Computer Hardware and Software
Posts tagged Problems
Chuck Norris Virus Roundhouse Kicks Unprotected Routers!!!!!11
Feb 23rd
Just a few seconds after publishing my last post I read about this really ChuckNorris-stuff on a german newspage (I hope you all have humor):
Apparently, when Chuck Norris wants to create a botnet, he’s such a badass that he doesn’t even have to attack computers.
The Chuck Norris virus, so called because of the words “in nome di Chuck Norris,” (Italian for “In the name of Chuck Norris”) in the source code, attacks routers and DSL modems by guessing commonly used passwords. It also exploits a security vulnerability present in many D-Link routers.
This virus, which takes advantage of an incredibly common vulnerability, is potentially incredibly dangerous. Even the most security-minded of consumers will often forget to change the default password on their routers after setting them up. Because this virus can change DNS settings of the router, it can also hijack the browsers of computers on its network, steering them to malware-infested sites or phishing sites.
In addition, due to the widespread use of Linux and MIPS-based chips in internet-connected devices (like routers, modems and even cable boxes), this particular vulnerability could be devastating. According to Jan Vykopal, head of network security research for Masaryk University’s Department of Computer Science (and the discoverer of the virus), devices in Asia, Europe, North and South America are already infected, and it appears to be spreading quickly.
While this particular virus might not become the next conficker, it suggests that similar exploits could be on the way. Despite the fact that many people have antivirus software on their computers, most people completely overlook the security of their routers. It’s only a matter of time before another more effective version of this exploit finds its way into more routers and cable boxes.
Peeking into Windows’s virtual store
Feb 22nd
In the user data area in Windows Vista, Server 2008 and Seven there is a folder called “VirtualStore” which you can find in C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\ .
It is worth having a peek now and again. Here’s part of mine:
image showing my VirtualStore folder
But what exactly is that folder for?
The Virtual Store is a feature of User Account Control, the centerpiece of Windows’ new enhanced security. Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft confirms rootkit cause of Windows XP blue screen of death
Feb 20th
Microsoft has confirmed that a rootkit is responsible for the blue screen problems currently occurring with Windows XP following a recent update intended to fix a 17-year old security vulnerability in the virtual DOS machine. According to a post on Microsoft’s Security Response Center blog, all of the affected systems were infected with the Alureon rootkit.
The company says that the rootkit made several modifications to the system’s behaviour, which caused the systems to become unstable. It also determined that 64-bit systems are not affected. Apparently, however, not all 32-bit systems with the Alureon rootkit were affected: the “chain of events” relating to when the machine was infected and when the update was installed played a role. Microsoft went on to say that it had “not found quality issues with security update MS10-015″. Only a few days ago, based on its own analysis, Symantec had suspected that a rootkit was responsible for the blue screen of death (BSOD) issues.
Mozilla Malware Fail!
Feb 7th
Apparently Mozilla has been spreading malware in the form of a few user-submitted Firefox addons. They were infected with trojans, and some 4,600 people downloaded them. This fail doesn’t suprise me- people have been talking about potential exploits from Firefox addons for years now.
I am a bit surprised that it was client-pwning malware, and not Chrome-based sniffers or keystroke loggers or something else that could work within the DOM. I have to wonder if any of those exist… Somebody should Read the rest of this entry »
Viruses for Linux mean Linux is getting Mainstream?
Jan 30th
Freetards have long held the belief that Linux is immune to viruses. None of them will be able to give a clear reason as to why this is, but they generally believe that its because Linux is so much better written. They ignore the fact that with a 1% marketshare and unstable API, Linux is a very small moving target that will garner little press should a virus actually strike.
However, when a malicious virus was discovered in several screen savers on an Ubuntu theme site the freetard spin went into overdrive. Some going as far as to claim that viruses are an indication that Linux has gone mainstream.
“In my eyes this is just an indication that Linux has made it big. This should be a milestone for distributions.”
You can’t have it both ways freetards! You can’t tell everyone to use Linux because its more secure and doesn’t get viruses, then immediately turn around and claim that the viruses are a good sign.
PS: If you don’t agree with this, just post a link to this blog somewhere and then discuss it with other people. If you still think, this is wrong, feel free to write a comment 
About 2012-Supernova: Give me my 90 minutes wasted time back!!!
Jan 22nd
Warning: If you are going to watch the movie 2012-Supernove: DO NOT watch it – can cause serious Brain-damage 
Another film jumping on the 2012 bandwagon. But, like a zillion other disaster movie buffs I watch them, and whether a block buster or a z grade I usually enjoy them. Until now!!!! Boy could this movie have used a rewrite, some good actors and a decent budget.
Lets start off with the tri-partisan team supposedly saving the world in a top security bunker with top of the range computers which in actual fact looked like you local warehouse with computers from the Amstrad days! We had a Chinese, kungfu, save my country at the expense of everyone else, female scientist, who, incidentally can fly the shuttle! A vodka swilling Russian scientist who looked a lot like a mad
Einstein, who also could fly the shuttle and a good old USA scientist out to save the world even if it meant throwing himself into the face of death… of course! and of course he can pilot the shuttle, all of them wearing overalls and motor bike helmets… oh, and i have seen enough of the shuttle over the years on TV to know what the inside of it looks like and trust me, I have never seen anything like what they were supposedly flying… And when they got to the space station they were the only ones on it. Where were all the other scientists while this was going on? Are we to believe that the world at large trusted 3 scientists to save us… no contact with any world leaders, or any one for that matter.
In the middle of all this we have tornado’s, lightning storms, earth quakes, even a lecherous farmer and just about anything else that could be thrown at the poor wife and daughter of the American scientist who are just trying to get to safety while their man tries to save the world.
I kept watching this hoping it would get better… BUT IT DIDN’T.
There are some movies that are so bad you have to watch them, but this doesn’t even fit in that category. It is just plain bad. I guess its the best you can do with a budget of $3.50. And with that I would want $2.00 change. Don’t waste your time with this one. SciFi channel… shame on you!!!!
SpamAssassin’s new year hangover
Jan 5th
The Apache SpamAssassin spam filter has been shipping with a rule which defined any year past 2009 as “grossly in the future” and adding 3.2 to the email’s spam score. The default threshold for spam is 5.0, so the error makes it much more likely that legitimate mail will be falsely marked as spam.
The problem was noted by Mike Cardwell, a GB based developer, who brought up the issue on the spam filter’s mailing list. The problem had been reported in 2008 and fixed in the SpamAssassin repositories, but the rules were not backported to 3.2 for users until new years day when the omitted update was noticed.
SpamAssassin users will need to run the sa-update command to update their rule set. If they are unable to do this, for whatever reason, then adding score FH_DATE_PAST_20XX 0.0 to the local.cf file will work around the problem.
For more information see: http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/Rules/FH_DATE_PAST_20XX
milw0rm.com death – NO!
Dec 31st
Sadly, Milw0rm.com was offline for a few days. Stroke said “permanently”. He posted the following message on the site before it went dark:
Well, this is my goodbye header for milw0rm. I wish I had the time I did in the past to post exploits, I just don’t
. For the past 3 months I have actually done a pretty crappy job of getting peoples work out fast enough to be proud of, 0 to 72 hours (taking off weekends) isn’t fair to the authors on this site. I appreciate and thank everyone for their support in the past. Be safe, /str0ke
While it gets a bad rap for its large script kiddie user base…, I’ve learned a lot from the exploits on that site! Thanks Str0ke and all the authors! =)
BUT: While I was researching about this; I found some pages saying it looks like Stroke found some other people to take over for him. Anyway, the main website is back online, - Exploit submissions are still closed for now, and sometimes milw0rm.com seems to be offline from what the server responds, that may just be server overloading. – try it a few times…
Fix Windows 7 MediaPlayer 12 Video Flickering
Dec 30th
When you configure Windows Media Player 12 to display subtitles on Windows 7, the video experience may not be enjoyable as video image flickers every time that a new line of subtitle is displayed. Microsoft has confirmed this issued and posted hotfix for this.
This problem occurs because of an issue in the way that the Enhanced Video Renderer (EVR) handles subtitle notifications. The hotfix applies to Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008.
Download Fix291755 for Windows 7 WMP 12 Video Flickering issue.