TweakHound

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Security

Cold Boot Attack

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Security flaw in ‘nearly all’ modern PCs and Macs exposes encrypted data
“A firmware bug means existing security measures “aren’t enough to protect data in lost or stolen laptops,” says new security research”
(Thanks Dan!)

Everything you need to know to is in the excellent paper:
F-Secure’s Guide To Evil Maid Attacks

Geeks have always known that once someone has physical access to your PC (or Mac, or phone), given enough time, it will be compromised.
Conduct yourself accordingly, especially on mobile devices. Given that, IMHO it is all about putting hurdles in place to slow an attacker down and frustrate them.
Here is what I tell my friends when they ask about mobile tech device security:
– Use a BIOS/EFI password.
– Use an OS password.
– Use a password manager.
– Encrypt your important docs.
– Cover your webcam. I use these: Laptop Camera Cover Set
– Delete those compromising pics of yourself and/or your significant other (and stop taking them).
– Keep your system up to date. This means both the OS and the firmware.
– Backup, backup, backup

Patch Tuesday

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Sorry I’m a day late with this, yesterday was a long day at work.

Windows Update
Windows 7 and 8.1 get a few security updates.
Windows 10, “This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Win10 1803 – September 11, 2018—KB4457128 (OS Build 17134.285)
Win10 1709 – September 11, 2018—KB4457142 (OS Build 16299.665)
Win10 1703 – September 11, 2018—KB4457138 (OS Build 15063.1324)
Win10 1607 – September 11, 2018—KB4457131 (OS Build 14393.2485)

Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 69.0.3497.92 for Windows, Mac, and Linux…This update includes 2 security fixes.”
Download | Download standalone(full) | Download standalone 64-bit Windows version(full)
Android too:
“Chrome 69 (69.0.3497.91) for Android has been released and will be available on Google Play over the course of the next few weeks. This release contains bug fixes and improvements.”
Download

Win10 Insider
Installed Win10 Insider Preview on my dual-boot Win7/Win10 machine. Here is what it did to my Win7 install:

Patch Tuesday

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All supported Windows and Office versions have patches.
Windows 10 update history (not updated as of this writing)
Windows 7 and 8 have a few bugfixes and more Spectre/Meldown fixes.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4343900/windows-7-update-kb4343900
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4343898/windows-81-update-kb4343898
See below for full breakdown.

Adobe Reader Updated
Download (EN-US)
All Downloads
APSB18-29 Security updates available for Adobe Acrobat and Reader

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

In post-massacre Vegas, security policies clash with privacy values
&
Caesars Palace not-so-Praetorian guards intimidate DEF CON goers with searches [Updated]
“For safety and security, hotel team members will enter rooms and perform a standard wellness check, even if you have opted out of housekeeping services, posted a sign on your door, or otherwise refused team member entry. You may be asked to leave the hotel, if you do not comply with this company policy,”
Blog Post from Marc Rogers “who leads DEF CON’s security team”.
“I do not support or endorse these room searches or how they are executed. I sympathize with the challenge these hotels are facing but believe they need to take a harder look at the efficiency, impact and long term cost of this strategy.
We MUST NOT let our hotels become like our airports. If we do, then the terrorists win.”
Everything you do outside your room is filmed in Vegas, I get that. But inside your room should be another story. I had money stolen out of my hotel room by the maid 20 plus years ago. I haven’t allowed housekeeping in my room since. You come in my room unannounced and we are going at it.

Blue light from phone screens accelerates blindness, study finds
“Scientists say they have found how blue light from smartphones, laptops and other digital devices damages vision and can speed up blindness. Research by the University of Toledo in the US has revealed that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers poisonous molecules to be generated in the eye’s light-sensitive cells that can cause macular degeneration – an incurable condition that affects the middle part of vision.”
My S7 has a blue light filter and I am experimenting with it. Apple calls their blue light filter Night Shift.

2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Driven: Longer, Lighter, More Fuel Efficient, and Extremely Refined
Base price, I repeat BASE PRICE is $30,000, for a fracking Work Truck.
“The crew cab Silverados I drove — a $50,995 LT Trail Boss and top of the line $62,535 High Country”

Back on the shelves: Samuel Adams OctoberFest
My favorite American Oktoberfest.

[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

Email Encryption Vulnerable

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“A group of European security researchers have released a warning about a set of vulnerabilities affecting users of PGP and S/MIME. EFF has been in communication with the research team, and can confirm that these vulnerabilities pose an immediate risk to those using these tools for email communication, including the potential exposure of the contents of past messages.“

Attention PGP Users: New Vulnerabilities Require You To Take Action Now

Officially called “EFAIL”: https://efail.de/

A number of platforms are said to be vulnerable.
Quotes include, “Email is no longer a secure communication medium” and “can confirm that these vulnerabilities pose an immediate risk to those using these tools for email communication, including the potential exposure of the contents of past messages.”.
IMHO there seems to be a bit of hysteria going on about this this morning. On the other hand, I’m no security expert so what do I know.

Protonmail has stated,
“ProtonMail is safe against the efail PGP vulnerability. The real vulnerability is implementation errors in various PGP clients. PGP (and OpenPGP) is fine. Any service that uses our @openpgpjs library is also safe as long the default settings aren’t changed.”

I dunno, I never really believed anything on a computer was 100% secure or private and tend to conduct myself accordingly. Of course I’m just an average, boring dude so I’ve no idea why someone would waste the effort to read my email.

There is gonna be a lot more to read on this in the coming days.

AMD Spectre Mitigation Update

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“Today, AMD is providing updates regarding our recommended mitigations for Google Project Zero (GPZ) Variant 2 (Spectre) for Microsoft Windows users. These mitigations require a combination of processor microcode updates from our OEM and motherboard partners, as well as running the current and fully up-to-date version of Windows. For Linux users, AMD recommended mitigations for GPZ Variant 2 were made available to our Linux partners and have been released to distribution earlier this year…
Microsoft is releasing an operating system update containing Variant 2 (Spectre) mitigations for AMD users running Windows 10 (version 1709) today. Support for these mitigations for AMD processors in Windows Server 2016 is expected to be available following final validation and testing.
In addition, microcode updates with our recommended mitigations addressing Variant 2 (Spectre) have been released to our customers and ecosystem partners for AMD processors dating back to the first “Bulldozer” core products introduced in 2011.
AMD customers will be able to install the microcode by downloading BIOS updates provided by PC and server manufacturers and motherboard providers. Please check with your provider for the latest updates.”
Spectre Mitigation Update – Mark Papermaster, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Patch Tuesday

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*This post will be updated as info comes in.
Microsoft Security Update Summary at bottom of post.

Windows 7 SP1 – April 10, 2018—KB4093118 (Monthly Rollup)

Win10 1709 – April 10, 2018—KB4093112 (OS Build 16299.371)
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Win10 1703 – April 10, 2018—KB4093107 (OS Build 15063.1029)
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Win10 1607 – April 10, 2018—KB4093119 (OS Build 14393.2189)
“Windows 10 version 1607 will reach end of service on April 10, 2018. Devices running Windows 10 Home or Pro editions will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates that contain protection from the latest security threats. To continue receiving security and quality updates, Microsoft recommends updating to the latest version of Windows 10.”

Insider builds also get the above updates (KB4100375).
[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

Windows Defender Vulnerability

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I’m in front of the boob tube last night and I get this email entitled “Microsoft Security Update Releases” (full email posted below).
CVE-2018-0986 | Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
The gist of the alert is that all versions of Windows Defender have a vulnerability.
If Windows Defender scans an infected file then a hacker could own your system.
Rephrased…
If the product that is supposed to protect your system just SCANS a bad file you could be OWNED.
Fortunately this has been patched. Windows Defender should update automatically but you can force an update.
Press the Windows + R keys > copy paste the following: “%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe” -Update
[Read more…] about Windows Defender Vulnerability