Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Anti-Free Software Movement Grows (Security a Common Attack Vector), Connections to Microsoft Noteworthy

Doug Levin



Summary: Black Duck ups the ante on Free software-hostile messages, embeds FUD in the media almost instantaneously

THERE IS an attack on Free software going on, but it's shrewdly disguised as 'concern' for Free software. We are led to believe that not proprietary software with back doors is the problem but Free software that may have bugs, especially bugs that users don't bother to patch despite having the ability (or freedom) to do so. It's free.

The other day we wrote about Black Duck entering the security FUD market, targeting Free software, as one ought to expect (it had already done the compliance FUD, neglecting to mention EULA-related issues in proprietary software). To repeat some facts for the uninitiated, Black Duck was started as an anti-GPL company, by its very own admission. Very shortly after hiring a parasite, whose company exploits security fears, Black Duck's scope of FUD expands further and there's an effort in the media to advertise this.

"Taft, who often promotes Microsoft PR, doesn't mind covering something that seemingly relates to Free software if it makes Free software look bad."Darryl K. Taft, a booster of Microsoft, already helps this anti-GPL company (Black Duck) by doing this Microsoft-esque advertising at this very moment. Taft, who often promotes Microsoft PR, doesn't mind covering something that seemingly relates to Free software if it makes Free software look bad. No wonder Black Duck came from Microsoft. Other Microsoft boosting sites like TechFlash promoted this nonsense and spread it to media with broader reach. Watch how they wrongly describe Black Duck: "Burlington-based open-source software firm Black Duck software is making big bets on helping to make open-source software more secure for companies"

Black Duck is most definitely not "open-source software firm", it is an anti-Open Source software firm whose products are proprietary, with software patents that relate to them. This is the kind of openwashing that has become so common when it comes to proxies of Microsoft (Microsoft works together with Black Duck, it's not just that Black Duck came from Microsoft).

Black Duck, as we noted the other day, had hired a key person from Veracode, whose output is mostly FUD even today. Right now it promotes itself in CBS and other networks by saying some nonsense about a nonsense buzzword ("Internet of Things") that means nothing in particular. To quote the CBS tabloid: "In a new report released by enterprise security firm Veracode, researchers discovered during testing of common, household IoT devices that security is not up to scratch -- paving the way for exploits, data theft, robbery and potentially even stalking."

That is just some embedded marketing for a FUD firm, one whose co-founder is now inside Black Duck.

Truth be told, Black Duck is trying to diversify or re-brand itself 'pro-security' as it did 'pro-compliance', but actually, what it really is about should be FUD. It uses fear, spreads existing fear to sell, creates more fear to sell, and overall it makes Free software look bad.

IDG is another large network that helped Black Duck advertise itself the other day. The headline is misleading because it says "Black Duck's mission: To seek out insecure open source code in the enterprise".

No, Black Duck's mission is to sell its proprietary software by telling the press, enterprises etc. that Free software is not secure and needs some 'medicine' (Black Duck's proprietary snake oil).

Here are the press releases from Black Duck [1, 2]. Clearly enough there is a media manipulation campaign going on and some journalists -- other than Microsoft boosters disguised as 'journalists' -- have already fallen for it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
 
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day