Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Claims Credit for Failing in Security

Servers rack - amateur



Summary: Latest security issues and systematic deception, mostly from Microsoft and its various boosters across the Web (giving credit to Microsoft after Microsoft messed up)

Gratis as in Lock-in



A FEW days ago we wrote about Microsoft's attempt at disconnecting the air supply from third-party AV vendors, at least in small businesses. This would only decrease security due to monoculture, decreased competition, and lack of incentive to improve. The funny thing here is that Microsoft sells a vulnerable operating system and then claims to be distributing "free of charge" (only to some people) what ought to have been a characteristic of the operating system, not an add-on. The spinners from Seattle call it a "free" anti-virus software and what's meant by free is not freedom. It's free as in gratis, with lock-in. It decreases one's personal freedom and also impedes freedom of choice. A better headline than "Free Anti-Virus Protection Spurs More Robust Options" would be "Free-of-charge Anti-Virus Pseudo-protection Depresses More Robust Options".



Watch the Indian press turning the whole thing into Vista 7 promotion: "IT major Microsoft has launched a campaign to help computer users identify threats to their systems and how their networks can be made secure using Original Windows 7 that now comes with the advantage of Microsoft Security Essentials."

So Microsoft wants to dump Security Essentials on the market (as expected by many people all along) and already we learn that "Scareware Apes Microsoft Security Essentials". Microsoft has always performed very poorly among the security products already available and well established. "Anti-virus systems get tested" says The Inquirer which gives the following details:

A NUMBER of the most common anti-virus security systems have had a beady eye passed over their effectiveness and fitness for purpose in an assessment.

The study, which was carried out by the Austrian AV Comparatives group, looked at twenty products from the main providers that volunteered to take part.

We do not know who if anyone refused, but AV Comparatives said that it had limited test subjects to no more than twenty and required that participants adhered to its undisclosed criteria.


"Over half of all apps have security holes," claims Veracode (which we mentioned in [1, 2]).

More than half of all software applications failed to meet an acceptable level of security, according to a study based on real-world code audits by application security firm Veracode.

Around 57 per cent of applications failed to pass muster when first submitted to Veracode’s cloud-based testing service. A similar 56 per cent of finance-related applications failed first testing by Veracode’s security audit. The quality of the code used in many business-critical banking and insurance operations was simply not up to snuff.


ASP.NET Under Attack, Spin



In security news, the other major issue last week was the Microsoft ASP.NET vulnerability, which we wrote about in [1, 2, 3, 4].

“Is this really praise-worthy, especially when someone responds to flaws which the same someone is responsible for?”The ASP.NET problem alarmed Microsoft a great deal and the PR spin strives to make Microsoft be seen as responsive. An advisory was quickly issued [1, 2, 3] because of bad publicity and because it was already being exploited (a demo existed). There is only a temporary fix, not a permanent one. There are third-party fixes.

So, once again Microsoft pays attention to flaws a tad too late and then scrambles to limit damage it could probably prevent. Is this really praise-worthy, especially when someone responds to flaws which the same someone is responsible for?

Just like in the case of Russian spin [1, 2], Microsoft is trying to make itself look like the saviour rather than the problem. Lee Pender of the Microsoft boosters is trying to make Microsoft look good by painting it as responsive and responsible. To quote: "Well, late last week, we got an update from a Microsoft spokesperson who wanted to tell us that Microsoft hasn't just buried its head in the sand on Stuxnet."

We wrote about Stuxnet in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14].

Microsoft-Police



Over in Australia, Microsoft is involving the police right now (funded by taxpayers) [1, 2, 3, 5]. It's about a computer scam that affects Microsoft.

Twitter and Fog Computing



The other day we wrote about the major problem Twitter.com was having. Half a million Twitter users are said to be affected by a Twitter worm and Slashdot discusses the matter before and after the patching. Here are "the names and faces behind the 'onMouseOver' Twitter worm attack". It's one of those risks of Fog Computing. Even a teenager turns out to have been smart enough to do it.

But later, some mischievous users of the site started using the exploit to make people "retweet" infected messages (when they hovered over a tweet with the code inserted) that they had not authorised.


The guy is Australian, so will the police get involved? Or does the Australian police get involved only to help Microsoft?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day