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Patch Tuesday

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Updates available for all supported versions of Windows.
Office updates available too. (how to check for Office updates)

Win10 1809 – February 12, 2019—KB4487044 (OS Build 17763.316)
Win10 1803 – February 12, 2019—KB4487017 (OS Build 17134.590)
Win10 1709 – February 12, 2019—KB4486996 (OS Build 16299.967)

Windows 8.1 – February 12, 2019—KB4487028 (Security-only update)

Windows 7 – Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 update history

Office 365 11231.20174 and other versions

Note from Microsoft:
February 11, 2019 12:45 PM PST
Windows Update customers were recently affected by a network infrastructure event caused by an external DNS service provider’s global outage. A software update to the external provider’s DNS servers resulted in the distribution of corrupted DNS records that affected connectivity to the Windows Update service. The DNS records were restored by January 30, 2019 (00:10 UTC), but downstream effects continued. We believe the issue to be fully mitigated because the majority of local Internet Service Providers (ISP) have refreshed their DNS servers and customer services have been restored. If you are still encountering download failures, please contact your local ISP.
While this was not an issue with Microsoft’s services, we take any service disruption for our customers seriously. We will work with partners to better understand this so we can provide higher quality service in the future even across diverse global network providers.

Data Privacy Day

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Data Privacy Day (known in Europe as Data Protection Day) is an international holiday that occurs every 28 January. The purpose of Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. It is currently observed in the United States, Canada, Israel and 47 European countries.
Wikipedia

How to protect yourself this Data Privacy Day – Naked Security
Today is Data Privacy Day. And, to celebrate, we asked our security experts to share their top tips for protecting your privacy online.

Data Privacy Day: Check Your Security Settings on Email, Facebook, & Google
This year, privacy proponents will have more on their mind than whether you’re still using “password” as an actual password. If you have multiple email addresses, for example, do you have two factor authentication (2FA) set up? Has the ancient Hotmail account you used when you signed up for Facebook in 2005 since been compromised? And say, how much information do social media platforms have on you, anyway? Here’s how to make sure your virtual locks aren’t rusted over.

I think most of you guys practice decent security. But, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Are those close to you practicing good security? Their lack of security and over-sharing information can be putting you at risk. Might wanna pass on these articles.

Cell Phone Companies Are Selling Access To Customer Location Data

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Motherboard – I Gave a Bounty Hunter $300. Then He Located Our Phone
T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are selling access to their customers’ location data, and that data is ending up in the hands of bounty hunters and others not authorized to possess it, letting them track most phones in the country…
The bounty hunter did this all without deploying a hacking tool or having any previous knowledge of the phone’s whereabouts. Instead, the tracking tool relies on real-time location data sold to bounty hunters that ultimately originated from the telcos themselves, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint, a Motherboard investigation has found. These surveillance capabilities are sometimes sold through word-of-mouth networks…
Motherboard’s investigation shows just how exposed mobile networks and the data they generate are, leaving them open to surveillance by ordinary citizens, stalkers, and criminals…
Don’t think it’s a big deal? This could be your Mom’s, wife’s, girlfriend’s, or daughter’s phone…

Patch Tuesday

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Windows Update
Updates available for all currently supported versions of Windows. Updates for Flash and .Net available where applicable.

Windows 7
January 8, 2019—KB4480970 (Monthly Rollup)
January 8, 2019—KB4480960 (Security-only update)

Windows 8.1
January 8, 2019—KB4480963 (Monthly Rollup)
January 8, 2019—KB4480964 (Security-only update)

Windows 10
1809 – January 8, 2019—KB4480116 (OS Build 17763.253)
1803 – January 8, 2019—KB4480966 (OS Build 17134.523)
1709 – January 8, 2019—KB4480978 (OS Build 16299.904)

– – – – – –

Wise Disk Cleaner 10.1.5 Released
Download (I use portable) | Release Info

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Hey Apple, what happens on iPhones doesn’t stay there, and your ‘clever’ CES ad is promoting a dangerous illusion
That’s a cute ad you have in Las Vegas for the CES tech convention. “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone” is both a good dig at your rivals and a clever restating of Sin City’s popular catch phrase.
But it’s literally a lie. What happens on customers’ iPhones doesn’t stay on them — and you know it.
Preach

Survey: Americans Warming to Use of Facial Recognition Tech
I’m not sure I buy the results of the study. If it is even close to true then, well, SMH.

Came up in an email convo with a reader and friend:
SiriusXM stations I mostly listen to:
Hair Nation ’80s Hair Bands 
Ozzy’s Boneyard Ozzy’s Classic Hard Rock 
Classic Rewind ’70s/’80s Classic Rock 

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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The holidays are over. Hopefully the tech world will start to slowly come out of it’s hangover induced lethargy.
Thus ends the slew off Off Topic posts. We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

Web Site Feedback On A Couple Of Issues

1 – Errors – A reader had contacted me earlier and said when he went to this site it appeared as a download. I didn’t understand what he meant but I’ve now seen it. The problem seems to exist for a while and then go away. My new web host is Inmotion. Their tech support continues to deny the situation exists and if it does it must be on my end. Never mind that I keep telling them that the problem first appeared when I switched to them. If you see this issue PLEASE take a screenshot and send it to me at tweakblog@gmail.com .

2 – Quote font color. I’ve been trying to differentiate quoted text via color vs italics. Is the color too light? Any suggestions?

Software Updates
7-Zip 18.06
Notepad++ 7.6.2

Windows 10 is now more popular than Windows 7
The latest Windows 10 operating system is now the most popular desktop OS in the world, finally beating Windows 7’s market share according to Net Applications. Windows 10 held 39.22 percent of desktop OS market share in December 2018, compared to 36.9 percent for Windows 7. It’s a statistic that’s taken Microsoft three and a half years to achieve, and it demonstrates just how popular Windows 7 has been since its release nearly 10 years ago.
For the most part you haven’t been able to by a Windows 7 computer in 2 years and Win10 was being given away for free (still is). Congrats on nothing Microsoft.

First-Ever UEFI Rootkit Tied to Sednit APT
Researchers hunting cyber-espionage group Sednit (an APT also known as Sofacy, Fancy Bear and APT28) say they have discovered the first-ever instance of a rootkit targeting the Windows Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) in successful attacks…The rootkit is named LoJax. The name is a nod to the underlying code, which is a modified version of Absolute Software’s LoJack recovery software for laptops…The infection chain is typical: An attack begins with a phishing email or equivalent, successfully tricking a victim into downloading and executing a small rpcnetp.exe dropper agent. The rpcnetp.exe installs and reaches out to the system’s Internet Explorer browser, which is used to communicate with the configured domains…Once the UEFI rootkit is installed, there’s not much a user can do to remove it besides re-flashing the SPI memory or throwing out the motherboard…By enabling Secure Boot, and making sure their UEFI firmware is up to date, end users can protect themselves against attack
Great, just great.

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Netflix drops satire episode critical of Saudi Arabia
Netflix confirmed Tuesday that it removed an episode of a satirical comedy show that criticizes Saudi Arabia, after officials in the kingdom reportedly complained.
Another American tech company sacrificing freedom for a dollar.

New Horizons Successfully Explores Ultima Thule
“Congratulations to NASA’s New Horizons team, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute for making history yet again. In addition to being the first to explore Pluto, today New Horizons flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft and became the first to directly explore an object that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “This is what leadership in space exploration is all about.”
Well done NASA.

Kentucky Distillers Scientifically Emulate A Century-Old Bottle Of Bourbon
But that antique bottle of Old Taylor, which was originally released in 1917, inspired Eaves — whose background is in chemical engineering — to use new technology to examine the bourbon’s past.”The most dominant flavor in that 1917 bourbon was the butterscotch note,” Eaves says. “That’s something that bourbon aficionados and the ‘dusty hunters’ recognize about historic Old Taylor bourbon is this beautiful, rich, creamy, sweet butterscotch note — and the mouthfeel of that particular bottle was really unique for a historic whiskey.”…According to Reigler, many people still don’t recognize all the science and technological innovations that underpin the bourbon industry — from increasingly computerized distilling systems to spirits analytics like what Eaves did with the antique bourbon.

Patch Tuesday

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Windows Updates available. “Addresses an issue” as well as many security updates.
I recommend backing up and updating as soon as you can.

Windows 10
Build 1809 – December 11, 2018—KB4471332 (OS Build 17763.194)
Build 1803 – December 11, 2018—KB4471324 (OS Build 17134.471)
Build 1709 – December 11, 2018—KB4471329 (OS Build 16299.846)

Windows 8.1
December 11, 2018—KB4471322 (Security-only update)
December 11, 2018—KB4471320 (Monthly Rollup)

Windows 7
December 11, 2018—KB4471328 (Security-only update)
December 11, 2018—KB4471318 (Monthly Rollup)

Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

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Many programs on your computer access the internet even though they don’t need to. They phone home for a variety of reason including telemetry and checking for updates.
I don’t need or want most programs phoning home for any reason. Still, they try.
With programs getting more invasive I thought it would be appropriate to show you how to block their access to the net.
[Read more…] about Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver 416.94 WHQL
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Battlefield V, Fallout 76, and Hitman 2”
Download | Release Notes

Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4.5 Released
I bookmarked this this morning. Unfortunately ATM the site seems to be having issues.
Download | Release Announcement

U.S. Secret Service Warns ID Thieves are Abusing USPS’s Mail Scanning Service
“A year ago, KrebsOnSecurity warned that “Informed Delivery,” a new offering from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that lets residents view scanned images of all incoming mail, was likely to be abused by identity thieves and other fraudsters unless the USPS beefed up security around the program and made it easier for people to opt out. This week, the U.S. Secret Service issued an internal alert warning that many of its field offices have reported crooks are indeed using Informed Delivery to commit various identity theft and credit card fraud schemes.”

Hacker Breaks Down 26 Hacking Scenes From Movies & TV | WIRED
Not quite hacker related but the one tech related Hollywood BS that sets me off is “can you enhance that” when talking about pics or video.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! NO. NO you fracking can’t!

Patch Tuesday

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Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 have updates.

Windows 7
November 13, 2018—KB4467106 (Security-only update)
November 13, 2018—KB4467107 (Monthly Rollup)

Windows 8.1
November 13, 2018—KB4467703 (Security-only update)
November 13, 2018—KB4467697 (Monthly Rollup)

Windows 10
Build 1809 –
November 13, 2018—KB4464455 (OS Build 17763.107)
November 13, 2018—KB4467708 (OS Build 17763.134)
Build 1803 – November 13, 2018—KB4467702 (OS Build 17134.407)
Build 1709 – November 13, 2018—KB4467686 (OS Build 16299.785)
Build 1703 – November 13, 2018—KB4467696 (OS Build 15063.1446)

Additionally Windows 8.1 & 10 have Flash updates.

Win10 “October” Update
Windows 10, version 1809 Re-Released
When you have it offered to you is anyone’s guess.
Media Creation Tool / ISOs available here: Download Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File)

The Facebook Dilemma

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This topic has been making the rounds for a couple of days. I wanted to watch the entire thing before I passed it along.
The Facebook Dilemma is two, 50+ minute videos of a PBS Frontline special. It is the story of the dangers of Facebook. The first video deals more about the dangers to individuals. The second is about the dangers Facebook presents to society and democracies around the world. It then circles back to the dangers to individuals.
You’ll learn not only about these topics but about the stunning greed, arrogance, tone deafness, and outright deceit on these issues from the highest levels of Facebook.
In the end the only solution is to #DeleteFacebook.

“The promise of Facebook was to create a more open and connected world. But from the company’s failure to protect millions of users’ data, to the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation, mounting crises have raised the question: Is Facebook more harmful than helpful? On Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, FRONTLINE presents The Facebook Dilemma. This major, two-night event investigates a series of warnings to Facebook as the company grew from Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room to a global empire. With dozens of original interviews and rare footage, The Facebook Dilemma examines the powerful social media platform’s impact on privacy and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.”

PBS Frontline – The Facebook Dilemma