Posts by Hit Snooze

IT pros are a bunch of wedding and funeral-dodging sickos

Accurate

The article seems accurate as I always miss weddings due to "having to work" but somehow I always make it to the open bar receptions.

Edge out rivals? No! Firefox boss BLASTS Microsoft's Windows 10 browser brouhaha

"Time for the EU to have a polite word with MS? The more I hear about Windows 10 the more glad I am that I'll be waiting to install it."

This is what is wrong with so many people in IT nowadays - believing everything they read on the internet about technology without ever trying it! Sure, you have to rely on reviews for big purchases, but believing a competitor's comments or a journalist's review for something in Windows 10?

A review is like one side of a breakup, it is not the actual truth, and requires a large intake of salt while reading it. The author will leave out facts and use opinions to spin their story on whatever features or concerns they come up with.

As many people pointed out above, if you use the custom installation then you can keep all default settings. Not a big issue.

Note: I am not a fanboi of any OS, browser, hardware/software, etc, I use use what works best for the situation.

Farmer mooved after reunion with two-year fugitive cow

Two years to catch a cow

Only in Poland would it take two years to catch a cow. I imagine the people trying to capture the cow were taking trapping lessons from Wild E. Coyote

I cannae dae it, cap'n! Why I had to quit the madness of frontline IT

@ Trevor

It is very naive to think that you can solve every security need. If it was that easy then big companies wouldn't be getting hacked. They would pay big $$$ for the black box to secure themselves.

The reason you can never be fully secure are the meatbags who write the code, they're not perfect and have faulty code. The meatbags who work for you, they're not perfect (and like to click on stuff), most places get hacked due to social engineering.

Remove the meatbags, do a full audit on all code (ALL OS's - servers, desktops, phones, routers, switches, etc), using an AI since those pesky meatbags had to be removed, to verify you have no new vulnerability whenever a new technology comes out and you might stand a chance of being "better secured".

SpaceX’s anti-hacker tech powers UK launch of security startup

Re: What fascinates me

Is there something wrong with using good security technologies if you didn't develop it yourself?

Insurer tells hospitals: You let hackers in, we're not bailing you out

Re: Did the insurance company require an audit of the insured network?

"Does a household insurance company require me to have my locks and alarms audited every year?"

Does that mean all I need for network security is a firewall? It might be improperly configured but hey, I meet the security specification! Locks and alarms are physical items which are easy to tell if they are configured correctly.

Digital security is a bit harder to know if things are secure and require regular audits of not only network security but also server security. As every vulnerability has taught us, what we thought was secure yesterday is not secure today.

Personally I hate audits but, if done by a true expert, they can point out some weaknesses/vulnerabilities that you might not have known were there and best practices going forward.

Did the insurance company require an audit of the insured network? If they didn't then I say they should pay up. The insurance company should require an IT audit once a year to make sure the insured are kept up to spec. Its a win/win for the insurance company as they do not have to pay for the audit, for fixing the issues, and for paying up if a hacker got in through a known hole.

Maybe the admin thought they were completely secured and following every word of the insurance contract, but as it turns out, they were insecure. With the rapidly changing world of IT, how can someone know they are completely secure without either being licensed for every technology in your network (not gonna happen), or by requiring network audits by an external party.

Airbus to sue NSA, German spies accused of swiping tech secrets

Re: @HitSnooze

BB - You are comparing a data sharing request with a hit request? You're talking apples and oranges here.

I think a better comparison is if you made a data request to get all the data files on your neighbors and a few business leaders throughout the city from the local police department and they just gave it to you. Is it illegal to make the request? No. Is the police wrong for doing it? I think they are.

"And that's without even knowing if any pressure was put on BND to do it."

It could have been a simple request and no pressure added. Besides, who knows what the BDN requests from the NSA.

How is this the Yanks fault? The Yanks made requests and the Germans decided the requests were valid (even if they didn't look at each individual request). The Germans should have evaluated every request and dismissed those they thought were illegal or do the Germans just approve of every request from every intelligence agency on the planet?

The "they told me to do it" excuse doesn't work for adults as well as it does for children. I'm sure the politicians, on both sides, will do the regular "I'm shocked, SHOCKED I say!" routine but business will continue as usual amongst the intelligence community.

I'll build a Hyperloop railgun tube-way in Texas, Elon Musk vows

Pure Genius

The man is a true genius. Starting a project that will cause the most talented engineers, new and old, to volunteer their time and talents on his project (who doesn't want to build and race a pod racer!). Once the right pods are designed and the tubes are tweaked --> PROFIT all around.

I'm crossing my fingers that his next project will be either flying cars or teleporters

Ex-NSA lawyer warns Google, Apple: IMPENETRABLE RIM ruined BlackBerry

Re: WTF?

You forgot the fourth hand, the secret agencies can access Apple, and Google devices but want people to think they can't. Reverse psychology works, just ask any parent.

Windows 10: Forget Cloudobile, put Security and Privacy First

@ Trevor

If you had the choice of losing your job or being raped what would you choose?

Rape and losing your job are in two very different categories that cannot be compared to each other.

Intelligence blunder: You wanna be Australia's spyboss? No problem, just walk right in

Re: What's the point?

My Australian has gotten a little rusty since I stopped taking classes from Prof Hogan, but I'm sure the following words/phrases are mandatory in every Aussie conversation - "G'Day Mate", "Shrimp on the Barby", "Walkabout", and a "You call that a beer?!?!".

New NSA boss plays down impact of Snowden leaks

Re: @rizb

So your argument is because I wasn't there at the time, as an expert in SIGINT, I cannot possibly know if it was better or worse? I like that argument and I cannot wait to use it!

Re: Something else to think about.

BAH!!!! Do away with the NSA and use their very ginormous budget for humanitarian use.

You would need to remove all spy agencies from the world not just the US, otherwise a foreign spy agency will step in to fill the void as Big Brother.

The world would be a much better place & America might get a little more respect from the rest of the world.

I think most Americans don't care about respect from the rest of the world, they just want the same as everyone else - a health family, a roof over their heads, food on the table, and a vacation once in a while.

Do you, as an individual, care about respect from Americans or other countries? I thought not. Only politicians fake caring about respect from other countries as long as it helps them reach their goal.

Re: Why Should I Believe Anything You Say?

The NSA was established on 4th of November, 1952 (Yes I know that the NSA was formed out of the SSA which was created during WWII). What major event came before the creation of the NSA... WWII and I, for one, do not wish to return to that "nicer" time period.

Remaining Snowden docs will be released to avert 'unspecified US war' – ‪Cryptome‬

Re: Potty

Trevor Pott is voting to protect the USA and Matt Bryant is giving him an upvote... <looks outside and sees a dog and cat playing with each other>.

I'm... I'm not sure if I can handle this new version of the Matrix.

TrueCrypt hooked to life support in Switzerland: 'It must not die' say pair

Re: Readers nowadays

@Ammaross Danan

Thanks for the definition of ostensibly. I did not look it up and it is egg on my face!

Re: Readers nowadays

@DanceMan

I've reread the article but I cannot find where the author reported "they claimed". Mind pointing it out for me?

Journalists nowadays

"The official TrueCrypt.org website abruptly shut up shop last week ostensibly because its secretive maintainers felt they could no longer keep the software secure."

"They blamed the Microsoft's discontinuation of official support for Windows XP..."

"The real reasons why TrueCrypt.org pulled the plug remain unclear. In the absence of any convincing explanation, conspiracy theorists have suggested TrueCrypt was shut down, Lavabit-style, in response to pressure from the feds or spy chiefs, or possibly due to an internal power struggle. Perhaps we'll never know."

You start the article by stating reasons as to why TrueCrypt shutdown, passing them off as facts, then you end the article contradicting yourself by saying you do not know the reasons.

So which is it; did the maintainers shutdown TrueCrypt due to Microsoft ending support for XP and/or did the maintainers feel like they couldn't keep the software secure any longer, or do you not know and can only speculate?

TrueCrypt considered HARMFUL – downloads, website meddled to warn: 'It's not secure'

@142

Yeah, that's a fair statement. So who was it - assuming it's a hack? Patriot Hackers? Seems like a slightly odd target.

It could be:

*State sponsored hacking (pick your nation of choice)

*Criminal sponsored hacking

*A lone hacker

*A dev received a secret court order and is doing what (s)he can to announce it, as someone below suggested

*A dev found a security hole being exploited and yanked that version off the site

*Dev infighting causing one dev to get his/her revenge

*Ballmer and Gates playing a prank on the OS community

Without more information it is hard to say who did what and the reasons behind it but I'm sure Occam's razor is involved somewhere.

US authorities name five Chinese military hackers wanted for espionage

Re: US Law Rules the World (Not)

> There is no case for the US pretending it can extradite in this matter.

The US doesn't think it can extradite those responsible. Every time the US would point the finger at the Chinese for hacking US companies the Chinese government would say "prove it". So the US publicly provided the facts to see what the Chinese leadership would do, as well as tying juicy steaks (to attract blood thirsty journalists) around the necks of five, now famous, people. Its all just a small move in the big game of politics.

Russia to suspend US GPS stations in tit-for-tat spat

Re: Oderint dum metuant

@Mike Smith

The Russians haven't done anything to directly provoke Europe or threaten the sovereignty of any NATO or EU country.

WHY should Europe get involved with the affairs of two countries outside its borders?

but Europe doesn't see it as its sacred duty to run around the world throwing its weight around any more.

Same goes for Bosnia. Same goes for Libya. And Syria. And Nigeria. Britain gave Nigeria its independence over half a century ago. It's no longer our problem.

There are a few more references to isolationism in your post but you identified one major difference between the US and Europe. Europe sees injustices and all you do is shrug your shoulders and look the other way. What would happen if the US did that in any war; starting in WW1 - today? Hitler (and now Putin) is a great example of what "It's not my problem" attitude gets you.

The US gets a bad rap because, for one, it is the world police and sticks its nose into other peoples business but it only does that because we saw what doing nothing leads to.

Nuclear reactor sysadmin accused of hacking 220,000 US Navy sailors' details

Re: Best excuse ever

Knight is the nuclear Navy man, while Krueger is the bored sysadmin. Two different people.

Vladimir Putin says internet is a 'CIA project'

Re: forward to the past

I'm sure none of this was the expected outcome of the US meddling, but looking at it all you can understand why Russians are so good at chess, and Americans have to settle for the basketball trophies.

You're joking right? The Russian economy is taking big hits as foreigners pull their money out of Russia, the Rouble has been downgraded to BBB- (which is one step above "junk" status), and most of all, Putin has effectively made the US look like the good guys again. These are not the moves of a brilliant chess player...

Spy back doors? That would be suicide, says Huawei

Re: If the UK is really that worried about backdoors...

Don't be silly, the GCHQ helped install those backdoors so why wouldn't they want you to use them?

Cisco: Hey, IT depts. You're all malware hosts

Re: Abridged version

To be fair, Cisco stuff is pretty bloody good at what it does.

I agree, it is very good, flexible, reliable, and there are tons of documentation/forums for Cisco equipment (major advantage), but it is expensive which really sucks.

100% of IT Depts they tested were probably Cisco customers using Cisco VOIP phones that seemingly require a server to be connected to the network, but not managed, patched, firewalled or otherwise managed by IT

Each business chooses who will manage their VOIP systems, and IT has always managed VOIP in every place of business that I have worked for. So your complaint is invalid.

Also, Cisco has a very good VOIP system that is easy to patch, manage, and is rock solid.

Brazilian president signs internet civil rights law

Re: "From the country that gave you"...

> So should:

The USA, UK, Rusia, China, France...

Your point?

USA, UK, Russia, China, France are not signing this agreement, that is the point. It is a nice gesture, one that I wish could be enforced, but it is akin to signing a policy that politicians will not lie and bankers will not steal.

Rejoice, Russians! The annexation of Crimea is complete and legitimate – Google Maps proves it

Re: @ Voland

All of these have viable and valid claims to it. Ukraine is not on the list. A birthday present by a dictator is not really a valid claim to ownership.

Only recent history has any meaning and that recent history is that Russia gave Crimea to Ukraine. End of story. It doesn't matter who conquered Crimea hundreds of years ago, or who had control of it up to it was gifted. It was LEGALLY gifted away by the then current "owners".

Crimeans have every right to separate from Ukraine and join whomever they want, but you cannot do it by use of force like the Russians did without consequences.

Putin tells Snowden: Russia conducts no US-style mass surveillance

Meet Society and Law

Our special services, thank God, are strictly controlled by the society and by the law and are regulated by the law," he claimed.

Unbeknownst to most people, Putin has named his hands. The left is known as Society while the right is named Law.

Solar-powered aircraft unveiled for round-the-world flight

Moody Planes

...but should the plane's attitude shift in-flight, vibrating bracelets on the pilot's wrists will signal an alert to get a human back on the controls.

I hate it when machines get attitudes and start trying to kill you.

Re: Bah!

The pilot will sit in the single reclinable seat (which doubles as a toilet)"

It sounds like the pilot lifts up the seat and its bombs away after that.

Snowden files latest: NSA and GCHQ targeted German satcomms

Re: How soon..

Before normal companies say 'stuff it - encrypt everything'?

Then the executives will see how much it costs to encrypt everything and they'll say "Vacations and new cars for us or securing our data... VACATIONS! <Fist bumps and a pat on the butt for everyone>"

Bruce Schneier sneers at IBM's NSA denials

Re: I'm going to repeat my comment from elsewhere..

2 - segregate data from the US (and other questionable jurisdictions) in non-US data centres.

That way, a US subsidiary can only provide what it has access to and cannot be used as a backdoor. If you have your HQ in the US, it means your decision power resides there which can give rise to abuse.

Every government will, if they are not already, tap into the data lines going through it's borders so it all boils down to which government you don't mind sharing your data\phone calls with.

Michelle Obama speaks out against censorship ... in China

Good Bye Mary...

“It was quite enlightening to hear about her experience and her struggle. But it's not convenient for me to talk about such issues," English student Mary Yan told The Guardian.

I hope this student used a fake name, otherwise she'll get invited to have tea at the local police station very soon!

White House may ditch BlackBerry, adopt LG or Samsung, ignore Apple

Re: Don't really see a big deal here for BB...

When the US invades Canuckistan...

I thought the plan was to invade so we wouldn't have to pay roaming charges and to secure our supply of sandpaper?

ZOMBIE iPAD PERIL? Cyberbadness slinger touts tool for iOS

Coded by a Brit

Taken at face value, this would hint that a Brit is behind the sale. However, this is more likely to be a deliberate piece of subterfuge than a genuine opsec howler...

The way to find out is if the comments are very well written. Plus look for words and phrases like "bloody hell", "cheerio", and "tea".

This city's smog is so TERRIBLE, people are told to stay indoors. Beijing? No – PARIS

That wasn't smog

...it was smug!

Is no browser safe? Security bods poke holes in Chrome, Safari, IE, Firefox and earn $1m

Re: No mention of Linux

Maybe because it is a sponsored event that was for bugs in browsers. So if no one is going to pay for a bug, why submit it?

Reporters without Borders confirms, yes, lots of nations are spying on their citizens

Pot meet Kettle

RWB have a "do as I say not as I do" attitude as most reporters stalk, hack, and dig dig dig until they find something/anything they can use for a story on you. Just ask the alleged creator of bitcoin

It's hard to convince people to follow your rules when your own house doesn't even follow your rules.

NSA's TURBINE robot can pump 'malware into MILLIONS of PCs'

Re: I invite the US and the other 5 eyes partners...

F-Secure's malware research chief Mikko Hyppönen told the summit that so far government-developed malware was coming from Germany, Russia, China, and even Sweden...

It's not just the 5 Eyes you have to worry about...

Snowden: You can't trust SPOOKS with your DATA

Re: Stop who?

And to be perfectly clear: I'll die before I allow someone to rule me.

You've never been married have you?

Murdoch dumps Microsoft, prepares to Hangout with Google

Re: @Daniel 1

However, from a functional point of view, the only difference is that I no longer get emails about my inbox being over its size limit, and I no longer have to go back through my email history and work out what I can safely delete (and then delete it from 'Deleted items', of course, and then delete it from 'Recover Deleted Items', and so on... until I finally get some inbox space back).

You should have sent your Exchange admin to training.

I am lucky to have worked with good admins that setup policies to automatically delete emails in your deleted items folder and ordered beefy enough servers to handle many years worth of emails per inbox. Granted I don't receive, or send for that matter, any mass joke/picture emails and thanks to the tireless user education efforts of all IT staff, this company does not use email as a file store.

Software is only as good as the admin in charge of it.

Linux-friendly Munich: Ja, we'll take open source collab cloud

Re: @Chemist

Do you suggest that intelligent programmers maybe using software tools are incapable of finding a backdoor. ?

I do not suggest such a thing but are they looking for a backdoor? Can the few experts searching for bugs keep up with every update that is released? Just because a person is an intelligent programmer doesn't mean they can spot every bug/backdoor. They might want to smack the original coder around a bit for poor coding but even the best programmer doesn't know everything. Besides, people come up with new ways to hack into things everyday that the experts haven't even thought about.

That forensic malware experts are incapable of detecting untoward traffic ?

Malware experts can detect untoward traffic coming or going from any OS.

Sure, it's possible, but between closed-source binary and open-source I know what I'd take and in fact I do take

Since they have never looked at any of the code, to 99.9999% of Linux users out there, open source is the same as closed source - Unknown.

I do not care about one OS over another, each has it's pros and cons. What gets me is that people claim there is a backdoor in Windows due to it being closed source but they have never found one and they refuse to believe there is a backdoor in Linux because it is open source and "could" be reviewed by experts.

@Chemist

Are you or anyone else going to audit the code and all future code that the BSI and their shadow companies have submitted for free? No? I thought not.

If a group of independent experts cannot audit source code BEFORE it is deployed then how do you know if it has a backdoor? I do not think the BSI would put in a backdoor right away due to the mistrust caused by the NSA/GCHQ, but I think they will add one in the future when things have settled down. After all, security agencies are all after the same thing - the collection of as much information as possible.

Open Source != bug/virus/backdoor free

Am I the only one who saw this??

Kolab, from Swiss company Kolab Systems, was developed by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

It looks like Germany is putting in their own backdoor and people are happy to do it because it is not Microsoft... well played Germany, well played indeed.

SME storage challengers emerge one feature at a time

Re: Shouldn't there really be a disclaimer...

What pisses me off is when a consultant will suggest some new hardware/software that he/she has never touched. Then they want to learn the system while implementing it. I have no issue educating an employee who might stick around for a few years but I will not pay to educate a consultant. You are being hired because you say you know the system you submitted a bid for! Most small time consultants = setup wizard clicker.

If you are going to spend the money on a new system, pay a little extra and hire someone who knows what they are doing.

BOFH: Attractive person is attractive. Um, why are your eyes bulging?

Best way to awaken the CRAZY

Is to point out the CRAZY...

Husband: "Whoa, relax babe."

Wife: "Don't tell me what to do, and DO NOT CALL ME BABE!"

Husband: "Oh, is this Shark Week?"

Wife: "<insert loud pitch yelling, death threats, etc>"

Cameron: UK public is fine with domestic spying

Re: If there was any doubt

And people wonder why evil masterminds in American 007 type films are always British