Dam Burst Tool Disables China's Green Dam Censorware

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Dam Burst Tool Disables China's Green Dam Censorware

Posted by timothy on Wednesday September 30, 2009 @05:48AM from the dam-you-anti-social-coders dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The infamous Green Dam censorship software has suffered yet another blow. As ZDNet explains, Dam Burst, a tool released by security researcher Jon Oberheide, allows unprivileged users to disable the censorware by removing the hooks that enable it to monitor and block user activity, effectively restoring running applications to their original uncensored state. While the Dam Burst software is currently available at Oberheide's website, community mirrors will undoubtedly be necessary to avoid blocking by the Great Firewall."

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Great, but.. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 05:51 · Score: 0

Didn't they back down from having this installed on all new PCs by default?
1. Re:Great, but.. by rvw · 2009-09-30 05:55 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Dont tell: you probably haven't RTFA????
  
  The Chinese government originally mandated that Green Dam be shipped on all new PCs but this pre-installation has been delayed.
Woohoo by grimmin-it · 2009-09-30 05:54 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Woohoo Dam Burst! Booo Great Dam
Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 05:55 · Score: 0

Can't you just install a clean OS?
1. Re:Why so complicated? by oahazmatt · 2009-09-30 05:57 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Can't you just install a clean OS?
  C'mon. This is China. It's not like you can just walk to a street corner and get a copy of XP.
  
  --
  Those who believe the Internet is private,
  find their privates are on the Internet.
2. Re:Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 06:25 · Score: 0
  
  You call that a clean copy?
3. Re:Why so complicated? by jijacob · 2009-09-30 06:32 · Score: 1
  
  I bet you can download ubuntu though. And burn it to a CD. If not ubuntu there are a significant number of lesser-known free operating systems.
4. Re:Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 06:37 · Score: 0
  
  Woooosh!
5. Re:Why so complicated? by Smivs · 2009-09-30 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  I bet you can download ubuntu though. And burn it to a CD.
  Yes, but ubuntu is free open-source software and no-one in China knows what "Free" or "Open" mean.
  
  --
  Smivs on the intertubes!
6. Re:Why so complicated? by andymadigan · 2009-09-30 08:23 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  And they really don't want to be bothered with being able to search for "democracy" or "freedom"? Yes, I can see the Chinese people really have a say in their government.
  
  --
  The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
7. Re:Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 09:39 · Score: 0
  
  http://www.redflag-linux.com/en/download.php
  You are a dumb-ass. Not to mention a bigot.
8. Re:Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 10:05 · Score: 0
  
  I lun ledfrag rinux, you insensitiv crod!
9. Re:Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 10:20 · Score: 0
  
  You call that a clean OS?
10. Re:Why so complicated? by Smivs · 2009-09-30 10:32 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Yes, but ubuntu is free open-source software and no-one in China knows what "Free" or "Open" mean.
  
  You are a dumb-ass. Not to mention a bigot.
  My comment was aimed at the consequences of the repressive politics of China, not it's people, so please don't think of me as a bigot. I am grateful for the freedoms and open-ness of our society, and I merely chose to express my view through irony.
  
  --
  Smivs on the intertubes!
11. Re:Why so complicated? by EspressoFreak · 2009-09-30 18:09 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, you can.
12. Re:Why so complicated? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-10-01 00:24 · Score: 0
  
  You are hirarious. Not to mention a bigot.
I'll wait for the Ang Lee Documentary by Ukab+the+Great · 2009-09-30 05:57 · Score: 1, Interesting

"Bursting Dam, Flying Dutch Boy"
1. Re:I'll wait for the Ang Lee Documentary by tobiah · 2009-09-30 09:48 · Score: 1
  
  humorless mods
  
  --
  "The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
Bursting Dams by Drunken+Buddhist · 2009-09-30 05:58 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Now with the oppressive soviet porn filter removed, I believe we'll see dams bursting in record numbers. Though if it's green, you should probably see a doctor.
In soviet china, dam bursts you!

--
-1, Disagree is not a valid option. Troll, Flamebait and Offtopic are not a substitute.
but you'd still be doing something illegal by lapsed · 2009-09-30 06:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

If Green Dam software were required in China (and it's not yet clear that it will be), disabling it might be trivial but the act of disabling it would open the user to prosecution. A Chinese user could 'accidentally' click on a site they should not have seen but it's hard to see disabling Green Dam software as anything but deliberate. Having said that, I think Oberheide's work is commendable.
Man in the middle? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 06:11 · Score: 2, Insightful

If China has so much control over traffic, what is to keep them from simply running a man in the middle attack,
and redirecting your download or website request to an identical looking trojan download?
1. Re:Man in the middle? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 07:29 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  If China has so much control over traffic, what is to keep them from simply running a man in the middle attack,
  and redirecting your download or website request to an identical looking trojan download?
  Thank you very much for the idea.
  -- The Chinese Government
2. Re:Man in the middle? by VoltageX · 2009-09-30 16:26 · Score: 1
  
  distributing this via magnet link might be a good idea.
  
  --
  "Anonymous could not immediately be reached for further comment." - International Business Times
power to the people by randizzle · 2009-09-30 06:24 · Score: 2

well done Mr Oberheide.
Why/how is a non-admin allowed to do this? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 06:43 · Score: 0

Not that I want to provide assistance to making Green Dam more effective, and I also don't know anything about how it's implemented, but why are these hooks apparently running in the user priviledge ring? Shouldn't they be on a more priviledged ring, thus making them immune to removal by a non-admin?
1. Re:Why/how is a non-admin allowed to do this? by moon3 · 2009-09-30 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  If you remove local firewall you raise flags on the outer "Great firewall", so this will be seen as a breach anyway, seams to me that local filtering software is only the first stopper layer to reduce number of outer hammerers -- having a local firewall reduces the number of breakers of the main China filtering layer at any given time, so the Chinese internet gestapo can better focus on the particular violators.
Mirrors? Sure, and P2P too by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 06:50 · Score: 0

Talking about mirrors, seeding it on eDonkey and Gnutella might be useful.
ed2k://|file|DamBurst-1.2.exe|96680|f382f3f5092b2050abedeff342e6ae99|/ and magnet:?xt=urn:sha1:ZYZDBKH4LQQVGV4SIYHYT4CGU5UFYSG4&xl=96680&dn=DamBurst-1.2.exe
Good luck for censoring such mirrors.
TFA is wrong by jipn4 · 2009-09-30 06:53 · Score: 3, Interesting

The Chinese government originally mandated that Green Dam be shipped on all new PCs but this pre-installation has been delayed.
The Chinese government never mandated that Green Dam be shipped "on" or "pre-installed". It mandated that it ship with new PCs. It was sufficient simply to stick a CD in the shipping box, although preinstalling the software was also OK. Manufacturers could decide how to satisfy the requirement. It was up to the end user to decide whether to use it or not. The idea was to give parents the option of using filtering software for their children. If they didn't want to use it, they didn't have to.
The software described in TFA is no more a blow for freedom than software that lets kids get around NetNanny.
Man in the middle... by ZarathustraDK · 2009-09-30 06:56 · Score: 1

Clippy: "I see you're trying to install some nice software, would you like some uniformed men to help you with that? Yes, Ok, Absolutely!"

--
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
How do I get Green Dam? by Runaway1956 · 2009-09-30 07:23 · Score: 5, Funny

"As a pleasant side effect, disabling the Green Dam components within a running process actually increases the security of the end host as the vulnerable code paths within the Green Dam software are no longer exploitable by an attacker. "
That being true, I want to install Green Dam so that I can use Dam Burst. Awesome!! Our benevolent brothers in China have helped to make teh intartubez secure!!!

--
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
1. Re:How do I get Green Dam? by Runaway1956 · 2009-09-30 07:30 · Score: 1
  
  http://www.lssw365.net/index.php/List/index/pid/2
  The NERVE of those Chinese! Their site is written in CHINESE!! Don't they know that half the world is monolingual? oh - wait - wut did I just say? Whoops, they ARE almost half the world!
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Sounds like fun by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 07:53 · Score: 0

I remember some software involving dam busting before. Is this a modern remake?
A little late by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 08:22 · Score: 0

Green Dam was canceled weeks ago after many complaints. They're now rolling out Blue Dam, which doesn't run on PC's but is run by the ISP's instead.
China sucks by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 08:35 · Score: 0

How do the people of China stand for this type of oppression? I would think they would revolt and want freedom, at a minimum on the internet...
1. Re:China sucks by koxkoxkox · 2009-09-30 15:49 · Score: 1
  
  Some of them do, and they risk their lives. You can find a lot of stories of bloggers who disappeared in the middle of the night not to be seen again.
  The majority of the people don't want to risk their live just to be able to speak of abstract concepts. The censorship is well known of everyone, but is a minor inconvenience for most.
Setup mirrors! by Anonymous Coward · 2009-09-30 10:18 · Score: 0

As the poster mentions, mirrors will probably be needed. Here's one: http://www.singleclick.info/
Mirrors Galore! by TrentTheThief · 2009-09-30 23:31 · Score: 1

http://www.crystalwind.com/DamBurst-1.2.exe
Hey! There's that file again! by TrentTheThief · 2009-09-30 23:42 · Score: 1

https://files.dreamhost.com/94381/dl/DamBurst-1.2.exe
âoeIn China, at least I would have a trial" by Anonymous Coward · 2009-10-01 09:25 · Score: 0

Am I the only one who sees a new cold war propaganda tune in this story? Now that Iran is bad once again and China seems to be evil again, we're going to be fed how evil they are with a bland mix of lies and some news about software. Duhh. Here's how bad some people see China vs USA:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
The U.S. government has just received the ultimate put-down from one of its Guantanamo prisoners. Arkin Mahmud, a Chinese Uighur who has been held at the prison camp for 8 years, stated ruefully, âoeIn China, at least I would have a trial and sentence.â