11.07.20
ZDNet Calls Windows Ransomware “Linux” to Keep Pages About Linux Full of Fear-Mongering Nonsense
“Innovation has never been Microsoft’s strong suite – we’re much better at ripping off our competitors. For example we did not invent either ASP or IE – we bought them.” – Microsoft DOJ insider testimony
“We really haven’t done everything we could to protect our customers. Our products just aren’t engineered for security.” – Brian Valentine, Microsoft
“This is by-design behavior, not a security vulnerability.” – Scott Culp, Microsoft’s security program manager.
“In Microsoft’s world you are always one click away from harming yourself.” – Aleph One
Top of the page about “LINUX”; it’s actually not about GNU/Linux, it’s about Windows ransomware being ported over
Summary: The FUD artist Catalin Cimpanu (hired by ZDNet for his Linux-hostile misinformation, which he had done for years in Bleeping Nonsense) is at it again; this is becoming an issue that oughtn’t be ignored or overlooked (even SJVN from ZDNet is increasingly concerned about it)
THE term “Fake News” wasn’t coined by Trump. It had been used by the Democrats before he even became President and China used that term quite a lot around 2015 (to justify state censorship and suppression of publishers). The term was probably used for hundreds of years before that, albeit less frequently.
In recent days we saw a number of articles blaming GitHub-hosted malware on “Linux”. We included two examples of these in our Daily Links (with accompanying editorial remarks). We don’t wish to link to such FUD pieces, which follow familiar media recipes. Microsoft does something bad (like serving malware through NPM and GitHub) and somehow, miraculously, it’s the fault of those who receive that malware from Microsoft’s servers.
“In recent days we saw a number of articles blaming GitHub-hosted malware on “Linux”.”A reader has told us about the above ZDNet article along with articles inspired by it. It’s pure FUD. We saw several more like it (links omitted, even from Daily Links). This is the second time in a couple of months that Kaspersky, realising that Microsoft Windows is becoming irrelevant, figures out a way to misuse/googlebomb the “LINUX” brand (more and more over time) for self-promotional FUD, basically selling proprietary software from Russia. We don’t wish to quote passages of FUD, but having studied this for a bit, it turned out that — in ZDNet’s own words (they hired someone with a track record of attacks on GNU/Linux) — it’s the “first time a major Windows ransomware strain has been ported to Linux to aid in targeted intrusions.”
So ransomware strains are a Windows thing; but only once something gets ported to “Linux” it suddenly becomes headlines? Where were they all those times entire hospitals were hit and downed by Windows ransomware?
The fake ‘news’ site (propaganda mostly) ZDNet has been quiet lately. We don’t know if there’s some kind of temporary flux over there or actual cuts/reductions (like staff removals, decreasing publications quotas etc.) though it’s a good sign because people ought to boycott the site and that site needs to go away. It’s a load of junk, corporate propaganda, and defamation. █
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