- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

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 So as time goes on, Buster will look increasingly outdated.'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 And yes, whereas it was hilariously out-of-date versions of Windows before (XP remained quite common, for example), now it’s out-of-date versions of Linux.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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