Bonum Certa Men Certa

Windows Kernel Vulnerability for Thanksgiving, Insecurity Used for Surveillance Again

Oppression and proprietary software are a pair

Guard with machine gun



Summary: Another major security problem in Windows, new destinations for Stuxnet, and new excuses for tracking one's Web trails

IT IS not uncommon for Microsoft to leave systems administrators rather restless over the holidays, most typically over Christmas. Users too are left paranoid. This holiday season (US in particular) was no exception as a new Windows kernel vulnerability bypasses UAC, says Slashdot, citing Sophos:



"A new vulnerability in the Windows kernel was disclosed Wednesday that could allow malware to attain administrative privileges by bypassing User Account Control (UAC). Combined with the unpatched Internet Explorer vulnerability in the wild this could be a very bad omen for Windows users."


From the original source rather than Slashdot's summary:

A new zero-day exploit in Microsoft Windows was disclosed today. The exploit allows an application to elevate privilege to "system," and in Vista and Windows 7 also bypass User Account Control (UAC). The flaw was posted briefly on a programming education site and has since been removed.


According to another report, Stuxnet is still out there and now it is sold on the black market.

According to a report from Sky News, the Stuxnet worm has already been traded on the black market. The report does not clarify whether this refers to the source code or to binary samples. British security specialists now fear that terrorists could use the worm to attack critical infrastructure. The report quotes an IT security consultant to the UK government as claiming, "You could shut down power stations, you could shut down the transport network across the United Kingdom".


We wrote about Stuxnet many times before and it is interesting because some say it was engineered in order to spy on or to sabotage nuclear facilities in so-called 'rogue' nations. See for example:

  1. Ralph Langner Says Windows Malware Possibly Designed to Derail Iran's Nuclear Programme
  2. Windows Viruses Can be Politically Motivated Sometimes
  3. Who Needs Windows Back Doors When It's So Insecure?
  4. Windows Insecurity Becomes a Political Issue
  5. Windows, Stuxnet, and Public Stoning
  6. Stuxnet Grows Beyond Siemens-Windows Infections
  7. Has BP Already Abandoned Windows?
  8. Reports: Apple to Charge for (Security) Updates
  9. Windows Viruses Can be Politically Motivated Sometimes
  10. New Flaw in Windows Facilitates More DDOS Attacks
  11. Siemens is Bad for Industry, Partly Due to Microsoft
  12. Microsoft Security Issues in The British Press, Vista and Vista 7 No Panacea
  13. Microsoft's Negligence in Patching (Worst Amongst All Companies) to Blame for Stuxnet
  14. Microsoft Software: a Darwin Test for Incompetence
  15. Bad September for Microsoft Security, Symantec Buyout Rumours
  16. Microsoft Claims Credit for Failing in Security
  17. Many Windows Servers Being Abandoned; Minnesota Goes the Opposite Direction by Giving Microsoft Its Data
  18. Windows Users Still Under Attack From Stuxnet, Halo, and Zeus
  19. Security Propaganda From Microsoft: Villains Become Heroes
  20. Security Problems in iOS and Windows
  21. Eye on Security: BBC Propaganda, Rootkits, and Stuxnet in Iran's Nuclear Facilities
  22. Eye on Security: ClamAV Says Windows is a Virus, Microsoft Compromises Mac OS X, and Stuxnet Runs Wild


A few days ago we mentioned MSBBC articles which clearly neglected to mention Windows in stories that were about Windows-exclusive problems.

"ANOTHER Windows only story from the #BBC not mentioning Windows," wrote Gordon, "they send people to jail for not paying for this s**t," he added" (the MSBBC is funded by British taxpayers).

Gordon is right because Windows malware is the central issue discussed in the article (although it avoids mentioning Microsoft or Windows). For example:

He was caught installing password-capturing software by computer staff examining network problems.


This is a form of surveillance by a criminal. But we previously explained how surveillance uses security as a pretext (sometimes targeted marketing is the preferred excuse) and this includes security problems in software. On that issue, Gordon shares another MSBBC article . It talks about "virus alert system" (not mentioning Windows of course) and Gordon says one "gotta love the ISPs who spy on their customers connections #TalkTalk... this excuse is "malware protection" [still Windows of course]":

Talk Talk is launching trials of a controversial anti-malware system following intervention by the Information Commissioner (ICO).

The Virus Alert system keeps an eye on the websites customers visit to stop them accidentally going to places riddled with viruses.


More here in The Inquirer:

BROADBAND PROVIDER Talk Talk has announced it will continue rolling out a traffic monitoring system that it claims will protect its customers.

The opt-in Virus Alerts Service (VAS) was recently likened to the now banned traffic snuffling operation Phorm by the UK Information Commissioner's Office. It claims to track URLs visited by Talk Talk customers and warn them if a website harbours malware.


The problem here is proprietary software and also this illusion of needing government help (with Phorm that's harboured by it) to simply navigate through some Web pages.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part VIII
By Dr. Andy Farnell
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in Europe (at 6%)
many in Europe chose to explore something else, something freedom-respecting
Techrights' Statement on Code of Censorship (CoC) and Kent Overstreet: This Was the Real Purpose of Censorship Agreements All Along
Bombing people is OK (if you sponsor the key organisations), opposing bombings is not (a CoC in a nutshell)
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 24, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, November 24, 2024
Gemini Links 25/11/2024: Purity and Cory Doctorow's Ulysses Pact, Smolnet Portal and SGI
Links for the day
Patents Against Energy Sources That Reduce Pollution
this EV space (not just charging) is a patent mine field and it has long been that way
DARPA’s Information Innovation Office, Howard Shrobe, Values Compartmentalisation But Loses the Opportunity to Promote GNU/Linux and BSDs
All in all, he misses an opportunity
Wayland is an Alternative to X
the alternative to X (as in Twitter) isn't social control media but something like IRC
BetaNews, Desperate for Clicks, is Pushing Donald Trump Spam Created by LLMs (Slop)
Big clap to Brian Fagioli for stuffing a "tech" site with Trump spam (not the first time he uses LLMs to do this)
[Meme] Social Control Media Bliss
"My tree is bigger than yours"
Links 24/11/2024: More IMF Bailouts and Net Client Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/11/2024: Being a Student and Digital Downsizing
Links for the day
[Meme] The Most Liberal Company
"Insurrection? What insurrection?"
apple.com Traffic Down Over 7%, Says One Spyware Firm; Apple's Liabilities Increased Over 6% to $308,030,000,000
Apple is also about 120 billion dollars in debt
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 23, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, November 23, 2024
[Meme] GAFAMfox
Mozilla Firefox in a state of extreme distress
Google Can Kill Mozilla Any Time It Wants
That gives Google far too much power over its rival... There are already many sites that refuse to work with Firefox or explicitly say Firefox isn't supported
Free (as in Freedom) Software Helps Tackle the Software Liability Issue, It Lets Users Exercise Greater Control Over Programs
Microsofters have been trying to ban or exclude Free software
In the US, Patent Laws Are Up for Sale
This problem is a lot bigger than just patents
ESET Finds Rootkits, Does Not Explain How They Get Installed, Media Says It Means "Previously Unknown Linux Backdoors" (Useful Distraction From CALEA and CALEA2)
FUD watch
Techdirt Loses Its Objectivity in Pursuit of Money
The more concerning aspects are coverage of GAFAM and Microsoft in particular
Links 23/11/2024: Press Sold to Vultures, New LLM Blunders
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: "Relationship with Oneself" and Yretek.com is Back
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: "Real World" Cracked and UK Online Safety Act is Law
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: Celebrating Proprietary Bluesky (False Choice, Same Issues) and Software Patents Squashed
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 22, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 22, 2024
Gemini Links 23/11/2024: 150 Day Streak in Duolingo and ICBMs
Links for the day