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Today the German government has officially recommended against using Internet Explorer, due to YET another security leak which allows "cybercriminals" to take over a Windows system. In an interview with some guy from Tweakers.net, asking if this means the browser is filled with security leaks, the guy answered a clear "This has always been the case". I can't stop laughing right now, it's great to finally let people hear what I've been saying for years in such a way.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 05:52:45 UTC from web-
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 05:53:53 UTC from web
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Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:00:01 UTC from web
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Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:00:54 UTC from web
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@omni And meanwhile, an otherwise tech-savvy-enough buddy of mine holds that "IE just gets attacked more because more people use it." *le sigh*
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 05:54:25 UTC from web-
@subircs No offense, but that shows nothing but stupidity. Contests like Pwn2Own clearly show that Internet Explorer is simply the least safe browser, as it's always one of the first ones to go down (often together with Safari). Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome usually survive the longest, and Chrome managed to completely survive for several years.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 05:58:31 UTC from web-
@omni Yeah, I've tried with him, and completely surrendered. I managed to get my grandpa on Firefox, but this buddy knows just enough to be dangerous to himself. Though, he keeps musing about getting at least a Linux live-CD, since he keeps getting virii every year or so.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:00:19 UTC from web
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@subircs He might have had a point (after all, there _will_ be more attempts against a bigger target, since more victims can be caught) if it hadn't also been the weakest in contests like Pwn2Own where there is no inherent benefit to attacking one other than it being easier to attack.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:00:31 UTC from web-
@bitshift I think he's probably just extrapolating the common Win vs. Mac attitude of "Of *course* Mac has less viruses, no one bothers to attack 1% of the targets!" But I don't know for a fact.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:01:31 UTC from web-
@subircs Macs get attacked pretty often after Apple went all "Macs are so safe, you can never hack them!"
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:02:00 UTC from web-
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:02:33 UTC from web
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@pony That's why I always tell people Linux is safer, but can be hacked. I hate ****ing off a cracker, it's dangerous :P
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:03:18 UTC from web-
@omni myeh xD Truth of it is that since Windows is far more common it gets hacked more, but to ever say that a computer can't get a virus is silly I think
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:05:23 UTC from web-
@pony The only way for a computer to be completely immune is by running it's own closed OS.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:07:36 UTC from web-
@nerthos Also never connecting to the internet and keeping it physically locked in a bunker away from prying eyes.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:08:22 UTC from web-
@subircs That works too, but it's unnecesary.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:09:20 UTC from web
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@nerthos mhmm. paranoid installationand downloading practices go a long way but there's still a chance.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:09:26 UTC from web -
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:09:51 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark Iran has a nuclear program!? Sweet JESUS, why isn't Fox News giving me heart palpitations over this!?
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:10:32 UTC from web-
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:11:34 UTC from web
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@subircs They probably are? Their ongoing attempts at nuclear enrichment are pretty much all over the place. They've already had two bespoke viruses mysteriously cross the air-gap between their nuclear centrifuges and mess things up. Plus their nuclear experts keep showing up dead with "Love, Mossad" written all over them.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:12:08 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark Oh hi there Sparky.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:13:33 UTC from StatusNet Android-
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:14:31 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark Okay goodnight.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:16:42 UTC from StatusNet Android
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@ceruleanspark Yeah, actually, I guess I did know, I just couldn't think of anything to say but a cheap Fox News gag. But anyway, were they the ones who got their files replaced with cupcake recipes?
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:14:46 UTC from web-
@subircs No, that was Al Quaeda cells. Some enterprising hackers under the banner of british intelligence messed with an insecure webserver. Hardly high level hackery.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:16:00 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark Ah, right. Still pretty classy move, though. . . . Actually, whoa. Dude I went to ITT with claimed that Bin Laden's problem was that he didn't get milk & cookies often enough, and then -- cupcake recipes. Coincidence!? Probably, considering the dude in question dropped out of ITT.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:17:38 UTC from web
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@subircs Of course the real problem is that as a result Pinkie Pie's cupcake recipe was replace with instructions on how to make semtex.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:16:52 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark And that's how Equestria was unmade.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:17:51 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark See? It's not their code's fault, it's the jews' fault!
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:15:20 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark Related: http://vimeo.com/25118844
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 14:25:29 UTC from web-
@omni Oh poopmouth, that is not good :x
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 14:31:02 UTC from web
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@omni I don't really know, TBH. I do recall having a pervasive virus at my old workplace, which used Macs, so it's clearly not like they're totally immune. But when pro-Mac people play the security angle, a lot of pro-Windows play that card.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:04:13 UTC from web-
@subircs I think Macs are, mostly due to their *nix approach to security, much more inherently solid, but they are certainly not unhackable, and anyone who knows their stuff and still seriously thinks that deserves everything they get.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:08:04 UTC from web-
@bitshift Pretty much. Also, upon further thought, the virus at work predated OS X, so I guess they weren't *NIX yet? I dunno.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:08:57 UTC from web -
@bitshift It is worth noting that a lot of modern mac viruses rely on basically being given administrative access by the user. They're normally of the "oh my porn is in executable format" variety.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:13:31 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark Of course. The squishy, meaty part will always be the weakest point of any security system.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:16:13 UTC from web-
@bitshift I don't doubt that there are real exploits for OSX floating around, but the ones that grab headlines are invariably not exploits at all.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:18:30 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark Well, any security system worth a damn, anyway. I'm sure someone sufficiently incompetent could make a security system where the human part was actually securer.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:18:19 UTC from web-
@bitshift Yeah it's called Symantec.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:19:16 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark who's desperate enough to use porn in such a format?
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:22:23 UTC from web-
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:22:55 UTC from web
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Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:24:47 UTC from web
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Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:25:26 UTC from web
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@pony The trick is typically that a porn site says it needs you to install some special codecs to view the content, which they provide. User hands over admin credentials to install the codecs, and ends up compromising the machine themselves. Every couple of months, a few thousand OSX users do this, and we're treated to another round of OSX IS INSECURE: THOUSANDS HACKED, headlines.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:25:32 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark hmm.. I guess a false sense of security can go a long way.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:26:48 UTC from web-
@pony It's not so much false as it is no sense of security. A user with a sense of security wouldn't hand over administrative access to some random app they downloaded. (It is not standard practise for OSX apps to require admin access the way it is on Windows. The admin access prompt is very rare, and actually says "If this app is untrusted, you are giving it full access to everything forever" )
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:29:25 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark sounds like apathy to security. that would make a lot more sense then.
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:30:39 UTC from web
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@omni They also present a generally more worthwhile target because a mac owner, more or less by default, has plenty of disposable income. What's the point in only robbing poor people, after all?
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:08:45 UTC from web
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@omni I stopped using IE 7 years ago lol
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 05:56:50 UTC from web-
@shadowdash454 I can't even run Internet Explorer on this system. I've never had a clearer case of "And nothing of value was lost".
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 05:59:37 UTC from web-
@omni IE let's virus and spyware though just full of holes
Wednesday, 19-Sep-12 06:41:46 UTC from StatusNet Android
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