New in Version 1.6.1394
New Settings:
Disable saving SMS messages to the cloud
Disable network access for OneDrive before log-in
Disable Updates for voice recognition and synthesis
Disable Cloud Search form Cortana
Bug Fixes:
Bugfix implemented for Exception 0x80004003 when starting under Windows 10 Build 10240
Download
Security
Google Chrome Updated
35 security fixes in Chrome 62.0.3202.62.
Download: Chrome 32-bit or Chrome 64-bit
Wednesday Random Stuff…
Win10 Update BSOD
Neowin is reporting that yesterday’s Win10 update is crashing systems with “USB Type-C Connector System Software Interface (UCSI)“.
I have heard unconfirmed reports from unnamed sources that are quoting a friend of a friend who knows someone in Redmond that said he heard someone in a Starbucks line say, “Oops.”
Kapersky, “Oy vey”
Israel hacked the Russians who hacked Kaspersky.
“The Russian operation, described by multiple people who have been briefed on the matter, is known to have stolen classified documents from a National Security Agency employee who had improperly stored them on his home computer, on which Kaspersky’s antivirus software was installed. What additional American secrets the Russian hackers may have gleaned from multiple agencies, by turning the Kaspersky software into a sort of Google search for sensitive information, is not yet publicly known.”
I don’t see how Kaspersky Labs survives this.
It Keeps Getting Worse
Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History
“In May, KrebsOnSecurity broke a story about lax security at a payroll division of big-three credit bureau Equifax that let identity thieves access personal and financial data on an unknown number of Americans. Incredibly, this same division makes it simple to access detailed salary and employment history on a large portion of Americans using little more than someone’s Social Security number and date of birth — both data elements that were stolen in the recent breach at Equifax.”
There are a number of people involved in this who should have all their assets seized and spend a long time in jail. We all know they won’t.
– – – OFF TOPIC – – –
Smokeless Fire Pit
There is a Kiskstarter project called BioLite FirePit. The BioLite FirePit is “a smokeless wood-burning device that cooks your meals and gives you a front-row seat to everything going on inside your fire.”
Looks pretty cool. What do y’all think?
I Want It
Outta my price range but hey, a man can dream!
Delicious Whiskey
I was at Repeal Bourbon & Burgers in Virginia Beach this weekend. I managed to get the last pour of A. Smith Bowman Limited Edition Gingerbread Cocoa Finished Bourbon. It is the spawn of two Virginia products, Bowman Bourbon obviously and 2 beers from Hardywood Brewery. The two beers are Gingerbread Stout and Foolery Imperial Milk Stout. Both these beers are fantastic. Hardywood’s Gingerbread has been called “Christmas in a bottle.” It held a 100% rating at Ratebeer for several years (99 now). It is one of my favorite beers (Foolery is up there too). The Hardywood Bourbon Barrel GBS variant is outstanding. Anyway, back to the aforementioned bourbon. I was excited and tried to find it. AFAIK the only bottles left are in private hands and they are going for well north of $100 for a 375ml bottle.. It is a shame because it was one of the most unique and tasty bourbons I have ever had.
Hardywood GBS variants and release dates 2017:
Patch Tuesday
Time To Run Windows Update
Updates available for all things Microsoft including Windows 7, 8.1, 10, IE 9&11, Edge, Office…
Win10 updates: October 10, 2017—KB4041676 (OS Build 15063.674)
Full breakdown at the end of this post.
Firefox Updated (supposedly)
Help > About Firefox > Check for updates gets me nothing.
All downloads
Release Notes
Macrium Reflect Free Updated
Version 7.1.2638 is out.
Download
Release notes
CCleaner Compromised, part 3
More info on the CCleaner debacle. [Read more…] about CCleaner Compromised, part 3
CCleaner Compromised, part 2
Warning, Opinions ahead.
[Read more…] about CCleaner Compromised, part 2
CCleaner Compromised
“For a period of time, the legitimate signed version of CCleaner 5.33 being distributed by Avast also contained a multi-stage malware payload that rode on top of the installation of CCleaner… During the installation of CCleaner 5.33, the 32-bit CCleaner binary that was included also contained a malicious payload that featured a Domain Generation Algorithm (DGA) as well as hardcoded Command and Control (C2) functionality. We confirmed that this malicious version of CCleaner was being hosted directly on CCleaner’s download server as recently as September 11, 2017.”
[Read more…] about CCleaner Compromised
Patch Tuesday
Time To Run Windows Update
Updates for all currently supported Windows versions, IE, Edge, Office, Flash, .NET Framework…
As usual see the complete Breakdown at the end of this post.
Win10 update info: September 12, 2017—KB4038788 (OS Build 15063.608)
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Flash Updated
APSB17-28 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download for IE
Download for Firefox, Opera
CCleaner Too
Download
[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday
Glasswire
Saw a web monitoring program called Glasswire.
Looks interesting but I don’t just install stuff. I go to https://www.glasswire.com/. There is no About page, no real contact info. There isn’t a single persons name listed anywhere. No country of origin. Nothing. Can’t find anything on Wikipedia.
Now I’m a little suspicious.
[Read more…] about Glasswire
Tuesday Random Stuff…
From Russia With Love
Back in May I linked to an article where DHS and the FBI were questioning Kaspersky’s relationship to the Russian government. Now they are warning businesses that Kaspersky products are an “unacceptable threat to national security“.
The World Is Not Enough
A German site called Born’s Tech and Windows World is reporting that Microsoft “signed a waiver (cease and desist) not to download install files for a new operating system without user’s consensus. This was the consequence of Microsoft’s attempt, to force Windows 10 upgrades to Windows 7/8.1 systems from July 2015 up to July 2016.“.
Tomorrow Never Dies
Acronis True Image 2018 has been released. Bunch of new features I’m not interested in. I’ll be skipping this one.
Spectre
I had mentioned I wanted to see the movie Logan Lucky because it had both James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This past weekend I did go see it. I thought it was hysterical. Both guys played parts that were absolutely nothing like their most popular characters. This may have been my favorite Daniel Craig performance.
Quantum of Solace
Good grief, not you too Firefox. Neowin is reporting that “Mozilla has announced that it would like to collect anonymous user data in order to “better understand how people use” Firefox. The proposed move is quite contentious for many users because Mozilla is making it opt-out; many users feel betrayed by the move given that Mozilla touts Firefox as a privacy-oriented browser.”
Skyfall
I generally don’t like to rain on person’s parade, at least publically, but…
I’m a Geek. I love space news, space movies, NASA, etc. But I just didn’t get the whole eclipse thing. Yes, I watched it for a few minutes. Yes, I had the glasses on. I didn’t go out of my way for it, I pulled into a parking lot. It was about as unexciting and uneventful as I expected.
One of my favorite reporters was equally unimpressed: