- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Windows switch to Git almost complete: 8, 500 commits and 1, 760 builds each day
by Peter Reutemann 25 May '17

25 May '17

'Back in February, Microsoft made the surprising announcement that the Windows development team was going to move to using the open source Git version control system for Windows development. A little over three months after that first revelation, and about 90 percent of the Windows engineering team has made the switch.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/05/90-of-windows-devs-n… 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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Malicious Subtitles Threaten VLC, Kodi and Popcorn Time Users, Researchers Warn
by Peter Reutemann 24 May '17

24 May '17

'Millions of people risk having their devices and systems compromised by malicious subtitles, according to a new research published by security firm Check Point. The threat comes from a previously undocumented vulnerability which affects users of popular streaming software, including Kodi, Popcorn-Time, and VLC. Developers of the applications have already applied fixes and in some cases, working on it. From a report: While most subtitle makers do no harm, it appears that those with malicious intent can exploit these popular streaming applications to penetrate the devices and systems of these users. Researchers from Check Point, who uncovered the problem, describe the subtitle 'attack vector' as the most widespread, easily accessed and zero-resistance vulnerability that has been reported in recent years. "By conducting attacks through subtitles, hackers can take complete control over any device running them. From this point on, the attacker can do whatever he wants with the victim's machine, whether it is a PC, a smart TV, or a mobile device," they write.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/17/05/24/1329211 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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Testing Windows Software For Vulns Too Slow? Do It On Linux!
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 May '17

24 May '17

“Distributed, scalable fuzzing on Windows can be challenging and inefficient. This is especially true for endpoint security products, which use complex interconnected components that span across kernel and user space. This often requires spinning up an entire virtualized Windows environment to fuzz them or collect coverage data.” Porting stuff like Windows antivirus tools to Linux lets Ormandy “run the code I’m testing in minimal containers with very little overhead, and easily scale up testing”. Oh, and “I also think Linux has better tools”. <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/24/whats_got_a_vast_attack_service_an…>

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WannaCry Makes an Easy Case For Linux
by Peter Reutemann 23 May '17

23 May '17

'The thing is, WannaCry isn't the first of its kind. In fact, ransomware has been exploiting Windows vulnerabilities for a while. The first known ransomware attack was called "AIDS Trojan" that infected Windows machines back in 1989. This particular ransomware attack switched the autoexec.bat file. This new file counted the amount of times a machine had been booted; when the machine reached a count of 90, all of the filenames on the C drive were encrypted. Windows, of course, isn't the only platform to have been hit by ransomware. In fact, back in 2015, the LinuxEncoder ransomware was discovered. That bit of malicious code, however, only affected servers running the Magento ecommerce solution. The important question here is this: Have their been any ransomware attacks on the Linux desktop? The answer is no. With that in mind, it's pretty easy to draw the conclusion that now would be a great time to start deploying Linux on the desktop. I can already hear the tired arguments. The primary issue: software. I will counter that argument by saying this: Most software has migrated to either Software as a Service (SaaS) or the cloud. The majority of work people do is via a web browser. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari; with few exceptions, SaaS doesn't care. With that in mind, why would you want your employees and staff using a vulnerable system? [...] Imagine, if you will, you have deployed Linux as a desktop OS for your company and those machines work like champs from the day you set them up to the day the hardware finally fails. Doesn't that sound like a win your company could use? If your employees work primarily with SaaS (through web browsers), then there is zero reason keeping you from making the switch to a more reliable, secure platform.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/05/18/1757205 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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Check-In Delays At Auckland Airport, Australia And Elsewhere
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 22 May '17

22 May '17

You may have come across this report <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11860878> about problems with check-in processing at Auckland and Wellington “as a result of a global issue”. This item from The Register <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/22/sita_failure_australia/> gives a few more details, mentioning an international hookup called “SITA” which was hit by problems in the UK.

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Disabling Microsoft Telemetry Is Not So Easy
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 22 May '17

22 May '17

Came across a link to this series of tweets <https://twitter.com/m8urnett/status/866353982217699328> detailing a sysadmin’s attempts to block his Windows 10 Enterprise installation from making gratuitous Internet accesses. Seems like the obvious answer--blocking things at your border router--can cause major Windows malfunctions...

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upcoming meeting
by Peter Reutemann 18 May '17

18 May '17

Hi everyone We don't have anything scheduled yet for the upcoming meeting next week. Any ideas? [and apologies if I should have missed your suggestion - I've got too many things going on at the moment...] 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 Takes Another Shot At Making Android Great On Low-Budget Smartphones
by Peter Reutemann 17 May '17

17 May '17

'At its developer conference, Google unveiled Android Go, a project wherein Google will offer a version of Android that runs swiftly on budget, low-specced smartphones. With the new strategy, Google hopes to further improve the low-budget smartphone ecosystem in developing markets. Android Go will be focused around building a version of Android for phones with less memory, with the System UI and kernel able to run with as little as 512MB of memory. Apps will be optimized for low bandwidth and memory, with a version of Play Store designed for those markets that will highlight these apps. From a report: Another feature of Android Go will be data management. Android Go will let you easily see your data usage, and thanks to carrier integration, it'll also let you top-up with more data right on your device.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/05/17/202209 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 17.04 review: Don’t call it abandonware, per se
by Peter Reutemann 12 May '17

12 May '17

'Last month, it finally happened. Six years after its tumultuous switch from GNOME 2 to the homegrown Unity desktop, Canonical announced it was abandoning work on Unity. Going forward, the company will switch the default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME beginning with next year's 18.04 LTS release. This means Canonical is also abandoning the development of the Mir display server and its unified interface of Ubuntu for phones and tablets. The company's vision of "convergence," as Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth termed it, has officially died.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/ubuntu-17-04-review-this-is-unitys-… 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 Arrives in the Windows Store, Suse and Fedora Are Coming To the Windows Subsystem For Linux
by Peter Reutemann 11 May '17

11 May '17

'At its Build developer conference today, Microsoft announced that Ubuntu has arrived in the Windows Store. From a report: The company also revealed that it is working with Fedora and Suse to bring their distributions to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in Windows 10. At the conference last year, Microsoft announced plans to bring the Bash shell to Windows. The fruits of that labor was WSL, a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables (in ELF format) natively on Windows, which arrived with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update released in August 2016. Microsoft also partnered with Canonical to allow Ubuntu tools and utilities to run natively on top of the WSL. By bringing Ubuntu to the Windows Store, the company is now making it even easier for developers to install the tools and run Windows and Linux apps side by side. Working with other Linux firms shows that Microsoft's deal with Canonical was not a one-time affair, but rather part of a long-term investment in the Linux world.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/05/11/1535214 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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