Bonum Certa Men Certa

Windows Insecurity Becomes a Political Issue

Coburn and Obama discuss S. 2590



Summary: As wiretapping gets an upper hand in the United States and Iran's computing facilities (about 30,000 machines with Windows) come under attack, questions are asked about GNU/Linux as a true need

"Chinese Internet espionage against human rights activists and journalists" reveals this new article on which Glyn Moody commented by saying: "Windows-based, it seems" (it may seem related to the latest incidents reported in Russia [1, 2]).



As the world becomes increasingly connected and increasingly digital, the choice of technology matters a lot to politics, including foreign affairs. Last week we wrote about Stuxnet [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10], which some people suspect was targeting Iran specifically [1, 2, 3] and was designed for this purpose. Security guru Bruce Schneier does not believe that this is the case. Some days ago he wrote: "The article speculates that the target is Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, but there's not much in the way of actual evidence to support that."

“Had it only affected Solaris or GNU/Linux, then surely the press would point this out, so it's just not fair that Microsoft gets a free pass.”Whether Iran was targeted or not, it sure was among those affected. Glyn Moody says in relation to this article about Iran, "30K Windows PCs: might be time to look at GNU/Linux, eh?"

The cyber-attack on Iranian facilities is also covered in the British press [1, 2] and in Slashdot. The MSBBC doesn't mention Windows at all, even though it's exclusively a Windows issue. Had it only affected Solaris or GNU/Linux, then surely the press would point this out, so it's just not fair that Microsoft gets a free pass.

IT Pro (UK) wonders if Stuxnet is "[t]he most serious threat yet"

Stuxnet is something unique, however. It has been causing something of a stir in the security community since it was first spotted by a small company from Belarus named VirusBlokAda.

When Microsoft put out an alert over the virus in July, Stuxnet quickly moved from being a relative unknown to something serious.

Then earlier this month, Stuxnet was observed doing something unprecedented: exploiting four zero-day vulnerabilities at once. It is this advanced capability that has caused such a commotion.


Now that full wiretapping is a hot subject in the United States (read the new article "Surveillance does not make us safe"), one has to wonder if new legislation is needed. When everyone can access almost everyone else's (Windows) computer, surveillance down the wire is no longer a strict requirement. The Hill says that the "NSA chief envisions 'secure zone' on Internet to guard against attacks".

The Pentagon official in charge of the military's cyber unit on Thursday said the government should create a "secure zone" for federal agencies and critical private sector industries to protect them from potential attacks.

General Keith Alexander, who heads the U.S. Cyber Command, told reporters a network sectioned off from the rest of the Internet is probably inevitable for systems crucial to national security.


How about just taking Richard A. Clarke's advice and moving off Windows?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Thankfully We've Made Copies of More Interesting Data From statCounter
If statCounter (the Web site or the 'webapp') vanished overnight, we'd still have something left of it
More Silent Layoffs at IBM/Red Hat
when the media counts such layoffs or presents tallies the numbers are very incomplete
 
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part I: António Campinos Brought Corruption and Nepotism to the EPO, Then Came the Cocaine
High-level manager at the European Patent Office (EPO) caught in public with cocaine, the Office has some answering to do
Purchasing/Possessing Computers Isn't the Same as Controlling Computers
Let's strive to put computers back under the control of their users, no matter who purchased these (usually the users)
Gemini Links 27/10/2025: Alhena 5.4.3 and Fixing Bash
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 26, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 26, 2025
Links 26/10/2025: Microsoft Spies on Gamers, Open Transport Community Conference
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2025: LLM Slop / Plagiarism Programs Continue to Disappoint, CISA Layoffs Threaten Systems
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2025: Gemsync and Joining the Small Web
Links for the day
India.com a Click-baiting, SEO-Spamming, Slopfarming Heap
They do this almost every day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 25, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 25, 2025
Without XBox Consoles, XBox is No More, It's Just a Brand (More Rumours of Microsoft Ending XBox, Then Laying Off Lots of Staff)
All signs indicate that Microsoft wants to "exit" the XBox business (not brand), but it does not want to publicly admit this as it would alarm staff and shareholders
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: Portugal, Midnightpub, and "Tech Right Admins"
Links for the day
Almost 2026 Already (When We Turn Twenty)
In just over a year the site will turn 20
When "Sponsored Feature" in The Register MS Means Ponzi Scheme Promotion From the Communist Party of China (CPC)
the promotion of a financial scam
Week of EPO Leaks: Workers of the EPO Are Getting a Pay Cut While Prices Rise Fast
More to come in the next few days
Microsoft is Finally Giving Up on XBox, The Chief Says the Grapes Are Sour Anyway
Microsoft loses hundreds of dollars on each XBox that it sells
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Various Slopfarms Propped up by Google News
Why can't Google News do better than this?
Links 25/10/2025: Two New Smokescreens for Scam Altman and ‘TikTok USA’ Remains in Limbo
Links for the day
Bad faith: can't change Debian Social Contract (DSC) without unanimous consent of every joint author
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Confirmed: Very Close Friend of Bill Gates and Microsoft's Biggest Patent Troll Nathan Myhrvold Flew the Lolita Express (a Gateway to Pedophilia), According to Bill Gates-Sponsored Seattle Times
There is no speculation or any "conspiracy theories" here;' those are verified facts
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: "The Highest Leader of The Global Civil Society Community", SSL Certificates Causing Bitrot
Links for the day
Links 25/10/2025: Target Layoffs and "Shutdown Sparks 85% Increase in US Government Cyberattacks"
Links for the day
"Big Data" Was a Big Lie
Remember "Big Data"? Remember "Data Scientists"...?
statCounter Has Been Broken for a Long Time
Considering the huge proportion of Web requests that come from LLM bots (more so this past year or two), statCounter may struggle to justify the operating costs
Techrights Anniversary Party on November 7th
Let us know if you need any accommodation-related arrangements
Trends That Must Alarm Microsoft and Mozilla
Expect Firefox to no longer be supported by various sites in the US
Why Microsoft Became the Layoffs Leader
The corporate media is projecting or signalling its own dishonesty when it tells us that Microsoft is a very "valuable" company while the data shows Microsoft is also a "market leader" in layoffs
Speaking for Ourselves and Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves
we've already published over 50,000 pages
For Second Time in a Day The Register MS Takes Money From Private Companies to Sell a Ponzi Scheme
Do not have empathy for those who have zero empathy towards you
IBM is Misleading IBM Shareholders
IBM is still all about vapourware and buzzwords
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 24, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 24, 2025