09.15.09

Gemini version available ♊︎

Infected Windows PCs May be Banned From the Internet in Australia

Posted in Australia, GNU/Linux, Law, Microsoft, Security, Windows at 8:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Crash car

Summary: Rogue information vehicles possibly to be quarantined if new policy is passed

ONE MONTH ago it seemed like wishful thinking, but Australia carried the various proposals forward and it may soon disconnect Windows PCs that become a nuisance to everyone else on the network, thus setting an important precedence for other nations to follow. Will they actually use take-downs for the benefit of people rather than Big Media moguls (like HADOPI)? That would be surprising. From IT News:

ISPs asked to cut off malware-infected PCs

The Internet Industry Association (IIA) has drafted a new code of conduct that suggests Internet Service Providers (ISPs) contact, and in some cases disconnect, customers that have malware-infected computers.

The drafted code, which will not be mandatory, suggested ISPs take a four-step approach to protecting customers.

- Identification of compromised computers
- Contact affected customer
- Provision of information and advice to fix the compromised system; and
- A reporting function for alerting about serious scale threats, such as those, that may threaten national security.

Microsoft meanwhile admits (by actions) that AutoRun was a design mistake. The Windows operating system ought to have behaved more like GNU/Linux, which had security in mind from the get-go.

Microsoft has finally removed a function from earlier versions of its Windows operating system that has been widely abused by miscreants to surreptitiously install malware on users’ computers.

In other security news this week:

New York Times tricked into serving scareware ad

Scammers tricked the New York Times’ Digital Advertising department into placing a malicious ad for fake antivirus software on the NYTimes.com Web site over the weekend, the company confirmed Monday.
The newspaper had warned of the scam advertisement Sunday, after receiving about 100 e-mails from concerned readers.

What to Do If You Saw an ‘Antivirus’ Pop-Up Ad

A screen shot of the pop-up window that appears as if it is scanning for viruses.

Three out of four administrators don’t trust anti-virus software

In a recent study, a total of 226 administrators, CIOs and security specialists were asked what they thought of signature and blacklist-based solutions. Three out of four administrators consider signature-based enterprise anti-virus protection unreliable. For zero day attacks in particular, two thirds of the administrators surveyed did not believe that standard anti-virus products helped to prevent attacks.

Yes, that’s how bad it is. When speaking about “anti-virus software”, Windows is more or less implied (or UNIX/Linux servers that merely serve files that may affect Windows clients).

“Our products just aren’t engineered for security.”

Brian Valentine, Microsoft executive

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Do Not Assume Pensions Are Safe, Especially When Managed by Mr. EPOTIF Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos

    With the "hoax" that is the financial assessment by António Campinos (who is deliriously celebrating the inauguration of illegal and unconstitutional kangaroo courts) we urge EPO workers to check carefully the integrity of their pensions, seeing that pension promises have been broken for years already



  2. Links 04/06/2023: Why Flatpak and Wealth of Devices With GNU/Linux

    Links for the day



  3. Gemini Links 04/06/2023: Rosy Crow 1.1.3 and NearlyFreeSpeech.NET

    Links for the day



  4. IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 03, 2023

    IRC logs for Saturday, June 03, 2023



  5. Links 04/06/2023: Azure Outage Again (So Many!) and Tiananmen Massacre Censored

    Links for the day



  6. Links 03/06/2023: Qubes OS 4.2.0 RC1 and elementaryOS Updates for May

    Links for the day



  7. Gemini Links 03/06/2023: Hidden Communities and Exam Prep is Not Education

    Links for the day



  8. Links 03/06/2023: IBM Betraying LibreOffice Some More (After Laying off LibreOffice Developers)

    Links for the day



  9. Gemini Links 03/06/2023: Bubble Woes and Zond Updates

    Links for the day



  10. Links 03/06/2023: Apache NetBeans 18 and ArcaOS 5.0.8

    Links for the day



  11. IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 02, 2023

    IRC logs for Friday, June 02, 2023



  12. The Developing World Abandons Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux at All-Time Highs on Desktops/Laptops

    Microsoft, with 80 billion dollars in longterm debt and endless layoffs, is losing the monopolies; the media doesn’t mention this, but some publicly-accessible data helps demonstrate that



  13. Links 02/06/2023: Elive ‘Retrowave’ Stable and Microsoft's Half a Billion Dollar Fine for LinkeIn Surveillance in Europe

    Links for the day



  14. Linux Foundation 'Research' Has a New Report and Of Course It Uses Only Proprietary Software

    The Linux Foundation has a new report, promoted by Clickfraud Spamnil and others; of course they’re rejecting Free software, they’re just riding the “Linux” brand and speak of “Open Source” (which they reject themselves)



  15. Links 02/06/2023: Arti 1.1.5 and SQL:2023

    Links for the day



  16. Gemini Links 02/06/2023: Vimwiki Revisited, SGGS Revisited

    Links for the day



  17. Geminispace/GemText/Gemini Protocol Turn 4 on June 20th

    Gemini is turning 4 this month (on the 20th, according to the founder) and I thought I’d do a spontaneous video about how I use Gemini, why it's so good, and why it’s still growing (Stéphane Bortzmeyer fixed the broken cron job — or equivalent of it — a day or two after I had mentioned the issue)



  18. HMRC Does Not Care About Tax Fraud Committed by UK Government Contractor, Sirius 'Open Source'

    The tax crimes of Sirius ‘Open Source’ were reported to HMRC two weeks ago; HMRC did not bother getting back to the reporters (victims of the crime) and it’s worth noting that the reporters worked on UK government systems for many years, so maybe there’s a hidden incentive to bury this under the rug



  19. Our IRC at 15th Anniversary

    So our IRC community turns 15 today (sort of) and I’ve decided to do a video reflecting on the fact that some of the same people are still there after 15 years



  20. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 01, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, June 01, 2023



  21. Links 02/06/2023: NixOS 23.05 and Rust 1.70.0

    Links for the day



  22. Gemini Links 02/06/2023: Flying High With Gemini and Gogios Released

    Links for the day



  23. Links 01/06/2023: KStars 3.6.5 and VEGA ET1031 RISC-V Microprocessor in Use

    Links for the day



  24. Gemini Links 01/06/2023: Scam Call and Flying High With Gemini

    Links for the day



  25. Links 01/06/2023: Spleen 2.0.0 Released and Team UPC Celebrates Its Own Corruption

    Links for the day



  26. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, May 31, 2023



  27. Tux Machines Closing the Door on Twitter Because Twitter is Dead (for a Lot of People)

    Tux Machines recently joined millions of others who had already quit Twitter, including passive posting (fully or partly automated)



  28. Links 31/05/2023: Inkscape’s 1.3 Plans and New ARM Cortex-A55-Based Linux Chip

    Links for the day



  29. Gemini Links 31/05/2023: Personality of Software Engineers

    Links for the day



  30. Links 31/05/2023: Armbian 23.05 Release and Illegal UPC

    Links for the day


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts