- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

The hijacking flaw that lurked in Intel chips is worse than anyone thought
by Peter Reutemann 08 May '17

08 May '17

'A remote hijacking flaw that lurked in Intel chips for seven years was more severe than many people imagined, because it allowed hackers to remotely gain administrative control over huge fleets of computers without entering a password. This is according to technical analyses published Friday. As Ars reported Monday, the authentication bypass vulnerability resides in a feature known as Active Management Technology. AMT, as it's usually called, allows system administrators to perform a variety of powerful tasks over a remote connection. Among the capabilities: changing the code that boots up computers, accessing the computer's mouse, keyboard, and monitor, loading and executing programs, and remotely powering on computers that are turned off. In short, AMT makes it possible to log into a computer and exercise the same control enjoyed by administrators with physical access. AMT, which is available with many vPro processors, was set up to require a password before it could be remotely accessed over a Web browser interface. But, remarkably, that authentication mechanism can be bypassed by entering any text string—or no text at all. According to a blog post published Friday by Tenable Network Security, the cryptographic hash that the interface's digest access authentication requires to verify someone is authorized to log in can be anything at all, including no string at all.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/05/the-hijacking-flaw-that-lurked-in-… 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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Debian 8.8 Released
by Peter Reutemann 07 May '17

07 May '17

'The Debian Project announced today Debian GNU/Linux 8.8, the most advanced stable version of the Jessie series, which brings corrections for numerous packages and various security flaws discovered and patched since the release of the Debian GNU/Linux 8.7 maintenance update back in mid-January 2017... "This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustments for serious problems. Security advisories were already published separately and are referenced where available," reads today's announcement. "Please note that this update does not constitute a new version of Debian 8 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old 'jessie' CDs or DVDs but only to update via an up-to-date Debian mirror after an installation, to cause any out of date packages to be updated." Debian 8.8 contains more than 150 bug fixes and security updates.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/05/06/2243254 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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Google Docs phishing problem
by Ian Young 05 May '17

05 May '17

As seen in an ITP weekly update. Spear phishing This one will definitely leave a mark and I suspect we'll be seeing waves from it for years to come. Google Docs have become a default mechanism for sharing and collaborating on single documents. For those of you not in the realm of writing stuff for a living, you possibly don't know about the special circle of hell reserved for those who don't track changes or for the group email that results in 50 different versions of the same document that need to be subsumed into one. Google Docs has meant everyone can work on the one piece at the same time and when they've exhausted their pedantic nit-picking about fonts, Oxford commas or whether Kiwi needs to be upper or lower case (upper case for New Zealanders, lower case for the bird or the dollar) then you can simply print it off and be done. Now some bugger has gone and ruined it for all by releasing a nasty phishing attack which sends out a spam inviting you to edit a Google Doc, then raiding your contacts and spamming all of them with the same message. By now it will have more email addresses than there are grains of sand on Whangapoua beach. Google has rushed out the big guns to take on the phish and says it has managed to shut it down (I haven't seen it at all, so I'm pleased about that) but already the damage will be done. These kinds of attacks simply undermine what makes the internet so useful - the openness of it all. One day soon the whole thing will be locked down (I see the newest version of Windows only allows apps to be installed from Microsoft's own app store) and the value and character that makes the internet what it is will be gone. The Verge - Google Docs users hit with sophisticated phishing attack Wired - Don't Open That Google Doc Unless You're Positive It's Legit CNN - Major phishing attack targets Google Docs users

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Google Releases DIY Open Source Raspberry Pi Voice Kit Hardware
by Peter Reutemann 05 May '17

05 May '17

'Google has decided to take artificial intelligence to the maker community with a new initiative called AIY. This initiative will introduce open source AI projects to the public that makers can leverage in a simple way. Today, Google announces the first-ever AIY project. Called "Voice Kit," it is designed to work with a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to create a voice-based virtual assistant. Billy Rutledge, Director of AIY Projects for Google, explains, "The first open source reference project is the Voice Kit: instructions to build a Voice User Interface (VUI) that can use cloud services (like the new Google Assistant SDK or Cloud Speech API) or run completely on-device. This project extends the functionality of the most popular single board computer used for digital making -- the Raspberry Pi. The included Voice Hardware Accessory on Top (HAT) contains hardware for audio capture and playback: easy-to-use connectors for the dual mic daughter board and speaker, GPIO pins to connect low-voltage components like micro-servos and sensors, and an optional barrel connector for dedicated power supply. It was designed and tested with the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B."' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/05/04/208240 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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No More FTP At Debian
by Peter Reutemann 04 May '17

04 May '17

'It looks like anonymous FTP is officially on its way out. While many public repositories have deprecated it in favor of HTTP, I was rather surprised to see Debian completely drop it on their public site. In a blog post, the team cited the FTP's lack of support for caching or acceleration, and declining usage as some of the reasons for their decision.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/05/04/1731227 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 Distro Count
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 May '17

03 May '17

I can remember reports from several years ago that distrowatch.com was tracking about 350 different Linux distros. Curious to know what the situation is like now, I went to their home page a few minutes ago, and counted the number of “<option ...>” entries in the “Select Distribution” popup menu at the top, and got 290. This figure also includes a few non-Linux OSes. But even so, I think it’s fair to say the sheer variety of Linux distros has scarcely abated over the last decade.

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Linux Kernel 4.11 Officially Released
by Peter Reutemann 02 May '17

02 May '17

'Linux kernel 4.11 has been in development for the past two months, since very early March, when the first Release Candidate arrived for public testing. Eight RCs later, we're now able to download and compile the final release of Linux 4.11 on our favorite GNU/Linux distributions and enjoy its new features. Prominent ones include scalable swapping for SSDs, a brand new perf ftrace tool, support for OPAL drives, support for the SMC-R (Shared Memory Communications-RDMA) protocol, journalling support for MD RAID5, all new statx() system call to replace stat(2), and persistent scrollback buffers for VGA consoles... The Linux 4.11 kernel also introduces initial support for Intel Gemini Lake chips, which is an Atom-based, low-cost computer processor family developed using Intel's 14-nanometer technology, and better power management for AMD Radeon GPUs when the AMDGPU open-source graphics driver is used.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/05/01/0534253 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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UEFI Secure Boot Booted From Debian 9 'Stretch'
by Peter Reutemann 02 May '17

02 May '17

'In a release update from last week, release team member Jonathan Wiltshire wrote that "At a recent team meeting, we decided that support for Secure Boot in the forthcoming Debian 9 'stretch' would no longer be a blocker to release. The likely, although not certain outcome is that stretch will not have Secure Boot support." "We appreciate that this will be a disappointment to many users and developers," he continued, "However, we need to balance that with the limited time available for the volunteer teams working on this feature, and the risk of bugs being introduced through rushed development." The decision not to offer Secure Boot support at release leaves Debian behind Red Hat and Suse, making it the only one of Linux's three main branches not to support the heir-to-BIOS and the many security enhancements it offers.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/05/01/1452209 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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Intel Patches Remote Execution Hole That's Been Hidden In Its Chips Since 2008
by Peter Reutemann 02 May '17

02 May '17

'Intel processor chipsets have, for roughly the past nine years, harbored a security flaw that can be exploited to remotely control and infect vulnerable systems with virtually undetectable spyware and other malicious code. Specifically, the bug is in Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT), Standard Manageability (ISM) and Small Business Technology (SBT) firmware versions 6 to 11.6. According to Chipzilla, the security hole allows "an unprivileged attacker to gain control of the manageability features provided by these products." That means hackers exploiting the flaw can silently snoop on a vulnerable machine's users, make changes to files and read them, install rootkits and other malware, and so on. This is possible across the network, or with local access. These management features have been available in various Intel chipsets for years, starting with the Nehalem Core i7 in 2008, all the way up to Kaby Lake Core parts in 2017. According to Intel today, this critical security vulnerability, labeled CVE-2017-5689, was found and reported in March by Maksim Malyutin at Embedi. To get the patch to close the hole, you'll have to pester your machine's manufacturer for a firmware update, or try the mitigations here. These updates are hoped to arrive within the next few weeks.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/05/01/228211 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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Richard Stallman Interviewed By Bryan Lunduke
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'Many Slashdot readers know Bryan Lunduke as the creator of the humorous "Linux Sucks" presentations at the annual Southern California Linux Exposition. He's now also a member of the OpenSUSE project board and an all-around open source guy. (In September, he released every one of his books, videos and comics under a Creative Commons license, while his Patreon page offers a tip jar and premiums for monthly patrons). But now he's also got a new "daily computing/nerd show" on YouTube, and last week -- using nothing but free software -- he interviewed the 64-year-old founder of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman. "We talk about everything from the W3C's stance on DRM to opinions on the movie Galaxy Quest," Lunduke explains in the show's notes.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/04/24/0738250 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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Systemd-Free Devuan Announces Its First Stable Release Candidate 'Jessie' 1.0.0
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

' Devuan 1.0.0-RC is announced, following its beta 2 release last year. The Debian fork that spawned over systemd controversy is reaching stability and plans long-term support. Devuan deploys an innovative continuous integration setup: with fallback on Debian packages, it overlays its own modifications and then uses the merged source repository to ship images for 11 ARM targets, a desktop and minimal live, vagrant and qemu virtual machines and the classic installer isos. The release announcement contains several links to projects that have already adopted this distribution as a base OS. "Dear Init Freedom Lovers," begins the announcement, "Once again the Veteran Unix Admins salute you!" It points out that Devuan "can be adopted as a flawless upgrade path from both Debian Wheezy and Jessie. This is a main goal for the Devuan Jessie stable release and has proven to be a very stable operation every time it has been performed. "' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/22/1822216 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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Anbox Can Run Android Apps Natively On Linux (In A Container)
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'Canonical engineer Simon Fels has publicly released an Alpha version of Anbox. Similar to the method employed for Android apps on ChromeOS, Anbox runs an entire Android system (7.1.1 at present) in an LXC container. Developed over the last year and a half, the software promises to seamlessly bring performant Android apps to the Linux desktop. After installing Anbox (based on Android 7.1.1) and starting Anbox Application Manager, ten apps are available: Calculator, Calendar, Clock, Contacts, Email, Files, Gallery, Music, Settings, and WebView. Apps run in separate resizeable windows. Additional apps (ARM-native binaries are excluded) can be installed via adb. Installation currently is only supported on a few Linux distributions able to install snaps. Contributions are welcome on Github. In a blog post Simon describes it as "a side project" that he's worked on for over a year and a half. "There were quite a few problems to solve on the way to a really working implementation but it is now in a state that it makes sense to share it with a wider audience."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/04/22/207253 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 PC Maker System76 Plans To Design And Manufacture Its Own Hardware
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'System76 is one of only a handful of PC vendors that exclusively sells computers with Linux-based software. Up until now, that's meant the company has chosen hardware that it could guarantee would work well with custom firmware and the Ubuntu Linux operating system... Starting in 2018 though, you may be able to buy a System76 computer that was designed and built in-house... CAD files for System76 computers will be open source, allowing anyone with the appropriate skills and equipment to build or modify their own cases based on the company's designs. "We're prototyping with acrylic and moving to metal soon," the company says in a blog post, adding "Our first in-house designed and manufactured desktops will ship next year. Laptops are more complex and will follow much later."' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/04/23/0325234 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 Linux Foundation Launches IoT-focused Open Source EdgeX Foundry
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'The Linux Foundation launches the open source EdgeX Foundry -- an attempt to unify and simplify the Internet of Things. The Linux Foundation says, "EdgeX Foundry is unifying the marketplace around a common open framework and building an ecosystem of companies offering interoperable plug-and-play components. Designed to run on any hardware or operating system and with any combination of application environments, EdgeX can quickly and easily deliver interoperability between connected devices, applications, and services, across a wide range of use cases. Interoperability between community-developed software will be maintained through a certification program."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/24/1511239 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 4.11 Delayed For a Week
by Peter Reutemann 26 Apr '17

26 Apr '17

'Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds said over the weekend that v4.11 version of Linux has hit a speed bump in the form of "NVMe power management that apparently causes problems on some machines." The Register adds: "It's not entirely clear what caused the [NVMe] issue (it wasn't just limited to some NVMe hardware, but also particular platforms), but let's test it." Which sounds like a good idea, given that flash memory on the PCIe bus is increasingly mainstream. That problem and "a couple of really annoying" bugs mean that Torvalds has decided to do an eighth release candidate for Linux 4.11. "I did get fixes for the issues that popped up, so I could have released 4.11 as-is," Torvalds wrote, "but it just doesn't feel right."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/24/1633209 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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Canadian Regulator Puts Foot Down On Net Neutrality
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 23 Apr '17

23 Apr '17

While the Trump administration has rolled back consumer protections on net neutrality in the USA, the Canadian CRTC has come out firmly in favour of it <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/04/21/canada_net_neutrality/>. It has said that “zero rating”--the practice of ISPs favouring certain online services by not counting them towards data caps, is bad because differential pricing practices, generally speaking, result in (a) a preference toward certain subscribers over others, (b) a preference toward certain content providers over others, (c) a disadvantage to subscribers who are not eligible for, or interested in, a differential pricing practice offering, and (d) a disadvantage to content providers that are not eligible for, or included in, an offering. In other words, they are anticompetitive, no matter what some may try to argue.

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File System Improvements To the Windows Subsystem for Linux
by Peter Reutemann 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

'In the latest Windows Insider build, the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) now allows you to manually mount Windows drives using the DrvFs file system. Previously, WSL would automatically mount all fixed NTFS drives when you launch Bash, but there was no support for mounting additional storage like removable drives or network locations. Now, not only can you manually mount any drives on your system, we've also added support for other file systems such as FAT, as well as mounting network locations. This enables you to access any drive, including removable USB sticks or CDs, and any network location you can reach in Windows all from within WSL.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/04/20/1422256 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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Unicode In Domain Names Opens Up Homograph Attacks
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 19 Apr '17

19 Apr '17

The problem is not new: it was identified over a decade ago. But no fix has been forthcoming. <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/04/18/homograph_attack_again/>

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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 18 Apr '17

18 Apr '17

Hi everyone We have a meeting coming up on Monday next week: "With Canonical killing off its desktop environment Unity in favor of GNOME, let's have a look at some of the available desktop environments: - Ian Stewart: Ubuntu 17.04 with Unity - William Mckee: LXDE - Peter Reutemann: MATE (vanilla and mint-flavored) Also, Ian Young: Getting a DVB-T card for laptops going - a live experiment." Details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/237234793/ If you want to demo another desktop environment, like KDE or XFCE, then please let me know. Always looking for volunteers! :-) 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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demo at meeting on Monday
by Ian Young 17 Apr '17

17 Apr '17

Afraid I won't be talking about Unity as Ian S has suggested - I have only ever used it briefly and never really quite got what it was all about. However if there is any spare time I could bring a DVB-T card for use with laptops I got recently. It seems to be a live one, lights up and is seen by a laptop and various Linux software applications for viewing TV. Alas, not scanning any channels. Perhaps someone knows all about this, or at any rate more than I do. The device in question is badged as an HP EC300 and has a DIBcom chipset. ~ Ian Y

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suggestion for upcoming meeting
by Peter Reutemann 15 Apr '17

15 Apr '17

Hi everyone With Canonical pulling out of Unity development, how about we showcase the various desktops that have been available for a long time and are *still* available at the next meeting (April 24th)? If you want to present one, then please reply to this list naming the desktop of your choice. Thanks. Cheers, Peter PS And stay safe with Cyclone Cook! The next 24 hours will be interesting... -- 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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Dozens Of Canonical Employees Resign As Ubuntu Switches To GNOME, Shuttleworth Returns As CEO
by Peter Reutemann 12 Apr '17

12 Apr '17

'More than 80 Canonical workers are facing the axe as founder Mark Shuttleworth has taken back the role of chief executive officer. The number, revealed today by The Reg, comes as Shuttleworth assumed the position from CEO of eight years Jane Silber, previously chief operating officer. The Reg has learned 31 or more staffers have already left the Ubuntu Linux maker ahead of Shuttleworth's rise, with at least 26 others now on formal notice and uncertainty surrounding the remainder. One individual has resigned while others, particularly in parts of the world with more stringent labour laws (such as the UK), are being left in the dark. The details come after The Reg revealed plans for the cuts as a commercial get-fit programme instituted by Shuttleworth. The Canonical founder is cutting numbers after an external assessment of his company by potential new financial backers found overstaffing and that projects lacked focus.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/04/12/1844230 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 Kodi Development Team Wants To Be Legitimate and Bring DRM To the Platform
by Peter Reutemann 11 Apr '17

11 Apr '17

'The XBMC/ Kodi development team has taken a lot of heat over the years, mostly due to third-party developers introducing piracy plugins to the platform. In many cases, cheap Android computers are often sold with these plugins pre-installed with the Kodi or XBMC name attached to them -- something that caused Amazon to ban sales of such devices. The Kodi team is not happy about this, and has taken the fight to the sellers. The Kodi team is now trying to work with rights holders to introduce DRM and legitimate plugins to the platform. Is this the first step towards creating a true one-stop do it yourself Linux entertainment system?' -- source: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/04/11/1911215 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 Founder Criticizes Free Software Developers Who 'Hate On Whatever's Mainstream'
by Peter Reutemann 10 Apr '17

10 Apr '17

'Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth said Saturday that "I came to be disgusted with the hate" on Canonical's display server Mir, saying it "changed my opinion of the free software community." After announcing his company was abandoning Unity for GNOME, Shuttleworth posted a gracious thank-you note to the Unity community Friday on Google Plus. But on Saturday, he added a sharper comment: "I used to think that it was a privilege to serve people who also loved the idea of service, but now I think many members of the free software community are just deeply anti-social types who love to hate on whatever is mainstream. When Windows was mainstream they hated on it. Rationally, Windows does many things well and deserves respect for those. And when Canonical went mainstream, it became the focus of irrational hatred too. The very same muppets would write about how terrible it was that IOS/Android had no competition and then how terrible it was that Canonical was investing in (free software!) compositing and convergence. Fuck that shit." The comment begins by saying "The whole Mir hate-fest boggled my mind - it's free software that does something invisible really well. It became a political topic as irrational as climate change or gun control, where being on one side or the other was a sign of tribal allegiance. We have a problem in the community when people choose to hate free software instead of loving that someone cares enough to take their life's work and make it freely available."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/04/09/1829209 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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Smart TV hack embeds attack code into broadcast signal—no access required
by Chris O'Halloran 06 Apr '17

06 Apr '17

https://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2017/04/smart-tv-hack-embeds-attack-code… A new attack that uses terrestrial radio signals to hack a wide range of Smart TVs raises an unsettling prospect—the ability of hackers to take complete control of a large number of sets at once without having physical access to any of them.

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Android devices can be fatally hacked by malicious Wi-Fi networks
by Peter Reutemann 06 Apr '17

06 Apr '17

'A broad array of Android phones is vulnerable to attacks that use booby-trapped Wi-Fi signals to achieve full device takeover, a researcher has demonstrated. The vulnerability resides in a widely used Wi-Fi chipset manufactured by Broadcom and used in both iOS and Android devices. Apple patched the vulnerability with Monday's release of iOS 10.3.1. "An attacker within range may be able to execute arbitrary code on the Wi-Fi chip," Apple's accompanying advisory warned. In a highly detailed blog post published Tuesday, the Google Project Zero researcher who discovered the flaw said it allowed the execution of malicious code on a fully updated 6P "by Wi-Fi proximity alone, requiring no user interaction." Google is in the process of releasing an update in its April security bulletin. The fix is available only to a select number of device models, and even then it can take two weeks or more to be available as an over-the-air update to those who are eligible. Company representatives didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this post.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/04/wide-range-of-android-phones-vulne… 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 Killing Unity For Ubuntu Linux, Will Switch To the Superior GNOME
by Peter Reutemann 05 Apr '17

05 Apr '17

'Today, the company admits that it is throwing in the towel on Unity, as well as its vision for convergence with devices like phones and tablets. Starting with Ubuntu 18.04, the wonderful GNOME will once again become the default desktop environment! "We are wrapping up an excellent quarter and an excellent year for the company, with performance in many teams and products that we can be proud of. As we head into the new fiscal year, it's appropriate to reassess each of our initiatives. I'm writing to let you know that we will end our investment in Unity8, the phone and convergence shell. We will shift our default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS," says Mark Shuttleworth, Founder of Ubuntu and Canonical.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/04/05/1812232 <rant> Well, looks like some consolidation is happening, not that I consider Gnome3 "superior". IMHO MATE is still far better (and making me more efficient) than Gnome3. Introducing dynamic workspaces was the worst decision ever... </rant> 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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Samsung’s Tizen is riddled with security flaws, amateurishly written
by Peter Reutemann 05 Apr '17

05 Apr '17

'Tizen, the open source operating system that Samsung uses on a range of Internet-of-Things devices and positions as a sometime competitor to Android, is chock full of egregious security flaws, according to Israeli researcher Amihai Neiderman. Samsung has been developing the operating system for many years. The project started as an Intel and Nokia project, and Samsung merged its Bada operating system into the code in 2013. Like Android, it's built on a Linux kernel, with a large chunk of open source software running on top. App development on Tizen uses C++ and HTML5.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/samsungs-tizen-is-riddled-with-secu… 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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Fuchsia: Google's new operating system
by Bryan Baldwin 04 Apr '17

04 Apr '17

Fuchsia is a new operating system <https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/718267/206c8a5fbf0ee2ea/> being built more or less from scratch at Google. The news of the development of Fuchsia made a splash on technology news sites in August 2016, although many details about it are still a mystery. It is an open-source project; development and documentation work is still very much ongoing. Despite the open-source nature of the project, its actual purpose has not yet been revealed by Google. From piecing together information from the online documentation and source code, we can surmise that Fuchsia is a complete operating system for PCs, tablets, and high-end phones. The source to Fuchsia and all of its components is available to download at its source repository <https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/>. If you enjoy poking around experimental operating systems, exploring the innards of this one will be fun. Fuchsia consists of a kernel plus user-space components on top that provide libraries and utilities. There are a number of subprojects under the Fuchsia umbrella in the source repository, mainly libraries and toolkits to help create applications. Fuchsia is mostly licensed under a 3-clause BSD license, but the kernel is based on another project called LK (Little Kernel) <https://github.com/littlekernel/lk> that is MIT-licensed, so the licensing for the kernel is a mix. Third-party software included in Fuchsia is licensed according to its respective open-source license. https://www.osnews.com/story/29747/Fuchsia_Google_s_new_operating_system

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The r/place Experiment
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Apr '17

04 Apr '17

Over the April Fool’s weekend, Reddit, the (in)famous social-media and troll-hangout site, tried something very unusual: they created a blank 1000-by-1000-pixel canvas, and turned their users loose on it to draw whatever they liked. The only restriction was a limit on how quickly any one user could update the image: just 1 pixel every 5 minutes. The resulting time-lapse animation is quite breathtaking to watch <https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/04/in-memoriam-reddits-72-hour-live-gra…>. Look at the number of logos and national flags: a battle between the French and German flags gets resolved with the French one running its bars vertically, the German one horizontally, and an EU flag placed at the intersection; another brief skirmish between the Greek and Turkish flags gets resolved with them being placed side by side, joined by a heart. Yes, there are the occasional rude words. But it’s surprising how little of that kind of thing appears--or perhaps it was removed too quickly by competing groups with other fish to fry. Watch the animations a few times; you’ll see something new each time.

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If-I-Buy-It-Do-I-Own-It Chapter 339: Tractors
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 31 Mar '17

31 Mar '17

Owners of John Deere tractors are resorting to pirated firmware in order to gain the ability to repair their own property: <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170322/04582036973/tractor-owners-using…> Are farmers in NZ impacted by any of this? I see that John Deere tractors are indeed sold here.

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Phrase Of The Week: “Necessary Hashtags”
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Mar '17

28 Mar '17

UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s immortal quotation has spawned a T-shirt: <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170327/20224837016/limited-edition-gear…>. Do you have the necessary hashtags? Do they come in a nice series of tubes?

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After 20 Years, OpenSSL Will Change To Apache License 2.0, Seeks Pasts Contributors
by Peter Reutemann 26 Mar '17

26 Mar '17

'After nearly 20 years and 31,000 commits, OpenSSL wants to change to Apache License v2.0. They're now tracking down all 400 contributors to sign new license agreements, a process expected to take several months. Slashdot reader rich_salz shares links to OpenSSL's official announcement (and their agreement-collecting web site). "This re-licensing activity will make OpenSSL, already the world's most widely-used FOSS encryption software, more convenient to incorporate in the widest possible range of free and open source software," said Mishi Choudhary, Legal Director of Software Freedom Law Center and counsel to OpenSSL. "OpenSSL's team has carefully prepared for this re-licensing, and their process will be an outstanding example of 'how to do it right.'" Click through for some comments on the significance of this move from the Linux Foundation, Intel, and Oracle.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/26/2258218 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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Ubuntu Linux 17.04 'Zesty Zapus' Final Beta Now Available For Download
by Peter Reutemann 26 Mar '17

26 Mar '17

'The final beta of Ubuntu 17.04 'Zesty Zapus' became available for download Thursday. While it is never a good idea to run pre-release software on production machines, Canonical is claiming that it should be largely bug free at this point. In other words, if you understand the risks, it should be a fairly safe. Home users aside, this is a good opportunity for administrators to conduct testing prior to the official release next month. "The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the final beta release of the Ubuntu 17.04 Desktop, Server, and Cloud products. Codenamed 'Zesty Zapus', 17.04 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution," says Adam Conrad, Canonical. "The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/25/2127238 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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meeting next Monday
by Peter Reutemann 23 Mar '17

23 Mar '17

Hi everyone We have a WLUG meeting coming up next Monday: "William Mckee has been to nz.js.con recently and will talk about the A/V setup used for recording the presentations: hdmi2usb" https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/237234774/ BTW It's not too late if you still want to present something! Just email me. 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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GNOME 3.24 Released
by Peter Reutemann 22 Mar '17

22 Mar '17

'GNOME 3.24 just finished its six-month development cycle, and it's now the most advanced stable version of the modern and popular desktop environment used by default in numerous GNU/Linux distributions. It was developed since October 2016 under the GNOME 3.23.x umbrella, during which it received numerous improvements. Prominent new features of the GNOME 3.24 desktop environment include a Night Light functionality that promises to automatically shift the colors of your display to the warmer end of the spectrum after sunset, and a brand-new GNOME Control Center with redesigned Users, Keyboard and Mouse, Online Accounts, Bluetooth, and Printer panels. As for the GNOME apps, we can mention that the Nautilus file manager now lets users browse files as root (system administrator), GNOME Photos imitates Darktable's exposure and blacks adjustment tool, GNOME Music comes with ownCloud integration and lets you edit tags, and GNOME Calendar finally brings the Week view. New apps like GNOME Recipes are also part of this release. The full release notes can be viewed here. Softpedia notes in conclusion: "As mentioned before, it will take at least a couple of weeks for the new GNOME 3.24 packages to land on the stable repositories of your favorite distro, which means that you'll most probably be able to upgrade from GNOME 3.22 when the first point release, GNOME 3.24.1, is out on April 12, 2017."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/03/22/205210 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 for Linux is Now Netflix Compatible
by Peter Reutemann 22 Mar '17

22 Mar '17

'For a while, Netflix was not available for traditional Linux-based operating systems, meaning users were unable to enjoy the popular streaming service without booting into Windows. This was due to the company's reliance on Microsoft Silverlight. Since then, Netflix adopted HTML5, and it made Google Chrome and Chromium for Linux capable of playing the videos. Unfortunately, Firefox -- the open source browser choice for many Linux users -- was not compatible. Today this changes, however, as Mozilla's offering is now compatible with Netflix!' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/22/1510220 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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suggestions for upcoming meeting?
by Peter Reutemann 19 Mar '17

19 Mar '17

Hi everyone Any suggestions for the upcoming meeting? https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/237234774/ Thanks. 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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Big Surprise: HTTPS Interception Middleboxes Weaken Your Security
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

Some companies run boxes that intercept outgoing TLS/SSL connections, by using their own certificates that employees’ machines are configured to accept, in order to enforce policies on access to outside sites. Trouble is, many of these boxes introduce their own vulnerabilities into the system, by allowing new kinds of attacks from outside. <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/17/are_you_undermining_your_web_secur…>

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Microsoft Locks Ryzen, Kaby Lake Users Out of Updates On Windows 7, 8.1
by Peter Reutemann 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

'In a move that will shock a lot of people, someone at Microsoft decided to deny Windows 7/8.1 updates to the users of the following CPU architectures: Intel seventh (7th)-generation processors (Kaby Lake); AMD "Bristol Ridge" (Zen/Ryzen); Qualcomm "8996." It's impossible to find any justification for this decision to halt support for the x86 architectures listed above because you can perfectly run MS-DOS on them. Perhaps, Microsoft has decided that the process of foisting Windows 10 isn't running at full steam, so the company created this purely artificial limitation. I expect it to be cancelled soon after a wide backlash from corporate customers. KitGuru notes that users may encounter the following error message when they attempt to update their OS: "Your PC uses a processor that isn't supported on this version of Windows." The only resolution is to upgrade to Windows 10.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/03/16/2047215 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 Preps Security Lifeboat, Yells: Ubuntu 12.04 Hold-Outs, Get In
by Peter Reutemann 15 Mar '17

15 Mar '17

'Canonical is extending the deadline for security updates for paying users of its five-year-old Ubuntu 12.04 LTS -- a first. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS will become the first Long Term Support release of Canonical's Linux to get Extended Security Maintenance (ESM). There are six LTS editions. All others have been end-of-lifed -- and given no security reprieve. LTS editions of Ubuntu Linux are released every two years. Desktop support runs for three years and the server edition receives security patches and updates for a period of five years. Security updates for 12.04 were scheduled to run out on April 28, 2017 but that now won't happen for those on Canonical's Ubuntu Advantage programme. They'll now receive important security fixes for the kernel and "most essential" userspace packages on their servers running 12.04. In what's shaping up to be Canonical's Windows XP moment over at Microsoft, the Linux spinner rolled out the lifeline because customers are clinging to 12.04.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/03/15/1754232 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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From DoNotPay To DoNotDeport?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 14 Mar '17

14 Mar '17

Last year, a 19-year-old student named Josh Browder released a chatbot that helped people avoid paying illegal parking fines. Now he is adapting the same technology to areas like compensation for flight delays, the rights of those who are HIV-positive, and refugees trying to cope with foreign legal systems <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170308/10393436870/chatbot-that-helped-…>.

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Debian Update: Stretch Frozen, Bug-Squashing Parties Planned
by Peter Reutemann 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

'"Debian project leader Mehdi Dogguy has written a status update concerning the work going on for the first two months of 2017," reports Phoronix. An anonymous reader quotes their report: So far this year Debian 9.0 Stretch has entered its freeze, bug squashing parties are getting underway for Stretch, the DebConf Committee is now an official team within Debian, a broad Debian Project roadmap is in the early stages of talk, and more. Bug-Squashing Parties have been scheduled this week in Germany and Brazil, with at least two more happening in May in Paris and Zurich, and for current Debian contributors, "Debian is willing to reimburse up to $100 (or equivalent in your local currency) for your travel and accommodation expenses for participating in Bug Squashing Parties..." writes Dogguy, adding "If there are no Bug Squashing Parties next to your city, can you organize one?"' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/03/12/2210215 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 'USG' Firewalls Protect USB Drives From Malicious Attacks
by Peter Reutemann 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

'A developer has created the USG, "a small, portable hardware USB firewall...to prevent malicious USB sticks and devices laden with malware from infecting your computer." An anonymous reader quotes ZDNet: The problem is that most computers automatically trust every USB device that's plugged in, which means malicious code can run without warning... Cars, cash registers, and some ATMs also come with USB ports, all of which can be vulnerable to cyberattacks from a single USB stick. That's where the USG firewall comes in...a simple hardware serial link that only accepts a very few select number of safe commands, which prevents the device from executing system commands or intercepting network traffic. That means the data can flow from the USB device, but [it] effectively blocks other USB exploits. The firmware has been open sourced, and the technical specifications have also been released online "to allow anyone to build their own from readily available development boards."' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/03/11/1658238 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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Munich's IT Lead: 'No Compelling Reason' To Switch Back To Windows From Linux
by Peter Reutemann 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

'"The man who runs Munich's central IT says there is no practical reason for the city to write off millions of euros and years of work to ditch its Linux-based OS for Windows," reports TechRepublic. Long-time Slashdot reader Qbertino summarizes a German-language article: Karl-Heinz Schneider, lead of Munich's local system house company IT(a)M, goes on to claim, "We do not see pressing technical reasons to switch to MS and MS Office... The council [in their recent plans] didn't even follow the analysts' suggestion to stick with using LibreOffice." Furthermore, Schneider stated that "System failures that angered citizens in recent years never were related to the LiMux project, but due to new bureaucratic procedures..." and apparently decisions by unqualified personnel at the administrative level, as Munich's administration itself states.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/03/11/0142247 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 Foundation Chief: Businesses 'Will Fail' If They Don't Use Open Source Code
by Peter Reutemann 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

'First Vint Cert said there's a "thread of openness" that runs throughout the internet, adding that "the internet, itself, has open characteristics" and thrives on "permissionless innovation." And Eric Brewer, vice president of infrastructure at Google, touched on the same themes, according to Tech Republic. "Linux, Brewer said, won some of the early internet wars because it was open, but also because it was the most innovative of its time. He also said that companies should work with open source for the value of the ecosystem and community, not just the value of the code." Then Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin told the audience that business models were already changing to include open source, and ultimately made the argument that organizations that "don't harvest the shared innovation" of open source "will fail." ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/12/0317215 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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Netflix access using Linux
by Roderick Aldridge 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Does Spark prevent clients using Netflix under Linux? If so is there a work-around? Thanks for any info. Rod

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Sensible Password Rules
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

NIST came out last year with some guidelines on how to choose passwords <https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/08/18/nists-new-password-rules-what-y…>. The “dos” should not be too surprising, but it is worth mentioning the “don’ts”: * No restrictions on what characters are allowed * No password hints * No knowledge-based authentication * No expiration without some good reason Also, they are no longer recommending the use of SMS for two-factor authentication. I wonder what you should use instead?

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Look before you paste from a website to terminal
by Peter Reutemann 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

'Most of the time when we see a code snippet online to do something, we often blindly copy paste it to the terminal. Even the tech savy ones just see it on the website before copy pasting. Here is why you shouldn't do this.' -- source: https://lifepluslinux.blogspot.co.nz/2017/01/look-before-you-paste-from-web… Hint: hidden commands thanks to HTML/CSS. 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 Continues Porting Visual C++ To Linux
by Peter Reutemann 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

'Long-time Slashdot reader Billly Gates shared some news from Microsoft's Visual C++ blog: Visual Studio 2017 now lets developers write C++ code for Linux desktops, servers, and other devices without an extension, targeting specific architectures, including ARM: Visual Studio will automatically copy and remotely build your sources and can launch your application with the debugger... Today Visual Studio only supports building remotely on the Linux target machine. It is not limited to specific Linux distros, but we do have dependencies on the presence of some tools. Specifically, we need openssh-server, g++, gdb and gdbserver. ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/03/11/0431252 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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