Malwarebytes gives a PUP to the command prompt being disabled in gpedit. Granted, it is a tactic used for hacking and infection.
Posts by onebignerd
58 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Sep 2017
ESET rushes to defend rival Malwarebytes in legal war sparked by vendor upset at 'unwanted program' labeling
Linux-loving Windows 10 May 2020 Update squeaks in with days to spare before June
cmd.exe is dead, long live PowerShell: Microsoft leads aged command-line interpreter out into 'maintenance mode'
IBM's sacking spree reaches Australia – and as staff wait to exit, they're offered AU$4k to find new workers
US-CERT lists the 10 most-exploited security bugs and, yeah, it's mostly Microsoft holes people forgot to patch
Remember Tapplock, the 'unbreakable' smart lock that was allergic to screwdrivers? The FTC just slapped it down for 'deceiving' folks
COBOL-coding volunteers sought as slammed mainframes slow New Jersey's coronavirus response
The federal government has the same problem, they pay big money for Cobol programmers because they have alot of systems that depend on it. They did recently upgrade their oldest computer system which was about the same age as NJ's. But it isn't enough to get them out of the jam of ancient systems. They struggle to patch or update the newer systems/PCs they do have, which stretches back to the Regan Administration. The FBI was running ancient PCs even after 9/11 that were unable to use a mouse or run any modern software, still running an old mainframe using multiple databases that could not be synced. Only because their previous director was tech-phobic.
For the past five years, every FBI secret spy court request to snoop on Americans has sucked, says watchdog
This should be clear evidence and cause for Congress to repeal the spying laws of the Patriot Act, radical overhaul of the FISA courts and withdraw the Presidential Orders related to spying that the NSA claims gives them that ability , which by their own admission have not worked. This is also a clear example of why no branch of law enforcement or government should have backdoor access to the encrypted data of U.S citizens. Congress has zero ability too or effectiveness in exercising any kind of oversight.
But then most likely Congress will renew it without much of a debate or fight. The FISA court and the FBI will continue on to abuse the rights of U.S citizens in blatant violation of the laws they are supposed to uphold.
Firefox now defaults to DNS-over-HTTPS for US netizens and some are dischuffed about this
After blowing $100m to snoop on Americans' phone call logs for four years, what did the NSA get? Just one lead
FYI: FBI raiding NSA's global wiretap database to probe US peeps is probably illegal, unconstitutional, court says
There was an article recently that the NSA told Congress that the dragnet surveillance was ineffective and unused, but they wanted permanent renewal of section 702. Of course with the NSA's torture of the English language who knows what that really means. They told Congress that the data was not collected until an annalist actually looks at it. Nothing will change at the FBI or with any law enforcement agency, with the fusion centers nation wide they still have access.
Want to live long and prosper? Avoid pirated, malware-laden Star Wars free vid streams – and pay to watch instead
Americans should have strong privacy-protecting encryption ...that the Feds and cops can break, say senators
Law enforcement has the ability to read encrypted information, called probable cause and a search warrant. The FBI is abusing and pillaging the FISA database, so I see no need to entrust them with more power to abuse. Rather comical that they site a case where they paid tens of thousands to unlock a phone that gave them zilch. An unconvincing argument.
Allowlist, not whitelist. Blocklist, not blacklist. Goodbye, wtf. Microsoft scans Chromium code, lops off offensive words
Equifax is going to make you work for that 125 bucks it owes each of you: Biz sneaks out Friday night rule change
NSA asks Congress to permanently reauthorize spying program that was so shambolic, the snoops had shut it down
Years late to the SMB1-killing party, Samba finally dumps the unsafe file-sharing protocol version by default
NASA's JPL may be able to reprogram a probe at the arse end of the solar system, but its security practices are a bit crap
Hardly surprising, the Federal Government has never been able to keep their systems updated or secured. A report through Homeland Security released about Homeland Security, Dept of Education, Dept of Agriculture, Dept of Housing...and others shows the same problems with some systems that are 20 - 35 years old. https://www.hsdl.org/c/substandard-federal-cybersecurity-puts-america-at-risk/
Going dark from encryption? No from obsolete IT equipment, some still running programs written in COBOL which is hard to find programmers for.
US govt now says 21.5 million people exposed by OPM hack – here's what you need to know
Re: "We should be improving cybersecurity"
Don't get your hopes up, this has been going on since '83 after Pres Reagan saw War Games and asked if that was a reality. Billions of dollars, endless presidential directives and orders, panels and studies and still many systems are 20 - 35+ year old legacy systems running programs years out of support, alot written in Cobol which they spend millions finding people to support. Read the big report just published by Homeland Security and/or read Dark Territory by Fred Kaplan to see the sad shape cyber security has always been in the Government.
Self-taught Belgian bloke cracks crypto conundrum that was supposed to be uncrackable until 2034
Who pwns the watchmen? Maybe Russians selling the source code for three US antivirus vendors
Hurrah for Apollo 9: It has been 50 years since 'nauts first took a Lunar Module out for a spin
Liz Warren: I'll smash up Amazon, Google, and Facebook – if you elect me to the White House
Why don't we enact some tough privacy and data storage laws (Equifax), better anti-trust laws for banks, insurance and stock/bonds? They broke up MaBell but they are allowing Sprint, Verizon and AT&T to slowly become the same monopoly. Same with oil, natural gas, electricity, media, Government contractors...etc. Facebook will eventually cause it's own self destruction.
Not to mention Government institutions; Postal Service, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Veterans Adimin, Education....etc. It's more complex than just online, retail and social media.
Ever yearn for the Windows 95 shutdown sound? TADA! There's an Electron app for that
Here are another 45,000 reasons to patch Windows systems against old NSA exploits
GCHQ pushes for 'virtual crocodile clips' on chat apps – the ability to silently slip into private encrypted comms
Have to use SMB 1.0? Windows 10 April 2018 Update says NO
Bruce Schneier: You want real IoT security? Have Uncle Sam start putting boots to asses
IoT should be cremated, it's ashes entombed in concrete and buried in a deep hole. WannaCry is still causing problems because people and businesses will not apply a simple patch or upgrade their systems. We certainly don't need fridges, thermostats, toys, toasters, lights...etc connected to the Internet unpatched.
Facebook's CEO on his latest almighty Zuck-up: OK, we did try to smear critics, but I was too out-of-the-loop to know
Citation needed: Europe claims Kaspersky wares 'confirmed as malicious'
Re: Ahh the ignorance.
The U.S has become the same operation, with the secret national security letters and the black bag NSA, FBI and CIA hacking and heavy handed tactics against companies and persons since 9/11. The Patriot Act allows a judge to sign a warrant to spy on the computer/Internet activity of hundreds or millions of people nation wide based on a suspicion w/o proof against any one person. The push to back door encryption has little to do with crime solving. Do you realize that even using encryption puts you on the NSA watch list permanently?
The NSA has hacked and backdoored into equipment, routers, switches and PCs that make up U.S critical infrastructure. The same infrastructure that can be hacked by nation states or a high school kid that discovers these backdoors. The FBI and CIA are building their own massive databases, consolidating data from the NSA, license plate readers, facial recognition, finger prints, dna, drivers licenses, consumer databases...etc. Yet in the same breath they claim to value the rights and freedoms the Constitution provides. Suspension of habeas corpus since 9/11 and now permanent law in the Patriot Act, which endangers law abiding citizens. Read what China in doing in this article and compare to where the U.S is heading.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-is-watching-its-citizens-in-a-modern-surveillance-state-2018-4#9-tracking-peoples-social-media-posts-which-can-be-linked-to-the-users-family-and-location-10
The NSA has cracked all a/v suites to enable spying on Internet activity, probably even Kaspersky which was one of a very few they couldn't crack as of the Snowden leaks. And since the U.S shares intelligence information with the other five eyes nations and other intelligence sharing countries, so can other nation states. It is hard claim the U.S is less corrupt or allows more free choice than Russia when when they are entrenched in the same tactics.
Kaspersky can thank the U.S Government for starting this paranoid panic. Do a Google search and find that the U.S Government is having a difficult time removing Kaspersky from their systems as it is integrated into routers, switches and third party software (e.g: Check Point, Bluecoat, Juniper Networks, Microsoft Forefront,[54] Netintelligence, Clearswift, FrontBridge, Netasq, Wedge Networks and others as more than 120 companies are licensing technology from Kaspersky). But since most of these Government agencies can't or won't apply security patches to their systems regularly, Kaspersky should hardly be their biggest concern. Most recently is the Department of Homeland Security passport fraud division.
Microsoft still longs to be a 'lifestyle' brand, but the cupboard looks bare
Microsoft needs to stop trying to be the Windows of every tech market, phone, cloud, game console, computer hardware, search engine...etc. The only reason Windows still has a large hold on PC operating systems is that any other software maker that tries to challenge it gets pushed out or bought up by Microsoft. Their long history shows they don't like competition, even within the partnership with IBM creating O/S2 they couldn't play nice. Now with Windows 10 and the Edge browser they have resorted to bullying of their own users rather than embracing change and competition.
Linux? Well I had high hopes for Linux in the '90s, but without standardization of the platform and consolidation on the fragmenting I don't expect it to make any inroads into the desktop market. Microsoft will never allow Linux to be anything more than a subsystem within Windows 10, an add-on, anything more would pose a direct threat to Microsoft.
Trump's axing of cyber czar role has left gaping holes in US defence
Nothing new
DHS was caught not updating their systems just last month. This is something the U.S Government has failed at since President Regan first saw the movie War Games and asked if it was possible.
The whole nonsense with our Government taking Kaspersky off their systems (which they are STILL struggling with) and Russia hacking, was just a diversion to cover up the fact that they can't secure an unplugged Playstation.
Microsoft: You don't want to use Edge? Are you sure? Really sure?
Won’t patch systems? Never run malware scans? Welcome to the US State Department!
This has been an issue since President Regan first saw the movie War Games and asked if that was really possible. Ever since it's been an endless stream of studies, oversight committees, presidential recommendations, passing the buck, endless bureaucracy, political posturing and tens of millions of dollars going no where. Military, White House, Pentagon, DOJ...etc. it's all one big insecure mess. Purging the Government of Kaspersky has proved to be more challenging than expected, since it is embedded into other software and hardware. The agencies charged with protecting the country can't protect even a single PC. SCARY!!
Read Dark Territory by Fred Kaplan
On Kaspersky’s 'transparency tour' the truth was clear as mud
Actual control of Windows 10 updates (with a catch)... and more from Microsoft
Windows 10 Spring Creators Update team explains the hold-up: You little BSOD!
Re: Windows insider Program
YAWN! The constant claims of the flawless perfection and bullet-proofness of Linux is beyond unimpressive, tiring and insulting to others intelligence.
Maybe it is the exotic hardware that causes the problems?
Are you telling me that Linux never, ever has problems with releases, patches or kernels? I remember several times reading articles about Linux having trouble with new kernels.
Nobody ever runs into a hardware incompatibility problem with Linux?
Claims like that are nonsensical!
Ubuntu wants to slurp PCs' vital statistics – even location – with new desktop installs
Called it!
I knew this would happen eventually with a Linux distro! I'll bet by years end it will be rampant through out Linux. Wouldn't be surprised if the tracking code is removed from the open source license, so it can't be changed or removed. Everybody is addicted to data collecting and tracking of users, like a plague.
Mozilla's opt-out Firefox DNS privacy test sparks, er, privacy outcry
We're Putin our foot down! DHS, FBI blame Russia for ongoing infrastructure hacks
Is this round of blaming Russia carrying the same lack of evidence as with the Kaspersky fearmongering?
Sounds like alot of bullying from Washington trying to provoke Russia. I thought Trump and Putin were BFFs, why are we antagonizing them? Like the U.S is so innocent and pure!! *dry heave*
If DHS is so concerned about security, maybe they should get their own systems secured. Their last audit was a big fail. Why do we need the so much infrastructure connected to the Internet?
Five things you need to know about Microsoft's looming Windows 10 Spring Creators Update
Big Data Suckers
All of Corporate America and Government sell, share, trade, market your data. We are just data, numbers, percentages and dollars to them, no such thing as customers anymore. They tell us they value our trust and privacy, but every data breach shows that they don't take the effort to patch, secure, monitor or even encrypt the data.
"When are the American people going to realize the Government (or Corporate America) doesn't give a f*** about them?" -George Carlin
Here we go again... UK Prime Minister urges nerds to come up with magic crypto backdoors
FBI says it can't unlock 8,000 encrypted devices, demands backdoors for America's 'public safety'
Yeah, I'm sure law enforcement would never abuse such a back door for parallel prosecution or to circumvent a warrant. *eye roll* Our Government and law enforcement already have too much power that rages unchecked, despite the promise of usually nonexistent oversight.
Just recently they published secret NSA programs, one of which specifically targeted Americans. http://www.zdnet.com/article/ragtime-program-appear-in-nsa-leaked-files/ Where is the oversight? Congress, so really no oversight.