- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark) Is Now in Final Freeze, Launches October 19
by Peter Reutemann 15 Oct '17

15 Oct '17

'Work on Ubuntu 17.10 begun six months ago, on April 20, when the toolchain was uploaded to the repository, with the main goal of replacing our beloved Unity user interface with the latest GNOME 3 desktop environment. Two Alpha and Beta milestones later, Ubuntu 17.10 is now officially in Final Freeze stage. "As of now, artful has entered the Final Freeze period in preparation for the final release of Ubuntu 17.10 next week," said Adam Conrad, Software Engineer at Canonical, in a mailing list announcement. "The current uploads in the queue will be reviewed and either accepted or rejected as appropriate by pre-freeze standards." Of course, this means that developers won't be able to update any of the packages they maintain, except for those that fix critical bugs affecting the ISO images or the installer. Patches for 0-day security vulnerabilities are also welcome during the Final Freeze stage, which will last until next week, on October 19, 2017.' -- source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ubuntu-17-10-artful-aardvark-is-now-in-final… 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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How to Switch to Xorg from Wayland in Ubuntu 17.10 [Quick Tip]
by Peter Reutemann 15 Oct '17

15 Oct '17

"One of the main new features in Ubuntu 17.10 is the addition of Wayland as the default display server. As more and more Linux distributions are moving away from the legacy X.Org server and Wayland seems to be the top alternative. While Wayland maybe the future, it really is in future. At least for Ubuntu 17.10. The issue here is that a number of Linux desktop applications still depend on X.Org. They don’t support Wayland very well." -- source: https://itsfoss.com/switch-xorg-wayland/ 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 Android ransomware "DoubleLocker"
by Eric Light 15 Oct '17

15 Oct '17

Anyone out there still trust Adobe Flash Player? "DoubleLocker can change the device’s PIN, preventing victims from accessing their devices, and also encrypts the data it finds in them – a combination that has not been seen previously in the Android ecosystem. [...] It is distributed mostly as a fake Adobe Flash Player through compromised websites. First, it changes the device’s PIN, effectively blocking the victim from using it. The new PIN is set to a random value which the attackes neither store nor send anywhere, so it’s impossible for the user or a security expert to recover it. After the ransom is paid, the attacker can remotely reset the PIN and unlock the device. Second, DoubleLocker encrypts all files from the device’s primary storage directory. It utilizes the AES encryption algorithm, appending the extension “.cryeye”. “The encryption is implemented properly, which means that, unfortunately, there is no way to recover the files without receiving the encryption key from the attackers,” says Štefanko. https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/10/13/doublelocker-innovative-android-m… -------------------------------------------- Q: Why is this email five sentences or less? A: http://five.sentenc.es

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SUSE Shares Linux-Themed Music Video Parodies
by Peter Reutemann 15 Oct '17

15 Oct '17

'German Linux company SUSE Linux is well-known for its Linux and other open source solutions. It is also known for producing videos for geeks and debuting them at its annual SUSECon conference. This year, in Prague, was no different. The company, which marked its 25th year on 2 September, came up with two videos, one to mark the occasion and the other all about Linux and open source. Both videos are parodies of well-known songs: the video Linus Said is based on "Momma Said", while 25 Years is a parody of "7 Years". Some of the lyrics in both SUSE videos would be meaningless to the average person -- but every word will ring a bell, sometimes a very poignant one, with geeks. And that's the primary audience it targets. The article embeds both videos -- and also links to the music videos they're parodying. And it includes links to SUSE's two previous annual music video parodies -- Uptime Funk (based on Bruno Mars' blockbuster hit "Uptown Funk"), and Can't Stop the SUSE, a parody of Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling".' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/10/15/0137205 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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Unpatched Exploit Lets You Clone Key Fobs and Open Subaru Cars
by Peter Reutemann 15 Oct '17

15 Oct '17

'Tom Wimmenhove, a Dutch electronics designer, has discovered a flaw in the key fob system used by several Subaru models, a vulnerability the vendor has not patched and could be abused to hijack cars. The issue is that key fobs for some Subaru cars use sequential codes for locking and unlocking the vehicle, and other operations. These codes -- called rolling codes or hopping code -- should be random, in order to avoid situations when an attacker discovers their sequence and uses the flaw to hijack cars. This is exactly what Wimmenhove did. He created a device that sniffs the code, computes the next rolling code and uses it to unlock cars... The researcher said he reached out to Subaru about his findings. "I did [reach out]. I told them about the vulnerability and shared my code with them," Wimmenhove told BleepingComputer. "They referred me to their 'partnership' page and asked me to fill in a questionnaire. It didn't seem like they really cared and I haven't heard back from them." His Subaru-cracking feat -- documented in a video -- was accomplished using a $25 Raspberry Pi B+ and two dongles, one for wifi ($2) and one for a TV ($8), plus a $1 antenna and a $1 MCX-to-SMA convertor.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/10/14/230254 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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Everybody Has To Be A Software Company Now
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 14 Oct '17

14 Oct '17

Wireless speakers made by Pure no longer work with Apple’s newest phone OS, because it has dropped the ability to run 32-bit apps--everything must now be 64-bit-only <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/12/ios_11_knackers_neglected_pure_conn…>: Part of the problem, it seems, is Pure's inability to maintain and update its own apps, and it is most likely not alone in this respect: companies that have outsourced their mobile app programming are finding themselves locked out of iOS 11 because they can't get the code or the tools or the people to rebuild their contract-developed software. The iOS App Store shows that the last update to Pure Connect was on June 25, 2015, more than two years ago, so Pure has been without a mobile developer for a while, it seems. More and more consumer products need ongoing software updates now. But the companies selling those products are having trouble getting to grips with that fact.

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Impersonating Password Prompts
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 13 Oct '17

13 Oct '17

An old problem which never seems to be quite solved: how do you distinguish pieces of software on a platform that have a legitimate need to request a password from you, from those which don’t? <https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2017/10/impersonating_i.html>

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XikiHub: The Social Command Line
by Peter Reutemann 13 Oct '17

13 Oct '17

'In 2014, Craig Muth developed an open source alternative shell called Xiki (executable wiki) which combined shell and GUI concepts and tried making the shell console more friendly and powerful. The selection was easier with arrow keys or with mouse clicks and there was the option to create menus to access other tools with ease. And, all of this was made possible for beginners with little to no knowledge about the command line. ' [see archive link here: https://list.waikato.ac.nz/pipermail/wlug/2014-June/012983.html] 'Now, Xiki is going a step further with XikiHub by adding a social element to commands. XikiHub aims to be a social repository where you can discover thousands of examples and interfaces contributed from users all over the world. You can pick up the one you like, create your own and contribute it to the social repository. The idea behind XikiHub is to create a social platform where any Xiki user can share a command he/she created that can be picked up and used by any other user. It will include a quick install step that will provide the option to review before installing a command.' -- source: https://itsfoss.com/xikihub-social-command-line/ 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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Endless OS Is First Linux Distro to Support Flatpak Apps from Flathub by Default
by Peter Reutemann 13 Oct '17

13 Oct '17

'Flatpak has been around for some time now, and it's gaining more and more popularity among GNU/Linux distributions. Endless OS is the latest to announce that it brings support for Flatpak apps, though it's the first to offer support for this universal binary format directly from the Flathub repository, by default. Last month, the Flatpak developers over at Red Hat announced that their Flathub software repository received a modern, web-based frontend, which allows users to easily browse all available Flatpak apps at a glance, and developers to add their own Flatpaks to the list of more than 100 apps.' -- source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/endless-os-is-first-linux-distro-to-enable-s… 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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Purism Linux smartphone makes its $1.5 million crowdfunding goal
by Peter Reutemann 12 Oct '17

12 Oct '17

'Hundreds of millions are happy with Android smartphones and iPhones. But there are some users who want the maximum possible control over their smartphones. For those people, Purism now has the funding it needs for its free-software smartphone without a trace of proprietary code or firmware: The Purism Librem 5 smartphone. At first, it appeared Purism wouldn't make its $1.5-million goal. The Librem 5 crowdfunding campaign staggered forward at first. Them, when KDE and then GNOME threw their support behind the project, the project picked up steam.' -- source: http://www.zdnet.com/article/purism-linux-smartphone-makes-its-1-5-million-… 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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