Computer stuff...
last updated: 0838EST, 04JAN2018
Full breakdown: https://meltdownattack.com/
iVerge – Microsoft issues emergency Windows update for processor security bugs
Google: “These vulnerabilities affect many CPUs, including those from AMD, ARM, and Intel, as well as the devices and operating systems running on them.”
AMD says, “near zero risk”
CERT: Vulnerability Note VU#584653 – CPU hardware vulnerable to side-channel attacks
Patches will be rolling out today for the Intel CPU Fiasco.
(See below for the email I woke up to this morning.)
I highly recommend you pause, disable, stop, do not run Windows Update.
Full details have not been released as of this writing. These updates will at the kernel level. For the non-Geek that means at the core of Windows. I am not trying to play chicken little (henny penny for my U.K. friends). IMHO these updates are being rushed out and will be altered over time. They could slow down or even hose your PC. Let someone else beta test this stuff.
[Read more…] about WARNING – Do Not Run Windows Update
Time To Run Windows Update
Patches available for all things Microsoft. Full breakdown at the end of this post.
Windows 10 – December 12, 2017—KB4053580 (OS Build 15063.786)
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Flash Updated
APSB17-42 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download for Firefox and Opera: Adobe Flash Player 28.0.0.126
Download for Internet Explorer: Adobe Flash Player 28.0.0.126
CCleaner 5.38 Released
***WARNING*** As of this writing only the standard build available. No portable or slim.
I am not downloading this until a portable version is available.
CCleaner Forums post about this:
“The devs have decided to delay the portable version until the slim release. it is unclear if this is just for this version or going forward but this is a test trial of this policy.”
I am considering switching to Privacy Eraser. If anyone is/has used this please chime in.
Another HP Keylogger
Security researcher Michael Myng found a keylogger on some HP laptops. There was one found earlier this year. This is on top of spyware found on HP devices.
Yikes!
GET OFF OF FACEBOOK
Another former Facebook exec rips social media:
“I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works…No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem — this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”
source: iVerge
Many of the computing worlds pioneers and best and brightest took the FCC chairman to school. In a letter to four Congressmen and an attached document they laid out the case for Net Neutrality and why repealing it is wrong. I’ve read both the letter and the attached document (53-page document, 43 plus credits). They are works of art. IMHO all Computer Science majors should be required to read them. If you are remotely interested in your internet freedom you should read them. If you want to understand anything about this issue you should read them.
The basic premise is that the argument that Ajit Pai is making is… well, here are some key phrases:
“appears to lack a fundamental understanding”
“fundamental misunderstanding”
“fundamentally misunderstands”
“analysis is fundamentally flawed”
“inaccurately portraying”
“This analysis is fundamentally flawed and again shows a basic misunderstanding of how the Internet works.”
“displays a stunning lack of technical knowledge”
and my favorite:
“This interpretation of the role ISPs play in a customer’s online experience is so fundamentally alien to the standard conception of how the Internet works that a well-known April Fools’ joke addresses precisely this question.”
The signers of the letter are a Who’s Who of the internet and computing world including the inventor of the World Wide Web, and the co-founder of Apple Computer.
The folks that put the document together is darn near as impressive.
Letter: Internet Pioneers and Leaders Tell the FCC: You Don’t Understand How the Internet Works
PDF: Joint Comments of Internet Engineers, Pioneers, and Technologists on the Technical Flaws in the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rule-making and the Need for the Light-Touch, Bright-Line Rules from the Open Internet Order
Disqus Acquired
I forgot about this. Comment system Disqus got bought out by a marketing firm.
I deleted my account.
Thinking About Building A New PC Soon
This will be my main PC. Intel i7-8700 based (Z370 chipset). I’m thinking no overclocking. May switch to Nvidia GPU. This also may be a Linux PC with Windows in VMs.
Dual M2’s (non-RAID) + a 4TB HD. 960 EVOs for the M2s as I do not think the Pros are worth the money.
This PC needs to last several years.
Any thoughts?
Ancestery DNA Testing
At a Christmas party talking to a guy with the same last name as me. He says his Dad just got an ancestry DNA test and he was only 10% Welsh and 90% Western European. We discussed issues like migration and conquering being factors. I asked him what he thought about the privacy implications of the DNA test. I got a blank stare. I explained that you basically sign away all rights and that you’ve no idea what they are doing with your data. This could have profound effects not only for his Dad but, his Dad siblings, him and his siblings, his children, and their children… Not sure if what I was saying got through and I moved the conversation on to another topic.
I don’t agree with Chuck Schumer on much of anything but he had a great quote a few days ago:
“When it comes to protecting consumers’ privacy from at-home DNA test kit services, the federal government is behind. Besides, putting your most personal genetic information in the hands of third parties for their exclusive use raises a lot of concerns, from the potential for discrimination by employers all the way to health insurance,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “That’s why I am asking the Federal Trade Commission to take a serious look at this relatively new kind of service and ensure that these companies have clear, fair privacy policies and standards for all kinds of at-home DNA test kits. We don’t want to impede research but we also don’t want to empower those looking to make a fast buck or an unfair judgement off your genetic information. We can find the right balance here, and we must.”
Schumer added, “There is no point to learning about your family tree if your privacy gets chopped down in the process.”
Gillette Fusion Manual Men’s Razor Blade Refills, 12 Count – $23.95
Must clip $6 coupon (see pic below)
Amazon will tell you it is a total of $24.04 off but this is $29.95 at Walmart.com so the net savings is actually $6.
Google Chrome Updated
” The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 63 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.
Chrome 63.0.3239.84 contains a number of fixes and improvements — a list of changes is available in the log. Watch out for upcoming Chrome and Chromium blog posts about new features and big efforts delivered in 63.
This update includes 37 security fixes.”
Download
Battle For The Net
https://www.battleforthenet.com/
“The new chairman of the FCC was a top lawyer at Verizon. Now he’s calling for a vote to kill net neutrality. We’re protesting at retail stores across the U.S. to demand that Congress stop Verizon’s puppet FCC from destroying the Internet as we know it.”
Join The Protest
The Intel Management Engine Issue
Most Intel chipsets have the Intel Management Engine. We will call this IME. IME is in a separate, tiny microprocessor on your motherboard. IME does stuff “during boot-up, while the computer is running, and while it is asleep”. You’ll need to do a little reading to fully understand it but security and privacy experts say this is a security and privacy risk.
PC manufacturers are now selling systems with IME disabled.
You can try and disable this yourself. There isn’t any way in h-e-double-toothpicks I would attempt it.
Got IME?
Download, extract, and run the following. It will tell you your IME version if you have it and check for the current vulnerability.
Intel-SA-00086 Detection Tool
Further reading:
Intel Management Engine Flaws Leave Millions of PCs Exposed
Intel’s Management Engine is a security hazard, and users need a way to disable it
The Net Neutrality Discussion – What The Tech (FF video to approx the 47 minute mark)
I’m trying a new add-on called uMatrix. It is from the same guy that brought you uBlock Origin.
“uMatrix: A point-and-click matrix-based firewall, with many privacy-enhancing tools.
*For advanced users.*
uMatrix put you in full control of where your browser is allowed to connect, what type of data it is allowed to download, and what it is allowed to execute. Nobody else decides for you: You choose. You are in full control of your privacy.”
As stated above, this is for advanced users. Like Noscript it can make using the web difficult at first until you train it.
If you are using uMatrix, or you try it please let me know what you think.
In the pic below I have disabled my usual extensions of Noscript and uBlock Origin so I can get a true picture of what is going on.
***I’ve said this before and I will say it again.
Do not whitelist 3rd party ad servers on any site, including this one. I know other website operators beg you to whitelist for their site. Ads track you, ads often get caught serving malware. I have Google Ads because I average enough per month to help keep this site going. I hope you are smart enough to never see them. How I finance my site is my problem not yours. You do not need 3rd party connections to have an ad on your site. I reference the Torguard ad in the right sidebar. I created it. Readers see the unintrusive ad and can click on it if they are interested. There is no connection to a 3rd party.
I’m going to post a picture of his email to me. It will be followed by the text of his letter as well as my response.
[Read more…] about One Of My Congressmen Responded To My Pro-Net Neutrality Email
