Bonum Certa Men Certa

Bad Security News for Apple and for Microsoft (Updated)

Valentines day background



Summary: While technology news may have gotten obsessed with Linux and USB, it is actually Microsoft and Apple that suffer from critical problems

EARLIER this week we noted that Linux is inherently very secure and we also cited someone who had posted a good rebuttal to the "USB" claims that are spread out there right now. The short story is that the alleged USB-related flaw is very much exaggerated and good explanations exist to refute the original claims. On the other hand, consider the fact that Microsoft is claiming to plug 22 security vulnerabilities this Tuesday (the real numbers may be a lot worse):



Microsoft issued 12 security bulletins today to cover nearly two dozen vulnerabilities, including critical ones in Internet Explorer and Windows.


Moreover, The Inquirer says that "anti-virus software is losing the battle, and the war":

ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE is fighting a losing battle against malware, and there's nothing that can be done to turn the tide, according to a security testing firm.

NSS Labs, an independent security product and certification test lab, looked at 10 anti-virus products on the market. It found that the effectiveness of the software was variable, to say the least, with some products more effective at protecting against malware on USB keys than in email, and vice versa.


From the same source we learn that Apple's proprietary hypePhone can be hacked in six minutes:

INSECURITY RESEARCHERS have busted an Iphone's encryption protection in just six minutes to gain access to passwords.

Boffins at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) in Germany devised the hack. The researchers did the tests to demonstrate that passwords aren't secure on Iphones that have been lost.

They obviously had a point to prove and weren't happy with just hacking Apple's shoddy security encryption in six minutes. Within the allotted time, the team also managed to retrieve most of the passwords stored on the Iphone, accessing personal data that could be used to get into bank accounts.


Visibility of code and wide sharing of it breed bug reports and quick fixes. The mainstream press has been focusing on the wrong targets over the past few days.

Update: Gordon (thistleweb) has just posted a pointer to "yet ANOTHER #Microsoft story without mentioning the M or W word #BBC #pathetic #poorjournalism http://tighturl.com/2xsj twice in 1 week too"

Recent Techrights' Posts

Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
 
Links 03/10/2025: Lawyers Caught Using LLM Slop Explain Why They Did It, LibreSSL 4.1.1 and 4.0.1 Released
Links for the day
FSF Board Grew 50% Since Last Year, Has New President, Turns 40 in Two Days
It's a good move for the FSF and - by extension - for software freedom
Links 03/10/2025: Conflicts, Death of TypePad, and TikTok/CheeTok Gives a Boost to Far Right Groups in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 02, 2025
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Google News, and LinuxSecurity
They carry on polluting the Web with fake articles
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: Kubernetes With FreeBSD and robots.txt
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October