route. Most users are being infected through the installation of apps that appear to be legitimate but contain the Gooligan code, a familiar infection routine for mobile devices.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/11/30/1720202 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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expanding Europe's Linux Presentation Day to New Zealand
by Hauke Laging 30 Nov '16

30 Nov '16

Hello, in May 2015 Berlin's Linux user group (BeLUG) has started a new type of event which has spread quickly all over Europe: the Linux Presentation Day (LPD) 2015.1: Berlin only 2015.2: 72 cities in three countries 2016.1: 110 cities in 10 countries 2016.2: 150+ cities in 14 countries (on October, 22nd) I contact you because we intend to expand the LPD beyond Europe next year. The aim of the LPD towards the general public is to provide biannual and comprehensive information events about Linux for private users who would like to get a first impression of Linux. The aim towards the media is to make the event so big (both nationally and internationally) that the nationwide non-IT media cover it regularly. The aim towards the Linux community is that an LPD event can be so small and easy to organize (even without costs) that really everyone can try to organize an event with good chances of success. The local organizers decide on their own what their event shall be like; we just make suggestions and offer support. You can find a longer description of the concept here: http://www.linux-presentation-day.org/idea/ Are you as an organization interested in participating in the LPD? If not: Are any of your members interested in helping us bring the LPD to New Zealand? This event is very useful for finding new LUG members. Best regards, (Mr.) Hauke Laging -- http://www.linux-presentation-day.org/ International phone contact for the Linux Presentation Day: tel:+49-30-55579620 (13:00–23:00, German and English) XMPP (Chat with OTR): linux-presentation-day(a)jabber.ccc.de OTR: 91626899 1C06F2BD 75EC2441 35C696CE 38F75997

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Westpac one and online banking
by Ron Dean 30 Nov '16

30 Nov '16

Apparently I was in error that Westpac would be closing its browser based online banking. Its still available through a browser just not the original Online banking. Thanks for all your comments -- Ron Dean

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Jolla's Sailfish OS Now Certified as Russian Government's First 'Android Alternative'
by Peter Reutemann 29 Nov '16

29 Nov '16

'The future for one of the few remaining alternative mobile OS platforms, Jolla's Sailfish OS, looks to be taking clearer shape. Today the Finnish company which develops and maintains the core code, with the aim of licensing it to others, announced Sailfish has achieved domestic certification in Russia for government and corporate use. TechCrunch adds: In recent years the Russian government has made moves to encourage the development of alternatives to the duopoly of US-dominated smartphone platforms, Android and Apple's iOS -- flagging Sailfish as one possibility, along with Tizen. Although Sailfish looks to have won out as the preferred Android alternative for Russia at this point. The government has said it wants to radically reduce its reliance on foreign mobile OSes -- to 50 per cent by 2025 vs the 95 per cent of the market garnered by Android and iOS in 2015. Sailfish's local certification in Russia also follows an announcement earlier this year that a new Russian company, Open Mobile Platform (OMP), had licensed the OS with the intention of developing a custom version of the platform for use in the domestic market. So, in other words, a Russian, strategic 'Android alternative' is currently being built on Sailfish.' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/11/29/208245 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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Westpac insisting that Banking be done with Android or IOS
by Ron Dean 29 Nov '16

29 Nov '16

I always do my banking with a Linux Desktop and keep the system up to Date and do it through a web browser. It seems less secure with my android devices as they don't provide frequent updates as Ubuntu does. Should I change Banks? -- Ron Dean

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