Bonum Certa Men Certa

Ars Technica, ZDNet and Bleeping Nonsense Still Misreporting to Blame 'Linux' for Malware One Can Merely Add to Linux (Distracting From Systems With Back Doors, Such as Windows)

"Doctor, it hurts me when I do this." Doctor: "so don't do this." Corporate media: "If you install malicious software or never patch, bad things can happen." Geek: "I patch my systems and don't install random stuff from dodgy Web sites."

FBI/NSA report



Summary: A revised (spun) 'report' that we alluded to last night is spreading to more sites today or overnight; but it's totally distorting the situation to make "Linux" seem a lot more dangerous than it really is

THE 'news' about "Linux" is always full of noise and FUD. Some of that comes from Microsoft front groups and Microsoft-connected publishers. That's nothing new; it has been going on for well over a decade.



So we took a quick look at the original report [PDF] some chronic (serial) liars now allude to, assuming it's that usual FUD where something one can add to Linux is portrayed as a problem with "Linux" itself (that's like calling a hole in Photoshop a "Windows" bug).

"We're omitting the links, but it definitely started with ZDNet, which also previously sought to associate Linux with terrorism, based on a distorted and cherry-picked government report that named "Gentoo" somewhere along the lines."So while FBI, NSA etc. are themselves putting back doors in all things Microsoft here they are warning about "Russia" because it is possible, on an already-compromised system, to sort of rootkit everything (as one can expect; that's a universal weakness and prevention framework exists, not only mitigation).

They suggest using a kernel not older than 3.7 (which is already very old).

The noise has already come from Microsoft Peter's (pedophile) Ars Technica, Bleeping Computer and Bleeping Computer's troll whom ZDNet hired. We're omitting the links, but it definitely started with ZDNet, which also previously sought to associate Linux with terrorism, based on a distorted and cherry-picked government report that named "Gentoo" somewhere along the lines.

"As for ZDNet, its hire from Bleeping Computer (choice of a notorious drama queen, even prior to the hire) said a lot about ZDNet's own agenda. The motivations are surface-deep."Trashy media isn't a new problem; the fact that Ars Technica had its "Open Source" section run solely by a Microsoft pedophile (until his arrest) speaks volumes, as does the fact that Mr. Goodin (Ars Technica) got sued for defamation for his inaccurate click-bait. As for ZDNet, its hire from Bleeping Computer (choice of a notorious drama queen, even prior to the hire) said a lot about ZDNet's own agenda. The motivations are surface-deep.

Bleeping Computer? Bleeping nonsense! To hell with so-called 'journalists' who instead of showing people the actual report (screenshot above) come up with headlines such as "NSA and FBI warn that new Linux malware threatens national security" (by Mr. Goodin).

"Ars Technica is owned by the same company that runs Reddit (where Microsoft critics are heavily censored), controls the site that caused Linus Torvalds to be temporarily 'ousted' from his own project, and repeatedly defamed Dr. Richard Stallman, egging on the online lynch mob."We'd rather focus on patent threats and European Patent Office corruption, but lately there has been a rise in FUD against GNU/Linux, which means that some wealthy and well-connected people are growingly afraid of it (IIS is dying). They weaponise the media. They pay that same media. The editor of Ars Technica UK admitted to me that Microsoft wasn't just the key advertiser but somewhat of a co-founder in the sponsorship sense. Ars Technica is owned by the same company that runs Reddit (where Microsoft critics are heavily censored), controls the site that caused Linus Torvalds to be temporarily 'ousted' from his own project, and repeatedly defamed Dr. Richard Stallman, egging on the online lynch mob.

Never forget what Microsoft did to Softpedia just months ago. It is another common vector of FUD, run single-handedly by a self-professed fan of Steve Ballmer. Microsoft, a very close ally of Donald Trump, plays dirty. We cannot just ignore all the FUD. ⬆

Update: Now it's all over the place with needlessly alarming headlines:

Russia/Linux

Recent Techrights' Posts

Intercontinental Brigading - Part XVII - The Relevance of Silent Layoffs at Microsoft
"Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs)"
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XVI - The Faustian Pact That Irritates Hired Guns is Still a Distraction From the Serious Harm Done by Their Clients to GNU/Linux Users (Notably Plagiarism and Back Doors)
We'd rather talk about the harms caused
Microsoft 'Buyouts' Sound Just Like 60,000 Layoffs of 'Expensive' or More Experienced Staff ('Soft' Layoffs or Even Worse, Negligible Severance)
This is not a "gift" to staff, it's just a pink slip with a hundred dollar bill attached to it
 
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XVIII - Microsoft is Not the Victim (It Was Never the Victim), It's Just DARVO
"DARVO is now in the dictionary. That’s a win for abuse survivors"
The British Economy Too Dependent on an American Slop Scheme
United States Government debt will soon eclipse 40.5 trillion dollars
We've Already Begun Work on the 20th Year of Techrights
We'll do a yearlong endeavour of improvement instead of a one-day hurrah
Volunteers or Unpaid Developers Won't Bother Interacting With Mindless LLMs That Pass Labour From Lazy Companies to Human Beings
The people who run Debian are killing the will to do Free software
Slop is Killing the Open Web
The Web is a jungle and "open sites" (without restrictions or walls) are exposed to the 'feeding frenzy' of reckless plagiarists who call their "theft" something like "super intelligence" or "training"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 26, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, October 26, 2026
As Microsoft Tells Close to 30% of Its Staff to Leave IBM Takes Notes
IBM does the same with PIPs
It's Perfectly Possible That Microsoft Has Just Told Most of Its American Workers to Leave
A better news headline might focus on the US and give a figure like 50%, not "quarter"
Richard Stallman Was Right About "Hey Hi"
Now the chicken come home to roost
Gemini Links 27/10/2026: "To Change or Not To Change?" and "Initial Planner Plans"
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2026: Microsoft Chaffbot "Building Detailed Psychological Profiles of Its Users", Man Executed for Childhood Offenses
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2026: Writing Down Dreams and "Sabbath as Resistance"
Links for the day
The Register MS Gets Rid of Disclosures About Paid-for Spam Regarding "AI", It Also Composes Fake News for the Sponsors
Selling away its credibility is known as "Sellout"
This is How Microsoft Ends (Over a Quarter of the Company Now on the Chopping Block)
Microsoft has quit pretending
Search Without Encryption for Legacy Systems (Permacomputing) and Full Backward Compatibility
At your own risk
Shift to the Lula (Left)
Lula is a friend of Free software and ODF
More Stories and Material Than We Can Publish
We're gaining or have amassed material faster than we manage to publish
European Patent Office Takes From the Poor to Give More to the Rich
The "pension schemes are overfunded at 120.5%"
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XV - Annualised Consequences for Opposing Microsoft Back Doors in Linux Since 2012
a roundup of what we got from GGG
Links 26/10/2026: China’s Communist Party Plenum and Aleksandar Vucic Concedes Defeat
Links for the day
In Reporting, Timing is Everything
If you keep calling people "paedophiles" when you yourself are connected to paedophiles (or are a paedophile), you're attracting a lot of unwanted attention to yourself
Links 25/10/2026: Microsoft Layoffs and Cuts, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Wins Election
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2026: Brazilian Politics and Leaving Bear Blog
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 25, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, October 25, 2026
Another Form of Microsoft Silent Layoffs: Workers That 'Expire'
When the media becomes a lapdog, not a watchdog, false narratives gain traction
Carte Blanche for GPL Violations 4 Days Ago (by Torvalds)
Slop disclosure is no longer required for the Linux Kernel
There Are No Women That Are Kernel Developers Sent by Corporations Which Claim to Champion Diversity
As noted the other day
Sites with "Linux" in Their Name Cannot Slop and Retain Readers
if they write about "linux "(or "Linux") using LLMs they will be caught, then shunned
At Microsoft, the Silent Layoffs Impact Executives Also
Microsoft hid the real story of Helen Chiang
Linus Torvalds Defected to Enshittification
Linus Torvalds is betraying a generation of high(er) standards
Links 25/10/2026: TMZ Revisits Epstein's Connections to Bill Epsteingate, "Italy Hit by New Cost of Living Protests"
Links for the day
Microsoft’s Spin About Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns: They "Never Should Have Existed"
Microsoft-sponsored spin
It's Slop
Maybe we'll exclude It's Slop from our curation. It's a Linux Foundation outpost of sorts, an apologist of sloppy code and plagiarism.
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XIV - Six Years of Learning Irish, But the Real Issue Was Microsoft-controlled 'Secure' (Restricted) Boot
Had I not opposed back doors in Linux, not of this would come about
Gemini Links 25/10/2026: Moana (2026) and OpenBSD Updates
Links for the day
The Netherlands Fast to Adopt GNU/Linux, "Market Share" Rises to Two-Digit Value (on Desktops/Laptops)
It peaked at around 20% yesterday
DST Still Needs to Get Abolished
Get rid of DST, efficiency will improve and systems will become more reliable
PHP2Shell as Paid-for FUD Campaign (Intended to Help Sell Slop and Fake "Market Value" of Slop Pushers)
PHP2Shell considered overhyped [...] Remember all the paid-for hype regarding Mythos? What happened to all that?
Microsoft Sort of Tried to Sell XBox Piecewise (Offloading Microsoft)
XBox is in a morbid state
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 24, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 24, 2026