Security

Many of the computing worlds pioneers and best and brightest took the FCC chairman to school. In a letter to four Congressmen and an attached document they laid out the case for Net Neutrality and why repealing it is wrong. I’ve read both the letter and the attached document (53-page document, 43 plus credits). They are works of art. IMHO all Computer Science majors should be required to read them. If you are remotely interested in your internet freedom you should read them. If you want to understand anything about this issue you should read them.
The basic premise is that the argument that Ajit Pai is making is… well, here are some key phrases:
“appears to lack a fundamental understanding”
“fundamental misunderstanding”
“fundamentally misunderstands”
“analysis is fundamentally flawed”
“inaccurately portraying”
“This analysis is fundamentally flawed and again shows a basic misunderstanding of how the Internet works.”
“displays a stunning lack of technical knowledge”
and my favorite:
“This interpretation of the role ISPs play in a customer’s online experience is so fundamentally alien to the standard conception of how the Internet works that a well-known April Fools’ joke addresses precisely this question.”

The signers of the letter are a Who’s Who of the internet and computing world including the inventor of the World Wide Web, and the co-founder of Apple Computer.
The folks that put the document together is darn near as impressive.

Letter: Internet Pioneers and Leaders Tell the FCC: You Don’t Understand How the Internet Works
PDF: Joint Comments of Internet Engineers, Pioneers, and Technologists on the Technical Flaws in the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rule-making and the Need for the Light-Touch, Bright-Line Rules from the Open Internet Order

I’m trying a new add-on called uMatrix. It is from the same guy that brought you uBlock Origin.
“uMatrix: A point-and-click matrix-based firewall, with many privacy-enhancing tools.
*For advanced users.*
uMatrix put you in full control of where your browser is allowed to connect, what type of data it is allowed to download, and what it is allowed to execute. Nobody else decides for you: You choose. You are in full control of your privacy.”
As stated above, this is for advanced users. Like Noscript it can make using the web difficult at first until you train it.
If you are using uMatrix, or you try it please let me know what you think.
In the pic below I have disabled my usual extensions of Noscript and uBlock Origin so I can get a true picture of what is going on.

***I’ve said this before and I will say it again.
Do not whitelist 3rd party ad servers on any site, including this one. I know other website operators beg you to whitelist for their site. Ads track you, ads often get caught serving malware. I have Google Ads because I average enough per month to help keep this site going. I hope you are smart enough to never see them. How I finance my site is my problem not yours. You do not need 3rd party connections to have an ad on your site. I reference the Torguard ad in the right sidebar. I created it. Readers see the unintrusive ad and can click on it if they are interested. There is no connection to a 3rd party.

I’m going to post a picture of his email to me. It will be followed by the text of his letter as well as my response.
[Read more…] about One Of My Congressmen Responded To My Pro-Net Neutrality Email

Google news search – net neutrality

The FCC has announced it will repeal Net Neutrality. They are ignoring the will of the people.

EFF – Today—and Every Day—We Fight to Defend the Open Internet
“Today, we heard from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about its plans to devastate Network Neutrality. Instead of responding to the millions of Americans who want to protect the free and open Internet, the FCC instead is ceding to the demands of a handful of massive ISPs, like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T…
The FCC’s new approach invites a future where only the largest Internet, cable, and telephone companies survive, while every start-up, small business, and new innovator is crowded out—and the voices of nonprofits and ordinary individuals are suppressed. Costs will go up, as ISPs take advantage of monopoly power to raise rates on edge providers and consumers alike. And the FCC’s proposed plan adds salt to the wound by interfering with state efforts to protect consumer privacy and competition.”
There is a link at the bottom of this article to help you contact your Congressmen. It took me about 3 minutes to do it and that was with a custom message. PLEASE take 3 minutes to protect the future of the internet.

Raw Story – What is net neutrality? FCC to roll back Obama-era rule
“If the internet is a data highway system, internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast or Verizon are supposed to function as road crews, not toll booth operators. “Network neutrality” means that all internet service providers must treat data that travels over their networks “without discrimination in favor of particular apps, sites or services.” In other words, net neutrality prohibits the internet service providers from slowing down, blocking or speeding up certain content in favor or detriment of other content. It also prevents the giant internet service providers from stifling competition from other enterprises such as Netflix or Google.”
Thanks Scott!

New York Times – FCC Plans Net Neutrality Repeal in Victory for Telecoms
“The Federal Communications Commission announced on Tuesday that it planned to dismantle landmark regulations that ensure equal access to the internet, clearing the way for companies to charge more and block access to some websites.”

NPR – FCC Unveils Plan To Repeal Net Neutrality Rules
“The vote is expected to repeal so-called net neutrality rules, which prevent broadband companies from slowing down or blocking any sites or apps, or otherwise deciding what content gets to users faster.”

The Washington Post – FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see and use
“Former Democratic FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, who drafted the 2015 net neutrality rules, called Tuesday’s move “tragic,” adding that “if you like your cable company, you’ll love what this does for the Internet.
“The job of the FCC is to represent the consumer,” he said in an interview. “Tragically, this decision is only for the benefit of the largely monopoly services that deliver the Internet to the consumer.””

iVerge – FCC announces vote to destroy net neutrality next month
“This is a puzzling plan and one that the FCC has to be well aware will not offer any legitimate consumer protections. Companies’ terms of service and related policies aren’t meant to protect consumers, they’re meant to protect companies — and they can change at a moment’s notice. While it’s entirely possible that a company could violate its own policies and get in trouble with the FTC, a company could also just promise open internet protections until it doesn’t feel like following them any more, rewrite its policies, and then implement new and potentially discriminatory practices.”

Popular Mechanics – FCC Is Revving Up to Destroy the Internet As We Know It
“The Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Ajit Pai, is preparing to completely undermine the founding principle that has defined a free and open internet since the foundation of the World Wide Web. The FCC has today released a plan to completely roll back all net neutrality legislation under the guise of “restoring internet freedom.“

Time To Run Windows Update
5 – Critical Security Updates
73 – Important Security Updates
1 – Moderate Security Update
(See end of this post for full info.)

Windows 10 – November 14, 2017—KB4048954 (OS Build 15063.726 and 15063.728)
Addresess 19 fixes and several security issues (See end of this post for full info on security issues.)

Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player Security Updates
APSB17-33 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download for IE
Download for Firefox, Opera
APSB17-40 Security update available for Adobe Shockwave Player
Download

Firefox 57
The all-new Firefox Quantum I mentioned this morning is now available to download.
Those having issues with the new FF and old add-ons can use the Firefox Extended Support Release.
Like it or no? New poll up in the right sidebar.

Fedora 27 Is Out
“The Workstation edition of Fedora 27 features GNOME 3.26. In the new release, both the Display and Network configuration panels have been updated, along with the overall Settings panel appearance improvement. The system search now shows more results at once, including the system actions…GNOME 3.26 also features color emoji support”
I stopped reading right there. If anything invloving a fracking emoji is one of your main features you have failed. It’s like they are taking cues from Apple.

CompuServe Forums Calling It Quits
Yeah, I didn’t know they still existed either.
[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

Securely opening Microsoft Office documents that contain Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) fields
The title says it all.
There is a vulnerability in MS Office and it is being actively exploited. Though you can edit the registry to block attacks as a temporary fix I don’t recommend it. Why? Because I actually read what Microsoft had to say, “The attacker would have to convince the user to disable Protected Mode and click through one or more additional prompts.” That means you have to download a malicious document, open it, and accept the “Enable editing” prompt. I don’t believe y’all are that stupid. Microsoft will fix this by and by.