Cyber Security

[Somatung]

Hi

Urgent: Microsoft has published an update on W7 systems. It is recommended not to install this update. Microsoft should have stopped this update until now. Still: If you do receive it do not install. It looks like this:

gYxseNjwafVPfgsoHnzLblmm...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...d/e96a0834-a9e9-4f03-a187-bef8ee62725e?auth=1

Microsoft has confirmed that there is some thing wrong with that update.

Take care / Dan

 

[Somatung]

Hi

Did you ever hear about or do you know what "Canvas fingerprinting" is and how it is done?

Popular, heavily trafficked websites are increasingly turning to “canvas fingerprinting” in order to track your online movements. Canvas fingerprinting is extremely hard to block, hard to detect, and has become a unique identifier that logs your ‘Net history as you jump from site to site without you knowing about it — on desktop and mobile devices.

Adam Kujawa, the head of intelligence at Malwarebytes, said canvas fingerprinting is a step above cookies and is exceptionally complex.

If you want to go deeper into the topic, here some links to read on:

- The Web never forgets: https://securehomes.esat.kuleuven.be/~gacar/persistent/index.html

- How companies use Canvas Fingerprinting to track you online: http://www.ghacks.net/2014/07/21/companies-use-canvas-fingerprinting-track-online/

- Canvas fingerprinting is tracking you, and you don't even know what it is: http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/30/c...acking-you-and-you-dont-even-know-what-it-is/

Here some test links: http://fingerprint.pet-portal.eu/# or https://panopticlick.eff.org

How to protect against it:

There are several options to block Canvas fingerprinting, but most are not straightforward. Here just some ideas:

- For Tor: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/6253
- For Chrome and Safari: https://github.com/ghostwords/chameleon or https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/block-yourself-from-analy/fadgflmigmogfionelcpalhohefbnehm
- For Opera: http://www.igorware.com/extensions/block-yourself-from-analytics

There are other tools available for most browsers. Just open "Extensions or Add ons" in the browser you use and type in the search engine: "Canvas fingerprinting protection". Now you should get a lot of different tools you may check by your self.

Have a nice day / Dan

 

[Somatung]

Some interesting stuff to read:

Privacy? I don't have anything to hide.: https://www.privacytools.io

 

[Somatung]

Hi

An interesting and at the same time an alarming article about what for the moment works in India, but the company is expanding to other places in the world. The sniffing they practise through this tool and even call it legal is for example absolute illegal over here:

- Your Phone Is Listening—Literally Listening—to Your TV

The TV is on in the background, and you’re replying to a quick email on your phone nearby. You don’t know it, but the devices are communicating. During a commercial, the TV emits an inaudible tone and your phone, which was listening for it, picks it up. Somewhere far away, a server makes a note: Both devices probably belong to you.

This information about which devices belong to whom is immensely valuable to advertisers hoping to target ads specifically to you. In a simpler time, targeted marketing was easy. Most people had a computer at work and maybe another at home. If you sent an email about your new cat, ads for cat food started cropping up. If you searched for Thanksgiving recipes, Safeway coupons for turkeys appeared in your Facebook newsfeed.

Source and the full article: http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...one-is-literally-listening-to-your-tv/416712/

- Searching for Ultrasonic Beacons

Yesterday afternoon, a series of tweets alerted me to a user tracking technique I hadn’t run into before: a company, SilverPush, has been selling technology that embeds “ultrasonic beacons” in TV shows that can be detected by mobile phone apps. The technology would allow the app to determine what TV shows (or perhaps what advertisements) you have been watching, providing additional, perhaps personally-identifiable, information about you to the advertising ecosystem.

Source and the full article: http://altmode.org/2015/11/13/searching-for-ultrasonic-beacons/

Have a nice day / Dan

 

[Somatung]

Support for older versions of Internet Explorer ends on January 12, 2016

What is end of support?

Beginning January 12, 2016, only the most current version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical supports and security updates. Internet Explorer 11 is the last version of Internet Explorer, and will continue to receive security updates, compatibility fixes, and technical support on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

Internet Explorer 11 offers improved security, increased performance, better backward compatibility, and support for the web standards that power today’s websites and services. Microsoft encourages customers to upgrade and stay up-to-date on the latest browser for a faster, more secure browsing experience.

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/WindowsForBusiness/End-of-IE-support

- Internet Explorer Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle#gp/Microsoft-Internet-Explorer

Have a nice day / Dan

 

[Somatung]

Urgent

If you run any "Dell Computer" you should be aware about this:

Sloppy Security Software Exposes Dell Laptops to Hackers http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/dell-certificate-security-flaw

Dell ships laptops with rogue root CA, exactly like what happened with Lenovo and Superfish https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3twmfv/dell_ships_laptops_with_rogue_root_ca_exactly/

Here is a testing tool for dangerous eDellRoot certificate plus you also can check vulnerability for Superfish and Komodia:

Check for dangerous eDellRoot certificate: https://edell.tlsfun.de or this one http://rol.im/dell/

If it shows any problem with your "Dell Computer", then use the following update now:

Dell Foundation Services: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=0Y8N2

Take care / Dan

 

[Somatung]

Hi

In case you run Windows 10, you may are interested in the following link, as we all know that W10 is spying on each and every one who uses it. Some of the KB's, which came with updates for W7 and W8, are also spying tools. I have posted the KB Numbers in this thread in the past. I am clear that nothing is going to protect us 100%, as there are so many ways to collect informations about any person as soon as we are on line. Still, we can use any little tool to make this data collections for those who do it a bit more difficult.

Microsoft has indeed played fast and loose with users’ privacy in Windows 10. By default, the new operating system is configured to track usage, and even to monitor your files and folders in some cases. Just look at how scary Microsoft’s privacy statement is.

Features like this aren’t always a bad thing, but opting people in by default is hardly a user-friendly policy.

In an earlier post, we told you about a few things you can do to opt out of many of Microsoft’s tracking features in Windows 10. Since this is such a widely publicized issue, however, there are already plenty of tools you can use to help simplify the process of taking your privacy back in Windows 10. And in a recent post, gHacks supplied a nice quick comparison of six different options.

Below you’ll find six different apps covered, along with brief descriptions. Click on the name of any app to download it.

6 free tools that stop Windows 10 from spying on everything you do​

 

[Somatung]

Hi

If you use for example "Mozilla Firefox", do use the following link and read about your safety. Read about how you can improve it a little bit by your self, in case you are like me not a genius on the topic, by using some of the newest add ons and by making the wright choices by what you can choose as settings in your "Firefox" browser.

Get smart on the net​

 

[Vertigo_1985]

I have windows 7 ultimate in my laptop, there is option to update it to windows 10 for free. What are the advantages of upgrading ? what about previous files, apps and app compatibility ? how those will be affected ?
How much ram is recommended ? What your personal experience has been with windows 10 ?

 

[Somatung]

I do not use W10, so I only can show you this links you may find the answers you are loking for:

Windows 10 advantages and disadvantages

Windows comparisons​

How Much RAM Do I Need For Windows 10​