Category: Windows/Program

Windows 11 Is Here: Check Your PC Is Compatible Now Before Tomorrow’s Launch

Windows/Program

As I write this, Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows 11 is just one day away from beginning its rollout and while according to Microsoft it will be a lengthy process starting with specific devices first, you should check whether your PC or laptop is compatible now with this simple tool.

Edit: Windows 11 has launched – See my article below on how to install it right now

How To Install Windows 11 Right Now By Antony Leather

Microsoft has released a PC Health Check tool that will check your PC’s hardware for Windows 11 compatibility. There are quite stringent requirements this time around if you’re upgrading via Windows Update, and a lot has to do with whether your PC’s hardware – specifically the processor – is compatible, and also whether a security option called TPM 2.0 is enabled in the motherboard’s BIOS.

Firstly, to download the tool, head here and go to the bottom of the page. The tool will install and then you can run it by clicking the ‘Check now’ button.

This will check the various requirements quickly and come back with a green light, or highlight the issue. For me, and for quite a few others, it has been that TMP 2.0 was not enabled. This is a security feature that is often disabled as standard in your motherboard’s BIOS or EFI.

Thankfully, it’s usually relatively simple to enable it. You can either follow the instructions included in the tool, or if this fails, as it did with me, you can head into your PC or laptop’s BIOS to enable it. To do this, restart/reboot your device and as soon as the screen goes black, start tapping the ‘del’ key on the keyboard.

This should tell your PC to enter the BIOS, which will look a bit like the above image. Once in here, things are tricky as there are hundreds of different layouts, but in general, you’ll looking for the advanced section or security. For instance, on my Asus AMD processor-based motherboard, under advanced, there’s an option for AMD fTPM configuration.

Above you can see it’s showing as enabled – it was disabled as standard. Be sure not to touch other settings then all you need to do is exit and save your changes.

This took about 60 seconds for me once I’d found the option, but if you struggle to find it, check your motherboard or laptop manufacturers documentation or website to see how to enable it. Unfortunately, some older hardware may not be compatible.

As you can see above, the TPM 2.0 option is now green and I can upgrade to Windows 11. You might be able to bypass some of these issues if you have older hardware by performing a fresh install rather than an upgrade. I’ll be covering this in a future guide once it’s possible so follow me here on Forbes for the latest PC hardware news and reviews and don’t forget to check me out on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook as well.

Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website.
Antony Leather

Antony Leather

I’m a technology journalist with a 25 year-long interest in computer hardware, gadgets and technology. I cover the latest news and rumors about companies such as Intel.

Source: Windows 11 Is Here: Check Your PC Is Compatible Now Before Tomorrow’s Launch

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Related Contents:

Windows 7 End Of Life: What You Need To Do Now To Stay Safe

Computer Tech, Tech News, Windows/Program

A legion of vocal PC enthusiasts swears by Windows 7. Why? Because it stays out of your way, and it just works. Until today. On January 14, 2020, Microsoft ends Windows 7’s extended support. Windows 7 has reached end of life and the free Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus program will no longer be supported either.

Your PC will keep operating, of course. Microsoft isn’t literally pulling the plug on your devices. But Windows 7 won’t receive any more updates or security patches, meaning your PC will also be very vulnerable to all those nasty malware programs garnering headlines seemingly every day. If you keep using Windows 7 — and over a quarter of all computers run it, per NetMarketShare — you’re on your own, and the Internet can get nasty.

We can help you stay as safe as possible, though.

How to survive with Windows 7 (at least for a little while longer…)
If you do decide to stick with Windows 7 after Jan. 14, you’ll need to take some precautions:

– Update everything in the January 2020 Microsoft Patch Tuesday release. It’ll be your last chance to make sure Windows and other Microsoft software are as secure as possible.

– Uninstall the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. It’s a huge security hole. Download Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox instead.

– Ditch Microsoft Office and any of its components, such as Word, Excel or Outlook. Switch to Google’s office suite or to LibreOffice. For an email client to replace Outlook, try Gmail or Thunderbird.

– Turn off Java in your browsers.

– Turn off Adobe Flash Player in your browsers.

– Install one of the best antivirus programs. Microsoft will stop developing its own antivirus software for Windows 7, Microsoft Security Essentials, so you’ll need something else.

The bottom line is: Upgrade to Windows 10 ASAP and get a decent antivirus software regardless.

Saving $20-$40 per year on a decent antivirus program will cost you dearly if you get infected with nasty malware that will risk your privacy and valuable data.

Your old Windows 7 PC will be like a sitting duck for every hacker under the sun (or looming in the darkness), without a proper antivirus program.Jump straight to:Best PC Antivirus SoftwareThe Best PC Antivirus 2020 at a Glance:

  1. TotalAV
  2. Norton
  3. Avira

1. TotalAV – From £19.00

Award-winning antivirus. Trusted by 10 million users around the world.

✔ Unbeatable in terms of Value-For-Money
✔ Multi-level virus protection and outstanding detection rate
✔ Includes VPN, Firewall and many other security enhancements
✔ Save 80% on the newest 2020 Edition via our link!

2. Norton – From £24.99

Norton is one of the most well-known brands in the competitive antivirus business – and with good reason…

✔ Protect your PC, Mac or mobile device
✔ Won the ‘Best Protection Award’ from AV-TEST
✔ Virus Protection Promise (Money Back Guarantee)
✔ Best Parental Control features

3. Avira – From £29.99

Avira Antivirus is a German company with more than 30 years of experience, so quality is guaranteed

✔ First class malware protection
✔ Effortlessly detects all known ransomware threats
✔ Capable of repairing damaged files
✔ Lightweight updates don’t impact system speeds

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Britec09

Windows 7 End of Life | What to Do Now ►SUBSCRIBE for more: https://www.youtube.com/user/Britec09… Windows 7’s days are numbered, Windows 7 is coming to a end on Jan. 14, 2020. What does this mean? It means Microsoft will not support Windows 7 anymore. No Updates, No Security Patches, No Support, No Fixes…nothing. I will show you how to prepare for Windows 7 End of Life and show you everything you need to know about Windows 7 End of Life.

5 Tips for Windows 7 End of Life 1. Continue to ignore advise and continue to use Windows 7? Not a good idea, you will be vulnerable to ransomware, malware and malicious software without continued support from Microsoft. No Updates, No Security Patches, No Fixes, Its a massive security risk. 2. Buy a new Windows 10 license from Microsoft. Microsoft officially ended the free upgrade to Windows 10 and offer you a chance to buy a license from them and a massive cost of $200 for Windows 10 Pro, or $140 for Windows 10 Home.

These prices are way to high for most people and will opt for other ways to buy at licence key. 3. Upgrade to Windows 10 for free? Yes that is right, Microsoft never shut off there free upgrade server, so you can still upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 legally. How long will this last? no one knows that question apart from Microsoft. So do it as so as possible. 4. Buy a New Computer Maybe its just time to buy a new computer, if your system is super old and you fancy something new, now is the time to buy a NEW PC. 5. Install Linux for FREE Yes you can use a Linux OS for FREE and it should run great on old hardware. Yes you will need to learn a new operating system, but that is part of the fun and its FREE. Linux Distro * Pop OS * Mint * Ubuntu * Manjaro and many more Useful Information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/h…https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/h…https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/h…https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windo…https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/h… ——————— My Social Links: 🔵 View My Channel – http://youtube.com/Britec09 🔵 View My Playlists –https://www.youtube.com/user/Britec09… 🔵 Follow on Twitter – http://twitter.com/Britec09 🔵 Follow on Facebook: http://facebook.com/BritecComputers 🔵 View my Website: http://BritecComputers.co.uk 🔵 My Official Email: brian@briteccomputers.co.uk 🔵 My Discord: https://discord.gg/YAuGm5j#Windows7EndofLife#Windows7#EndOfSupport

Windows 10 Users Beware New Hacker Attack Confirmed By Google, Microsoft

Computer Tech, Crypto Hack/Files, Cybersecurity, Hacking Sollutions, Security Apps, Web Security Tools, Windows/Program

As Microsoft confirms a Google-disclosed and unpatched zero-day vulnerability is being targeted by attackers right now, here’s what you need to know.

Microsoft has confirmed that an unpatched ‘zero-day’ vulnerability in the Windows operating system, affecting every version from Windows 7 through to Windows 10, is being actively targeted. Microsoft was first informed of the vulnerability by Google’s Project Zero team, a dedicated unit comprised of leading vulnerability hunters, which tracks down these so-called zero-day security bugs.

Because Project Zero had identified that the security problem was being actively exploited in the wild by attackers, it gave Microsoft a deadline of just seven days to fix it before disclosure. Microsoft failed to issue a security patch within that hugely restrictive timeframe, and Google went ahead and published details of the zero-day vulnerability, which is tracked as CVE-2020-17087.

The bug itself sits within the Windows Kernel Cryptography Driver, known as cng.sys, and could allow an attacker to escalate the privileges they have when accessing a Windows machine. The full technical detail can be found within the Google Project Zero disclosure, but slightly more simply put, it’s a memory buffer-overflow problem that could give an attacker admin-level control of the targeted Windows computer. Recommended For You

While attackers are known to be actively targeting Windows systems right now, that doesn’t mean your system is going down. Firstly, I should point out that, according to a confirmation from Shane Huntley, director of Google’s Threat Analysis Group, the attackers spotted exploiting the vulnerability are not targeting any U.S. election-related systems at this point. That’s good news, and there’s more.

While Microsoft has confirmed that the reported attack is real, it also suggests that it is limited in scope being targeted in nature. This is not, at least as of yet, a widespread broad-sweep exploit. Microsoft says that it has no evidence of any indication of widespread exploits.

PROMOTED Civic Nation BrandVoice | Paid Program Election Day On College Campuses: Not A Day Off, A Day On MORE FROM FORBESNew Windows 10 Remote Hacking Threat Confirmed-Homeland Security Says Update NowBy Davey Winder

Then there’s the attack itself which requires two vulnerabilities to be chained together for a successful exploit to happen. One of them has already been patched. That was a browser-based vulnerability, CVE-2020-15999, in Chrome browsers, including Microsoft Edge. As long as your browser is up to date, you are protected. Microsoft Edge was updated on October 22 while Google Chrome was updated on October 20.

There are no known other attack chains for the Windows vulnerability at this point. Which doesn’t mean your machine is 100% safe, as an attacker with access to an already compromised system could still exploit it. However, it does mean there’s no need to hit the panic button, truth be told. Microsoft has also confirmed that the vulnerability cannot be exploited to affect cryptographic functionality.

I reached out to Microsoft, and a spokesperson told me that “Microsoft has a customer commitment to investigate reported security issues and update impacted devices to protect customers.”

As for that seven-day disclosure deadline from the Google Project Zero team, the Microsoft spokesperson said that “while we work to meet all researchers’ deadlines for disclosures, including short-term deadlines like in this scenario, developing a security update is a balance between timeliness and quality, and our ultimate goal is to help ensure maximum customer protection with minimal customer disruption.”

Although Microsoft has not commented on the likely timing of a security patch to prevent exploitation of this Windows vulnerability, the Project Zero technical lead, Ben Hawkes, has tweeted that it is expected as part of the Patch Tuesday updates on November 10.

How big a threat is this to your average Windows user? That remains to be seen, but currently I’d classify it as a be aware but don’t panic situation. Hang-fire, ensure your web browsers are bang up to date, and you should be fine. There are far more significant risks to your data than this zero-day attack, in my never humble opinion. Risks such as phishing in all forms, password reuse, lack of two-factor authentication and software that isn’t kept up to date with security patches.

MORE FROM FORBESHacker Uploads Own Fingerprints To Crime Scene In Dumbest Cyber Attack EverBy Davey Winder Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. 

Davey Winder

Davey Winder

I’m a three-decade veteran technology journalist and have been a contributing editor at PC Pro magazine since the first issue in 1994. A three-time winner of the BT Security Journalist of the Year award (2006, 2008, 2010) I was also fortunate enough to be named BT Technology Journalist of the Year in 1996 for a forward-looking feature in PC Pro called ‘Threats to the Internet.’ In 2011 I was honored with the Enigma Award for a lifetime contribution to IT security journalism. Contact me in confidence at davey@happygeek.com if you have a story to reveal or research to share.

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.

Business News

As Microsoft confirms a Google-disclosed and unpatched zero-day vulnerability is being targeted by attackers right now, here’s what you need to know. Microsoft has confirmed that an unpatched ‘zero-day’ vulnerability in the Windows operating system, affecting every version from Windows 7 through to Windows 10, is being actively targeted. Microsoft was first informed of the vulnerability by Google’s Project Zero team, a dedicated unit comprised of leading vulnerability hunters, which tracks down these so-called zero-day security bugs. Because Project Zero had identified that the security problem was being actively exploited in the wild by attackers, it gave Microsoft a deadline of just seven days to fix it before disclosure.

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Microsoft Confirms New Windows CPU Attack Vulnerability, Advises All Users To Update Now

Linux/Windows, Microsoft Tools, Windows/Program

A security vulnerability that affects Windows computers running on 64-bit Intel and AMD processors could give an attacker access to your passwords, private conversations, and any other information within the operating system kernel memory. Users are advised to update Windows in order to mitigate against this new CPU “SWAPGS attack” risk.

What is the SWAPGS attack?

“We call this the SWAPGS attack because the vulnerability leverages the SWAPGS instruction,” Bogdan Botezatu, director of threat research and reporting at Bitdefender, says “an under-documented instruction that makes the switch between user-owned memory and kernel memory.” Botezatu also says that, at this point, “all Intel CPUs manufactured between 2012 and today are vulnerable to the SWAPGS attack.” Which means every Intel chip going back to the “Ivy Bridge” processor is vulnerable if inside a machine running Windows.

However, it appears it is not just Intel CPUs that are affected by the SWAPGS attack vulnerability. According to a Red Hat advisory published August 6th, the threat “applies to x86-64 systems using either Intel or AMD processors.” Something that AMD itself disputes.

An AMD spokesperson pointed me in the direction of a public statement online: “AMD is aware of new research claiming new speculative execution attacks that may allow access to privileged kernel data. Based on external and internal analysis, AMD believes it is not vulnerable to the SWAPGS variant attacks because AMD products are designed not to speculate on the new GS value following a speculative SWAPGS. For the attack that is not a SWAPGS variant, the mitigation is to implement our existing recommendations for Spectre variant 1.”

That same Red Hat advisory stated that “based on industry feedback, we are not aware of any known way to exploit this vulnerability on Linux kernel-based systems.” During my briefing with Botezatu, he noted that “Linux machines are also impacted,” however, due to the operating system architecture they are “less prone to this type of attack, as it is less reliable.” Botezatu says that other operating system vendors are not impacted at this point, “but are still investigating similar attack avenues leveraging the SWAPGS attack.”

As already mentioned, Bitdefender researchers have been working with Intel for more than a year to address the risk from this new “side-channel” attack that, the company said, “bypasses all known mitigations implemented after the discovery of Spectre and Meltdown in early 2018.”

However, it has waited until now to disclose the information as Microsoft has issued a fix to address the vulnerability as part of the July 9 “Patch Tuesday” updates. Even so, despite the best efforts of everyone concerned, Bitdefender admitted that “it is possible that an attacker with knowledge of the vulnerability could have exploited it to steal confidential information.”

A Microsoft spokesperson provided me with the following statement: “We’re aware of this industry-wide issue and have been working closely with affected chip manufacturers and industry partners to develop and test mitigations to protect our customers. We released security updates in July, and customers who have Windows Update enabled and applied the security updates are protected automatically.”

I understand that as soon as Microsoft became aware of the issue, it worked quickly to address it and release an update as soon as possible. Microsoft works closely with both researchers and industry partners to make customers more secure, and as such did not publish details until August 6 as part of a coordinated vulnerability disclosure.

Red Hat has stated that “there is no known complete mitigation other than updating the kernel and rebooting the system. This kernel patch builds on existing Spectre mitigations from previous updates.”

So, to address the issue for Linux machines requires updates to the Linux kernel in combination with microcode updates. “Red Hat customers running affected versions of the Red Hat products are strongly recommended to update them as soon as errata are available,” Red Hat advises, “customers are urged to apply the appropriate updates immediately and reboot to mitigate this flaw correctly.”

Meanwhile, an Intel spokesperson provided the following statement via email:

“On August 6th, researchers from Bitdefender published a paper entitled “Security Implications of Speculatively Executing Segmentation Related Instructions on Intel CPUs.” As stated in their paper, Intel expects that exploits described by the researchers are addressed through the use of existing mitigation techniques. We believe strongly in the value of coordinated disclosure and value our partnership with the research community. As a best practice, we continue to encourage everyone to keep their systems up-to-date.”

How is the SWAPGS attack related to Spectre?

Like the Spectre vulnerability which dominated the headlines for so long, this new side-channel exploit takes advantage of the speculative execution functionality of modern processors. Simply put, that functionality speeds up the CPU by enabling it to make a bunch of educated guesses as to the instructions that will come at it next. Thomas Brewster has a good primer on these side-channel attacks in this Forbes article from May 22, 2018.

Where SWAPGS differs is in the attack methodology as it combines that speculative execution of instructions with the use of that previously mentioned SWAPGS instruction by Windows operating systems within a gadget.

How easily can this attack be executed?

The chances of falling victim to a SWAPGS attack now that the details have been disclosed have increased, so users are advised to apply available updates as a matter of urgency if they have not already done so. However, it should be remembered that, as Botezatu admits, “this is not your run of the mill attack against regular computers, as running the SWAPGS attack is time-consuming.”

Your average threat actor would instead rely on lucrative, and easy to execute, attack methodologies such as phishing. “On the other side, exploiting this bug from a threat actor perspective brings significant advantages,” Botezatu warns “it circumvents anti-malware defenses and would leave no traces on the compromised system.”

The scary firmware attack surface explained

Ian Thornton Trump, head of cybersecurity at Amtrust International, knows what this “BIOS and firmware” attack surface looks like. “To understand why it’s so scary comes down to one simple concept,” Thornton-Trump tells me, “if the firmware, BIOS and microcode layers of a computer are insecure than it is impossible to put a secure operating system on top of that.”

Indeed, when the original Spectre threat story first broke, I recall Thornton-Trump speculating that the modern CPU is actually an operating system unto itself; concluding that architectural and procedural vulnerabilities will be aggressively explored by security researchers.

“Now we have a new development in this story,” Thornton-Trump says, “inserting code into speculative execution can yield an exploit for a component of the 64-bit Windows Kernel.” What does this mean? “It means the Operating System is no longer secure because the CPU is not secure,” and the result of that is a leak of user mode data.

Which users are at most real-world risk from SWAPGS?

“Criminals with knowledge of these attacks would have the power to uncover the most vital, best-protected information of both companies and private individuals around the world, and the corresponding power to steal, blackmail, sabotage and spy,” Gavin Hill, vice-president for datacenter and network security products at Bitdefender warned.

“I don’t think this is going to be leveraged into a Wannacry or Notpetya level of attack,” Thornton-Trump says, “and I don’t think it will be adopted by cyber-criminals with financial motivations.” These are the sort of vulnerabilities that “Government Cloud” and “Military Mega-Cloud” projects should be aware of, according to Thornton-Trump.  “For people with sensitive data in virtual environments these sorts of exploits need to be considered in the threat model,” he concludes, “for the rest of us, we have far worse issues to deal with.”

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Davey Winder

I’m a three-decade veteran technology journalist and have been a contributing editor at PC Pro magazine since the first issue in 1994. A three-time winner of the BT Security Journalist of the Year award (2006, 2008, 2010) I was also fortunate enough to be named BT Technology Journalist of the Year in 1996 for a forward-looking feature in PC Pro called ‘Threats to the Internet.’ In 2011 I was honored with the Enigma Award for a lifetime contribution to IT security journalism. Contact me in confidence at davey@happygeek.com if you have a story to reveal or research to share.

Source: Microsoft Confirms New Windows CPU Attack Vulnerability, Advises All Users To Update Now

Asus Just Gave You 1 Million Reasons To Switch From Windows To Linux

Linux/Windows, Windows/Program

Cyber-security and antivirus company Kaspersky dropped a bomb on Asus laptop users this week, revealing that malware was distributed through the Asus Live Update utility. It masqueraded as a legitimate security update, and even boasted a “verified” certificate — hosted on Asus servers — to make it appear valid. Kaspersky has deemed this attack “one of the biggest supply-chain incidents ever.” Such attacks spiked 78% between 2017 and 2018. This shouldn’t raise alarms for just Asus users. It should prompt you to seriously consider whether you want Windows on your PC. Because the possibility of this ever happening on a desktop Linux OS like Ubuntu is minuscule.

My own Asus Republic of Gamers laptop — now running Linux

Jason Evangelho

How Serious Is ShadowHammer?

In the long tradition of scary codenames for such attacks, Kaspersky has labeled the attack “ShadowHammer.” The company says that according to its statistics, more than 57,000 users of Kaspersky Lab products (such as Kaspersky Anti-Virus) have already installed it. However, they estimate that its true reach extends to 1 million Asus computers.

To my knowledge this is only eclipsed by the infamous CCleaner attack, which was distributed to 2.7 million Windows PCs.

The motivations for the malware attack are unclear, but it apparently targeted only 600 specific MAC addresses. Once found, the attack would escalate to install more software to further compromise the system. There doesn’t seem to be a reason that the attackers couldn’t have activated this on every single computer affected.

For an informative and detailed discussion on this attack, listen to TechSnap Episode 400.

What’s even more frightening is that Kaspersky discovered the same type of technique used against the Asus Live Update software was also leveraged against three other vendors. The company promised to reveal more substantial information at an upcoming Security Analyst Summit in Singapore.

When contacted by Kaspersky, The Verge reports that Asus evidently denied the attack originated from its servers. In a follow-up press release, however, Asus did acknowledge that this was a “sophisticated attack” on its Live Update servers.

No apology was issued. This is not how you build trust. (Especially since this is far from being the first security blunder Asus has made.)

Asus has since patched the Live Update software and issued a tool for users to determine if they owned one of the specific computers targeted. Given the circumstances, I’m not even going to link to it, but it’s available via this press release page.

An FAQ posted alongside the press release has a stinging piece of advice for users who were affected by the malware attack: “Immediately run a backup of your files and restore your operating system to factory settings,” it states. “This will completely remove the malware from your computer. In order to ensure the security of your information, ASUS recommends that you regularly update your passwords.”

What really rattles my cage about this situation is the fact that Kaspersky uses the word “teaser” in the URL associated with its ShadowHammer post, as if this is some kind of movie trailer. Then the company warns that three other Asia-based software vendors were attacked using the same method without revealing who they are.

But all of this information is just background for the real point I’m trying to make.

Why Ubuntu (And Linux In General) Is Safer

uncaptioned image

Dell put forth considerable effort into making the popular XPS 13 the perfect Ubuntu laptop

Jason Evangelho

Consider how many companies have independent control over the software and hardware inside your Windows PC. Intel, AMD, Dell, Nvidia, Realtek among several others. The vast majority of the code they use running on your computer is not open source. That means it’s not subject to inspection by the hundreds of millions of people using it. The code can’t be independently verified. The code comes from multiple locations across multiple update utilities.

On Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, my firmware updates, software updates and security updates come from a single source: the operating system’s built-in software center.

This next part is important: only a select few individuals at Asus are responsible for ensuring the software and firmware being sent through the Asus Live Update utility is safe. And it’s almost certain no one at Microsoft saw the code before it before it went out to those 1 million Asus laptop users.

Rather than base my entire argument about Linux being safer on personal experience or subjective opinions, I reached out to Alex Murray at Canonical. Murray is the Security Tech Lead for Ubuntu, a Linux distribution used by hundreds of millions. It powers everything from IoT devices to home desktops; supercomputers to the web servers delivering the majority of your experiences on the internet. Netflix is powered by Ubuntu, as is Amazon Web Services. Outside your home, Lyft and Uber are powered by Ubuntu.

My question for Murray was straightforward. Can something like ShadowHammer happen on Linux?

Murray admits that while this sort of attack is a possibility on Linux, it would be a lot harder to pull off.

Ubuntu is based on Debian, one of the the largest and most mature Linux distributions available. “Many of our source packages originate from Debian where we add Ubuntu-specific patches on top,” Murray says.

As such, Murray explains that there are “many, many people who can detect any possible malicious changes to a software package.” That’s the beauty of open source. Changes are submitted publicly, and every line of code can be scrutinized.

Of course, there needs to be a more elaborate system of checks and balances that doesn’t rely solely on community.

uncaptioned image

Alex Murray, Ubuntu Tech Lead at Canonical Ltd.

Alex Murray

“Various teams of Canonical employees are responsible for maintaining the packages in the ‘main’ section of the Ubuntu software archive, and as such we provide further review and oversight of the source code in these packages,” Murray says. “Importantly, only trusted individuals are allowed to publish software package updates, which again raises the bar to prevent this kind of attack. Finally, we have a strong and dedicated community of developers and users who help to provide an even further level of ‘community’ oversight as well – which gives us a good defense in depth approach to detecting this kind of attack.”

In a nutshell, this means even if a trusted developer is compromised, there are various other individuals who will likely take notice.

But even that isn’t enough, so Canonical takes things a step further.

“From an end-user point of view, Ubuntu uses a signed archive approach where each package is cryptographically hashed and the list of hashes signed in such a manner that our package manager will not install packages which fail the signature and integrity checks,” Murray explains.

This means that even if an Ubuntu mirror (an external software source not directly managed by Canonical) was compromised and someone uploaded malicious copies of packages there, it would fail the signature check and would not be installed.

“We offer digital signatures to verify the integrity of the installation ISO images as well,” Murray says. “So together with the repository signatures, users can be confident that the software they are downloading and installing is what is published by Ubuntu, and with all the various reviews outlined above, we have many opportunities to detect any possible malicious changes to the software packages being published.”

Beyond these methods of ensuring security for its users, I’d recommend this article which explains in detail how Ubuntu delivers system updates and why it’s a more elegant and less frustrating experience than on Windows.

Securing Firmware Through The Blockchain

Firmware updates are an often overlooked — but easily manipulated — potential attack source. One of my favorite Linux distributions, Pop!_OS, uses the power of blockchain to ensure that the firmware updates being delivered to its users have no possible way of being manipulated. And they take an amazing approach to their server setup.

“Firmware updates are delivered using a build server, which contains the new firmware, and a signing server, which verifies that the new firmware came from inside the company,” writes parent company System76. “The two servers are only connected via a serial cable. The lack of a network between the two means that one server cannot be accessed if entry is achieved through the other server.”

System76 sets up multiple build servers alongside that primary one. For a firmware update to be verified, it must be identical on all servers. “If even one build server contains a compromised firmware update, this update cannot proceed to signing and will not be delivered to our customers,” System76 says.

This is very similar to how cryptocurrency mining works, and is arguably a more useful and forward-thinking implementation of blockchain.

Choose Linux

The bottom line is that Windows has too many potential attack points, most of which are not directly overseen by the very company who develops the operating system. The vast majority of the code cannot be audited by the community. There are less checks and balances in place to ensure that these attacks are prevented. After seeing how Ubuntu and various other Linux distributions ensure the security of their users, the Microsoft Windows approach starts to seem a lot less sane.

And if you’re wary of Linux because you think its archaic and not user-friendly, here are some articles that may change your mind, including one to help find the perfect OS to suit your needs:

Jason Evangelho

Contributor

Since joining Forbes in 2012, I’ve contributed to gaming and technology features on PCWorld and Computer Shopper. You can also find me on Jupiter Broadcasting where I h…

Source: Asus Just Gave You 1 Million Reasons To Switch From Windows To Linux

How to Find and Fix Bugs in Commercial Software on Windows

Bugs/Malwares, Windows/Program

According to Wikipedia, “A software bug is an error, flaw, failure or fault in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways, eventually crashing the application. The process of fixing bugs is termed “debugging” and often uses formal techniques or tools to pinpoint bugs […].”

Source: How to Find and Fix Bugs in Commercial Software on Windows

Microsoft Broke Windows 10 Again, Despite Warnings From Windows Insiders – Jason Evangelho

Computer Tech, Content Marketing, Web Developing/Programing, Windows/Program

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Well folks, I’m running out of ways to cleverly introduce the fact that your current build of Windows 10 may have another nasty bug. While it’s not as severe as having your documents wiped out of existence, it can still be classified as very irritating for users. That’s because the bug in question breaks file associations, preventing certain file types from opening with the default programs you choose. For example, not being able to associate Adobe Photoshop with image files, Notepad++ with text files or VLC with .mp4 files………

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2018/11/08/microsoft-broke-windows-10-again-despite-warnings-from-windows-insiders/#57b1415177ed

 

 

 

 

 

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Avoid Windows 10 October Update Until You Do One Thing – Jason Evangelho

Computer Tech, Content Marketing, Gadgets/Tech, Industry/Tech, PC Tech, Program Reviews, Tech Engineering, Tech News, Windows/Program

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Microsoft’s big Windows 10 Update version 1809 is here and it brings a wealth of welcome features like less interruptions and update nags during gaming (something Alienware nailed years ago by the way). It also takes an ambitious step toward making your PC and Android phone best friends. But (isn’t there always a “but?”) it’s also causing a serious problem. One that can’t be reversed. If you’re not enthusiastic about potentially losing every scrap of data in your user folder such as music, photos and documents, please read on…….

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2018/10/05/avoid-windows-10-october-update-until-you-do-one-thing/#1a75bfa33e79

 

 

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5 Reasons You Should Switch From Windows To Linux Right Now – Jason Evangelho

Computer Tech, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, PC Tech, Tech News, Windows/Program

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When I published the highlights of my journey switching from Windows to Linux on my everyday laptop, I was floored at the engagement it received across all corners of the web. I also voiced an admittedly wrong assumption within the article itself that it wouldn’t attract many eyeballs, and yet it became one of my most viewed pieces this year. From where I’m sitting, that tells me a ton of people are interested — are at least actively curious — about ditching Windows and making the jump to Linux.

With that in mind, I wanted to present five reasons that may lead you to consider switching. Know that these are subjective, and they’re targeted at the average Windows user and not folks who rely on Windows-exclusive applications for a paycheck.

One thing to know right up front: the modern Linux desktop OS is no longer the obtuse, bewildering and command line driven thing it used to be. Not remotely.

1: Linux Gets Out Of Your Way

Windows has a tendency to beg for attention. It’s like the kid in school who desperately wants to be noticed and is borderline belligerent about it. “Please use me,” cries Cortana. “Hey, would you recommend me to a friend or colleague?” asks Redmond. “Hi, I noticed you’re using Chrome. Edge is totally better” insists the Edge browser. “This would be so much easier if you signed into a Microsoft account!” “Hey, remember Skype?”

And so on. . .

If you want an operating system that stays out of your way, some of the more popular flavors of Linux like Ubuntu might be the cure.

Ubuntu hasn’t nagged me about anything. Canonical, the company behind it, has a merchandise shop but they’re not begging me to buy stuff. They offer paid professional support on various levels, but those reminders are nowhere to be found in my day-to-day usage. The company has several sources of income, but they’re not beating down my desktop about it. And it’s really, really refreshing.

2: You’re Not A Slave To The Terminal

From both my research and personal experience, Linux usability has evolved substantially in the past 5 to 10 years. When I first dabbled with it years ago installation was relatively simple, but post-install configuration was a nightmare. You had to spend a lot of time in Terminal, issuing text commands to troubleshoot hardware issues. Issuing more text commands to install graphics drivers. That required digging deep into forums and a heavy amount of googling.

The geeks and power users in the house would call it fun (there is a certain thrill to installing a piece of software and everything it depends on with a single line of text)! For the average Windows user, it was a complete deal breaker. I think many of you still have that perception of Linux. Thankfully, it doesn’t really apply anymore.

Taking my personal experience with Ubuntu version 18.04 as an example, I didn’t need to touch Terminal. All of the hardware on my Dell XPS 13 was automatically detected, right down to a default 200% text scaling for the laptop’s 4K display.

Will this apply to every machine you install Linux on? Probably not. Then again, Windows isn’t flawless with hardware detection either. At least with Ubuntu, my WiFi networks and sound don’t randomly disappear.

3: Installing Software Is Even Easier

I know there’s this perception that Linux is complicated. I thought so too. Based on my experience years ago it was. Hell, I remember downloading a package, opening up Terminal, navigating DOS-style to the location, extracting it, granting the appropriate permissions and sometimes even having to compile it first.

Now installing software is even easier than on Windows. On Ubuntu for example, the included Software Center contains a wealth of programs across a wide range of categories (news, productivity, graphic design, audio and video editing, etc). To install them, you click Install. You don’t have to browse to the site, download the .exe package, launch that, progress through a series of license agreements and dialogue windows.

Typically you just click Install.

Relatively new to Linux are “Snaps.” These are universal packages that install easily across various distributions like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian and others. The Snap Store contains a ridiculous amount of apps to choose from, and not just the “open source clones” you may associate Linux with. Spotify, Telegram, Slack, Blender, VLC, OBS Studio, stuff like that are there.

And again, installing these apps is a breeze! So is updating them. . .

4: Updates aren’t a headache. They’re glorious

Have you ever sat and contemplated how much time Windows steals from you with its updates? Or how many times it has rebooted at the most inconvenient times, only to keep you waiting longer while  it configures those updates? Or how the majority of software you have installed outside of the core operating system has to be updated separately?

With Ubuntu, sure, you’ll get a notification. You may be required to restart, but in my experience you won’t be forced to do so. And, like Windows, you can fine-tune how updates are handled.

Here’s the glorious part: unlike Windows, Ubuntu updates your other software too. All in one batch. No need to update it directly through the individual app and then step through a series of dialogue windows. Less notifications, less nags, less time invested. You just update your system and your software all at once. It’s genuinely elegant and this came as a surprise to me.

5: The Linux Community

The response to my previous article was overwhelming, but it wasn’t a case of Linux enthusiasts beating their chests and admonishing Windows. It was a ridiculously passionate community taking the time to suggest alternate software for my needs and detailed tips to make my Linux experience even better. I didn’t ask for this, but they blew up my notifications for days on every social network I exist on.

Digging deeper, you find a surprisingly helpful bunch of people on all corners of the internet willing to invest their time into helping people just like me make the transition. Granted, I haven’t spent a ton of time mingling with this community but it made a very positive first impression on me. I’ve heard people call them a sect, but if I hit a stumbling block I feel like this community would be bending over backwards to lend an assist.

Your kindly Donations would be so effective in order to fulfill our future research and endeavors – Thank you

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