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Eye on Microsoft: This Week's Security Hall of Shame

Summary: Microsoft security news from the past few days

Microsoft patches huge Windows 7 RC bug (that's not a bug, it's just release candidate by Microsoft's standards)

Just days after it launched Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), Microsoft has released a fix for a major flaw that slipped through testing.

[...]

"The folder that is created as the root folder of the system drive (%SystemDrive%) is missing entries in its security descriptor," Microsoft acknowledged in the support article. "One effect of this problem is that standard users such as non-administrators cannot perform all operations to subfolders that are created directly under the root. Therefore, applications that reference folders under the root may not install successfully or may not uninstall successfully. Additionally, operations or applications that reference these folders may fail."


Pirates on Board the M.S. MoneyTanker!

Microsoft needs to be regulated, forced, coerced, sued and hammered on until they start up a substantial anti-botnet, anti-piracy effort that goes on the offensive against infected systems running their software.

[...]

Personally I'm tired of Microsoft's passive stance on allowing their customer's computers to be used as Internet versions of Typhoid Mary. They need to be held to account. There are lemon laws for bad cars. Doctors get sued for mal-practice. The EULA only protects Microsoft. Its about time that there was a balance between users as a class or an economic force and Microsoft.

Scare the hell out of the stockholders with a $25 billion fine and maybe Microsoft will move to tighten up OS install security.

Crackers who get caught and prosecuted are fined for their activity. So why can't Microsoft be fined for their apparent malpractice or indifference in really locking down security around their operating system image?


Please Join me in welcoming memcpy() to the SDL Rogues Gallery

Because we have seen many security vulnerabilities in products from Microsoft and many others, including ISVs and competitors, and because we have a viable replacement, I am “proud” to announce that we intend to add memcpy() will to the SDL C and C++ banned API list later this year as we make further revisions to the SDL. Right now, memcpy() is on the SDL Recommended banned list, but will soon be added to the SDL banned API requirement list now that we have more feedback from Microsoft product groups.


Organised crime cops seek international hacking powers

British law enforcement agents are quietly working with European counterparts on changes to national legislation that will allow them to share intelligence gained by hacking into suspects' PCs.

Sharon Lemon, director of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency's (SOCA) e-crime unit, told The Register data laws in some EU countries make it impossible for investigators to obtain and pool data covertly.


Malware infested MPs' PCs inflate leak risk

"That's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential security briefings. You leak. He has been charged under section 2a of the Official Secrets Act." (Bernard Woolley, Yes Minister)

The ongoing MPs' expenses row has brought public opinion of politics and politicians in the UK, never very high, towards unplumbed depths.

Embarrassing disclosures about how politicians across the political spectrum subsidised their living expense from the public purse follow hard on the heels of leaked emails regarding a proposed New Labour smear campaign against senior Tories, cobbled together by spin doctors Derek Draper and Brown aide Damian McBride in the style of In the Loop's Malcolm Tucker.


Hackers 'destroy' flight sim site

Flight simulator site Avsim has been "destroyed" by malicious hackers.

The site, which launched in 1996, covered all aspects of flight simulation, although its main focus was on Microsoft's Flight Simulator.


Microsoft update closes fourteen vulnerabilities in PowerPoint (14 "critical")

Although, as announced, Microsoft is distributing only a single update (MS09-017), it's a biggie that closes fourteen security vulnerabilities in PowerPoint 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, and in PowerPoint Viewer 2003 and 2007.


IIS 6 + Webdav auth bypass and data upload (more here)

In other words Microsoft, certainly through the late addition of Unicode support to IIS, failed to realise that converting chars to unicode representation should happen before any "security" checks. So the flaw was one of logic, Unicode convertion after the security check.


Conficker Worm Infects Hospital MRI Machines

The Conficker worm has found its way into nearly 300 MRI machines and other hospital equipment that’s connected to the Internet, say security experts who are monitoring the massive computer worm. Security workers at the Internet Storm Center, tracked Conficker to an MRI machine in a hospital when the machine’s computer connected to the worm’s command and control center for instructions.


Recent Techrights' Posts

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Apple is just another greedy corporation in search of sweatshops and even pedophiles (especially the high-profile ones)
Counting Unhatched Eggs Is Not Counting Chickens
Everything here will persist as normal
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The biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 has software parallels
In Many Cases and in Many Different Ways, Technology Became Less Durable and Less Reliable Over Time
The "modern" things are more complex. And complexity is a foe or reliability and repair-ability.
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Let this be a reminder of what social control media really is about
Microsoft Lunduke: Freedom of Speech Means Spreading What I Have to Say and Banning People I Disagree With
4Chan is one he aims for and he is siccing 4Chan trolls at people he doesn't like
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He spoke there before; there's a very high seating capacity there
 
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Links for the day
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If the Web gets polluted or flooded by slopfarms such as these, and Slashdot then sends traffic so these slopfarms (Slashdot probably doesn't do this intentionally), then real writers with real knowledge of GNU/Linux will lose the spark for publishing
Over at Tux Machines...
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IRC logs for Sunday, October 19, 2025
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Liberation From 'The Feed'
They rank things based on the editor's choice/ideology (he or she knows the sponsors, hence the masters)
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We not only saw a rise in traffic, we also saw a remarkable rise in the number of articles
Today (a Day Before Richard Stallman Talk at TUM) There's a Patent Propaganda Event at TUM
Perhaps an opportunity for Dr. Stallman to rebut this "invention to patent" nonsense/fantasy (conflating monopolies with innovation)
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Those of us who actually want to reform the industry and put users in control of their systems/devices will recognise that "Open Source" was selling a lie or got-co-opted by liars
19 Years in Numbers: Techrights' Anniversary Countdown and Retrospective
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"More" (or "MOAR") isn't always better
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This won't end well
Fake Numbers, Fake Claims, Fake Economy, and Media Grifters That Prop Up Fraud
Grifters like The Register MS won't be looked upon kindly after the bubble implodes
For Some, the GNU Web Site is Not Accessible This Week
They seem to have gone into some kind of lock-down mode
Symptoms of Upcoming Microsoft Layoffs in XBox
A crashing franchise
Psychiatrist confession: Germanwings crash & Debian toxic culture recognized before suicides
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Links for the day
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Links for the day
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Not counting browser plugins for Web browsers
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Links for the day
US Government: 6.1% of Site Visitors Use GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has a considerable share and it is growing
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Inane garbage disguised as "journalism"
Why the FSF No Longer Recommends Debian, as Explained by Richard Stallman This Month
some weeks ago
All the Latest Half Dozen Articles by Mehedi Hasan (UbuntuPIT) Only Admit at the End That He's Using LLM Slop
Disclosure is OK, but the practice of using slop is not
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Each year it gets worse
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
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IRC logs for Saturday, October 18, 2025
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Only the hype was new... and totally artificial
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Links for the day
Defeating LLM Abuse (State-of-the-Art Plagiarism) in the Area of Linux and GNU, Free Software, BSD, Security and So On
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Links for the day
Credit Where It's Due: LinuxConfig.org Quit Doing LLM Slop, Back to Original and Real Articles
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We appreciate the honesty
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Links for the day
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It'll be a good opportunity for patent examiners to listen, ask questions, and maybe greet him in person
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We're going to keep an eye on future posts of his
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They'd demonise people for speaking about freedom, no matter what they say or do
Digital Sanitation Good Practices
leave behind Microsoftism
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English translation
Science, Not Fast Food/Junk Food
The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
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expect the FSF to add more people
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That's probably late enough for EPO staff to attend after work
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: Notifications and Geminaut
Links for the day
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Similarly, IBM layoffs (or "RAs" as they're called) include Red Hat layoffs
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From what we can gather, assuming the recent rumours about XBox are true, there will be at least 3 waves of Microsoft layoffs this month alone
Security Issues in Cisco and Jenkins Passed Off as "Linux" Problems
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) tactics
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
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IRC logs for Friday, October 17, 2025