This Old Blog

I posted about Windows security here earlier in the week. I'd found the collection of quotes on a Yahoo message board that ended with the advice of Mike Danseglio to "nuke" infected systems and then reload Windows. Now there's this commentary from no less than Robert X. Cringely: Last week, a Microsoft data security guru suggested at a conference that corporate and government users would be wise to come up with automated processes to wipe clean hard drives and reinstall operating systems and applications periodically as a way to deal with malware infestations. What Microsoft is talking about is a utility from SysInternals, a company that makes simply awesome tools. The crying shame of this whole story is that Microsoft has given up on Windows security. They have no internal expertise to solve this problem among their 60,000-plus employees, and they apparently have no interest in looking outside for help. I know any number of experts who could give Microsoft some very...

There's "another" cross-platform virus capable of infecting both Windows and Linux making the rounds these days. The note from Kaspersky Lab's Viruslist goes into very little detail on the exploit, especially on how the virus might be injected into the Linux system. I'm assuming, for Linux, that you either have to be running as root for it to work, or else it takes advantage of a kernel exploit to elevate its privilege to root in order to infect Linux binaries. The first case, running as root, may be more prevalent than you think. Linspire's default privilege level after installation is root. The second case, kernel exploits, depend on not keeping up with either a distribution's automated update (such as from SuSE) or not keeping a custom kernel up-to-date from kernel.org. You can even get into trouble by running an older distribution (an example might be Redhat 8) with an older, exploitable kernel. I'm not in denial like a lot of Mac users. I just k...

My wife and I went to our accountant today and got our 2005 taxes all finished. I didn't owe the government anything, and they didn't owe me a refund. Which is as it should be. But that still doesn't leave me all warm and fuzzy. In the mean time my sister emailed this joke to me, and being in the right frame of mind I thought I'd repeat it here. Going over his records, the IRS official said, "Well, sir, it appears that you live at a much higher level than your reported employment income. How do you explain that? Before the attorney could speak, Ralph replied, "I love to gamble and I usually win." The skeptical official gave him a disbelieving look. "I can prove it," said Ralph. "How about a demonstration?" The official thought a moment and said, "Okay. Go ahead." Ralph said, "I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye." The auditor thought a moment and said, "No way! It's a...

I found this on a Yahoo! message board. I thought it worth repeating. And you wonder why Microsoft is thought of so poorly in some quarters. "We will not rest until your business is secure. Period." - Brian Valentine, MS VP - Windows Division 10-03-2001 "When we face a choice between adding features and resolving security issues, we need to choose security. Our products should emphasize security right out of the box." - Bill Gates 1-16-2002 "SP2 is a release that is totally focused on security and in fact today that is the primary focus on the Windows team." - Bill Gates 2-24-2004 "Security is our top priority. I can'’t see that changing any time soon." - Bill Gates 2-15-2006 "When you are dealing with rootkits and some advanced spyware programs, the only solution is to rebuild from scratch. In some cases, there really is no way to recover without nuking the systems from orbit. " - Mike Danseglio, MS Security Group 4-4-2006

The second shoe has dropped . Apple dropped the first one when it moved from the Power PC to Intel. Now it is providing a way for users to run either Mac software or Windows XP on the same platform. And if the tool, known as Boot Camp, is as easy as all the other software Apple produces, then it means anyone can buy an Intel Mac and run Windows XP on it. This helps Apple in two key ways: Apple can boost the sale of its Macs, especially to business. Apple can introduce a lot more people to Mac OS X. The real (business) work can get done in the safe environment of Windows XP. Then users can reboot into OS X and experience what an alternative, quality OS can provide. And I'll tell you what else it will do. It will put a hurt on Linux. A lot of folks want what Linux provides without the political drama of the GPL. They also want an alternative OS like Linux that works on leading-edge hardware with all the drivers and hardware working out-of-the-box. The days of trying to do what I'...

After downloading SuSE 10.1 beta 9 via BitTorrent ( Azureus ) and burning five new CDROMs, I was able to boot the M685 and see the SATA drive and its partitions. I was then able to fully install Linux on the M685. I have yet to fully test the installation to see if everything works, but everything does seem to work that needs to work. The only portions of the installation that need further testing are audio and video playback and WiFi connectivity. Installation of SuSE 10.1 beta 9 was wonderfully uneventful. All hardware was detected. I noticed that this time when I selected packages to install I did not wind up with a lot of other dependent packages to install as well. When it came time to set up the video system, I was able to simply and properly configure it to 1680 x 1050 resolution. I attribute this to the nVidia GeForce Go 7800 video card in the M685. My earlier Gateway M680 had an ATi X700 Mobility Radeon, which required the ATi kernel driver be installed just to properly use th...

When I got home today I discovered I'd gotten a postcard from China. It was sent by Paul (right) who normally lives in L.A. I got to know Paul by working with him professionally on a very large program that included my company as well as his. I first met him when he traveled to a meeting we both attended here in Orlando. That's when I found out that Paul spent as much time on travel as he did at home. I later 'returned' the favor by traveling to his home base in Huntington Beach to attend yet another meeting (again with him and about 30 others). Paul is currently visiting his son Ryan, who's living and working in China at the moment. The picture at the right is Paul's first Chinese chicken foot. That came April 1st as an email attachment (figures). Here's hoping Paul and family are having a good time, and I hope he and his wife get back home safe and sound.