Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Flaws -- Not Adobe Flaws -- Responsible for China's Attack on Google; Microsoft Takes China's Side, as Usual



Summary: Microsoft's very special relationship with another suppressive entity and the blame games in China's crack attack

LAST NIGHT we showed that Microsoft Windows zombies were responsible for the attacks on Google. There are hundreds of millions of such zombie PCs and according to IDG, "DDoS Attacks Are Back (and Bigger Than Before)"

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are certainly nothing new. Companies have suffered the scourge since the beginning of the digital age. But DDoS seems to be finding its way back into headlines in the past six months, in thanks to some high-profile targets and, experts say, two important changes in the nature of the attacks.

The targets are basically the same -- private companies and government websites. The motive is typically something like extortion or to disrupt the operations of a competing company or an unpopular government. But the ferocity and depth of the attacks have snowballed, thanks in large part to the proliferation of botnets and a shift from targeting ISP connections to aiming legitimate-looking requests at servers themselves.


IDG also shows that the attack on Google relies on Microsoft flaws (page rendering as malicious execution and the notion of clicking attachments to execute data files). "Adobe may be off the hook," says this report:

IE Exploit Used to Launch Chinese Attacks on Google



[...]

Early speculation focused on the Abobe Reader zero-day exploit as the source of the Chinese attacks on Google and other corporations earlier this week, but Adobe may be off the hook--or at least share the blame. Microsoft has determined that an unknown flaw in Internet Explorer was one of the holes used to launch the attacks which have led to Google threatening to shut down its Chinese operations.


To Google, there is no real solution here; to leave China would be a case of staging a protest, but it would neither secure Google nor be practicable.

Here's an interesting scenario: If Google does stick to its guns and leaves China because the country continues to insist on censoring web search results and blocking websites, will it also pull Android cellphones from the Chinese market?


Let's not forget that Google relies on cheap Chinese workforce to make its profitable products (like phones and appliances). The West is generally far too dependent on Chinese labour and export.

Microsoft -- not surprisingly -- has no problem with what China is doing and as IDG's Erik Larkin puts it, to Microsoft it's just another technical case of patches (never mind if exploiters/crackers are supported by the Chinese government). Microsoft does not even address the problem immediately, so in the mean time it just externalises the costs, also to Google and Google's clients.

Ballmer: Microsoft Will Stay in China



Microsoft does not plan to follow Google's lead in pulling out of China, the software giant's CEO told news outlets on Thursday.


Like China, Microsoft China disregards copyright law and Microsoft has special relationships in China. McCain (of the Republican party) comes to mind here; Bill Gates is a friend of the China regime and McCain recommended Steve Ballmer for the Chinese ambassador position. Microsoft and China are similar in many ways; neither tolerates contest and they both repress clients/citizens. Microsoft removes its competition -- including GNU/Linux and Apple -- from search results, as systematically proven before.

One of our readers, who is more of a hardliner by some people's judgment, wrote to us the following:

Contempt, perjury or treason?

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/... http://news.cnet.com/China-looks-into... http://www.maximumpc.com/article/...

Add to that the incident where Gates intercepted China's President Hu, which Hu went along with, on his first official visit in office to the United States.

http://windowsitpro.com/article/...

Maybe Gates' recent visit to the Whitehouse was about pleading for his life more than about begging for a too-big-to-fail corporate welfare handout.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/... title="http://www.aaxnet.com/news/M000714.html http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/18007/... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-... http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/30/china.us/... http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/...

Seriously, could Osama bin Laden himself arranged better? If it doesn't beat all that Gates and his minions aren't even hiding in caves. The perpetraitors {sic} are still on free foot and even getting puff-pieces in the media. There is some corrective action:

http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/... http://www.fcw.com/Articles/2008/03/06...

There are at least three sides to the cyberwar that started last year: China, Microsoft and the US. The first two appear to be in an uneasy aliance to bring down the third after which the first will easily take down the second.


More thoughts would be welcome. Views are not being suppressed.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

MIT as a Propaganda Mill of GAFAM, Paid by GAFAM
"the news" today
Links 16/10/2025: Lies Euphemised as ‘Dueling Versions of Reality’ and Microsoft "Open" "Hey Hi" Resorts to Porn as No Business Model Was Found
Links for the day
The Local Staff Committee Munich (Representation of the EPO's Staff) Explains When Cluster of Pregnancies May Result in Reduced Pay
"...even one week of part-time working is sufficient to reduce the salary you perceive during the entirety of your maternity leave."
Another Black Eye for 'Secure Boot', Microsoft Media Tries to Blame "Linux"
It enables Microsoft to remotely control computers, even computers that don't run Windows and never had any Microsoft software installed
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, linuxsecurity.com, and Various Slopfarms in Google News Attacking "Linux"
A new survey of the Web said that the majority of the Web is now slop (that's being said in the news this week)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Qantas Airways Loses Control of Sensitive Data and Software Patents Are Being Thrown Out
Links for the day
Vista 10 is 'Dead', Here's Why People Should Move to GNU/Linux (or the BSDs)
Today we try to make an outline of reasons move away from Windows to GNU/Linux
Our Sites Continue to Improve
LLM slop has had no noticeable impact on us
Gemini Links 15/10/2025: Neovim, Helix Compared and Gemlog.blue Now Closed
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Mass Layoffs at Amazon, OneDrive Spyware Revved Up, More 'Gen Z Protests'
Links for the day
The EPO's Staff Engagement Survey 2025 is Already Tainted by Intimidation by EPO Management (Trying to Influence Outcomes by Scaring Genuine, Honest Critics)
"[W]e have received reports that, following the previous survey, teams with negative responses were reproached or questioned about their answers..."
The DDoS Attacks by Microsoft's Scam Altman and Other Slop Charlatans and Frauds is Hurting the FSF, Delinking It From Copyleft Projects
This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
Microsoft Scanning Faces in Photos People Upload to Microsoft (Even Unconsciously), Slashdot Turns Report About It Into "Microsoft Sez" (Says)
Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
[Teaser] Angel Aledo Lopez the Manipulator (Nepotism, Poll Rigging, and Other EPO Corruption)
We'll discuss this later today or tomorrow, based on internal EPO material
Attacks on Techrights Are Only Making Techrights Bigger and Even More Popular
A week ago they offered to settle with us
Epic Metaphor for End of IBM: "The IBM Demolition is Down to the Last Shards!"
Nothing lasts forever
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux
The European Patent Office (EPO), the Second-Largest Institution in Europe, is Cracking Down on Recreational Activities
Without AMICALE activities, and as staff already says it's pressured to work more for less, how can the EPO recruit bright people?
Transparency: FSFE financial reports exclude speaker fees and expenses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Many Developers Have Many Political Views, They'll Never Agree on Everything
It's an effort to divide and destroy, not build
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: An Opportunity to Consider GNU/Linux and Another Simple IRC Client
Links for the day
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, LinuxSecurity, Google News, and the Serial Slopper Brian Fagioli
Nothing of merit here, just more slop
Links 14/10/2025: Lack of Trust in Slop and "Retirement Challenges"
Links for the day
EPO Staff Can Go Listen to Richard Stallman Next Week in Munich (Technical University of Munich, Rudolf-Diesel Hörsaal (MW2001) on Campus Garching at 18:00)
"The talk is open to the public and attendance is free. Registration is not required."
Rhonda D'Vine, Gerfried Fuchs, Pronouns & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
At IBM, Relocation Means Layoffs (Downsizing)
Silent or 'invisible' layoffs?
Central Staff Committee of the European Patent Office (EPO) Warns That EPO Management is Robbing or Manipulating Pension Funds Again
Faking "growth" is just about as bad as forgery
Probably a Lot Worse Than LLM Slop: GNOME Tying Itself to Divisive Politics, Even Where It's Clearly Not Relevant
Something has gone terribly wrong in GNOME
Links 14/10/2025: Microsoft OneDrive Scanning Faces in Photos (Without Asking First), "OpenAI Says It Will Move to Allow Smut"
Links for the day
They Generally Don't Like Scholars, as They're Less Compelled or Pressured to Repeat What Corporations and Oligarchs Say
People who loathe scholars have an agenda in mind that, unlike that of reasonable people, revolves around controlling people
Dystopian Trends in Technology Make Richard Stallman More Relevant Than Ever
It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
Belated New Article About Last Thursday's Lecture by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
there are good reasons to pay with cash, not limited to privacy
Attacking Richard Stallman Has Become 'Career Suicide'
If you're going to viciously attack somebody, make sure your arguments are rock-solid
Microsoft's Failing XBox Business Has Turned Games Into Funerals
How does it feel to depend on Microsoft?
Yesterday's "Distinguished Lecture" by Richard Stallman Possibly Attended by Close to 1,000 People
The capacity of the place is about 900
Slop Poisons Everything
Imagine wanting to find what Torvalds has just said or what has just been released
Taking Software Freedom 'Mainstream'
interest in Software Freedom must have grown
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 13, 2025
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: Ada Lovelace Day, Sony CLIE PEG-TG50 Review, Why to Avoid Network Solutions
Links for the day
Richard Stallman (RMS) Announced His Talk Less Than 24 Hours Before It Took Place and Still Filled Up the Auditorium at Sapienza Università di Roma
Photos from yesterday evening [...] It looks like it was a very successful event