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Microsoft Promises To Defend World Chess Champion From Russian Hackers (telegraph.co.uk)
"World chess champion Magnus Carlsen has asked Microsoft to protect him against Russian hackers, as he expects to become the target of cyber attacks launched before the match with grandmaster Sergey Karjakin next week," reports Softpedia. An anonymous reader shares more details from The Telegraph:
The man dubbed the 'Mozart of chess' has spent months using high-powered chess computers to meticulously prepare moves for his grueling 12-game match against challenger Sergey Karjakin. But any leak of his analysis would hand a significant advantage to Crimean-born Karjakin, the fiercely-patriotic darling of Russian president Vladimir Putin... "The element of surprise is vitally important in chess," explained the Vibeke Hansen, from Microsoft Norway... She said Microsoft Norway will "ensure that he has a safe training environment and secure communication and collaboration tools".
HAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA!!!
We're sick of it. We didn't believe it when the corrupt clinton campaign used it, and we don't buy it now. Repeatedly beating this dead horse is only going to turn more people against you.
this is the same company that gave us lanman hashes
won't be able to protect anyone against hacking.
you would think russia is the only place that have hackers in there populace. grow up and get a clue.
This just disgusting marketing propaganda. Poor the fool who signed up for this. And fsck the brain that conjured up this steaming pile of bulldroppings!
FCKGW 09F9 42
Kind of like asking the fox to protect the chicken coop...
Microsoft hasn't been able to do anything secure ever.
It's like asking Hannibal Lecter for cooking tips. Just use OSX or Linux. Problem solved.
Calling Microsoft to secure your software is like walking up to a rattlesnake and giving it hug and expecting great results. This is most insane thing I've heard today. I thought Hillary supports were more batshit, but apparently Microsoft is.
Usually, AI is when computers imitate human intelligence.
With chess now, it is the opposite : humans imitate computers.
Even more striking is the way they do it : they pick a subset of the solution, hoping that they can make the best use of it, hence the secrecy. In most practical AIs (ex: self-driving cars), this is the opposite : the AI is only able to do a subset of the task, using a human for the edge cases.
They're under your bed!
Your 100% correct.
Those silly Russians only work on Windows.
If you use OSX or Linux, you completely stump them.
He's screwed.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Unplug computer from the internet.
If it needs internet access for CHESS of all things, you're doing it wrong.
...but enough to know not to bet on the white guy. I don't know much about security...but enough to know not to go to Microsoft.
You'll have a computer that doesn't open any ports to the world by default.
That will probably work, because Russia has no interest into revealing hacking tools just to have someone win a Chess match.
It's like asking Hannibal Lecter for cooking tips.
I'm not so sure: Hannibal Lecter at least seemed to know something about cooking.
He's reached out to a number of companies for help in various areas besides Microsoft. He's asked Yahoo to help him put together a profitable long-term business strategy, along with Twitter in case the Yahoo deal falls through. He's also asking Exxon to help with a clean-energy plan. And he's reached out to the DNC for help securing his email server.
With all his corporate partners he's set up for success!
Do you have ESP?
Um, no. The professional level software is Windows only. Carlsen is locked in.
Bloody Russian cheats.
Microsoft Promises
Microsoft Promises
Microsoft Promises
I'm crying tears of joy
It's easy to keep hackers out by not connecting that computer to a network.
Be seeing you...
Damn I hate stupid people. Get an education you twit.
Whenever I need computer security, Microsoft is the first company that comes to mind.
(Just not in the way they'd probably prefer)
Why is this guy's computer networked if all he is doing is studying chess moves? Wouldn't the safest thing be to keep the program(s) on a laptop which is always in your possession or locked away?
Why must, based solely on this person's claim of being hacked, this machine be networked?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Or rather a genuine fear from a guy in a tournament whose competitors are from a rogue nation.
Are you still pretending Russia are OK, when Putin's busy trying to put Trump into power and annex America?
From when I ran a honeypot server in a dmz for a while, I detected a pattern in where the attackers were from, and how flexible and smart they were.
Disregarding script kiddies and botnets, visitors from Russian and German IP addresses were at the top of the list, snooping around manually and looking at configuration files and kernel parameters, and sometimes recognizing that they were in a honeypot. Visitors from Indian and American IP addresses were at the bottom, doing brain dead stuff like uploading and trying to run x86 programs on a mips computer, and when it failed, trying it again as if it would magically work the second or third time...
Linux is obviously a lot more secure - however, get someone competent to set up security.
Using Microsoft, is essentially saying that you don't take security really seriously.
Russia ARE a boogeyman, they just hacked the Democratic party using fake servers and man in the middle attacks, sent emails though Kremlin propaganda office, and then handed over to Assange for release just prior to an election. It doesn't get anymore boogier than that. CIA has confirmed this.
You ARE being annexed, just the same way other countries have been annexed by Putin.
You really COULD wake up with a Viktor Yanokovych figure in power, who'll stuff his cabinet with pro Russia stooges.
You really COULD lose NATO, and with it the west of Europe with a President, weak on Putin's aggression.
Trump really does has all those Russian assets his son mentioned in 2008, but Trump now denies exist.
I know if you're a genuine Republican these are difficult to face, but he was NEVER the Republican candidate, he just hijacked the Republican ticket.
DO NOT LET PUTIN ANNEX THE USA, the way he annexed the Crimea and nearly got whole of Ukraine with Putin puppet Yanokovych.
The new boogeyman.
I'm sure if Carlsen asked, they would port whatever software he needed even to Commodore 64 for an endorsement.
Neither did Ukraine when they put Viktor Yanokovych, well not at first they didn't.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/former-cia-chief-trump-is-russias-useful-fool/2016/11/03/cda42ffe-a1d5-11e6-8d63-3e0a660f1f04_story.html
Paul Manafort is Trumps campaign manager. He's worked on previous attempts to install puppet leaders. Working with Putin strategists:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Manafort
"Manafort also worked as an adviser on the Ukrainian presidential campaign of Viktor Yanukovych (and his Party of Regions during the same time span) from December 2004 until the February 2010 Ukrainian presidential election[31][32][33] even as the U.S. government (and US Senator John McCain) opposed Yanukovych because of his ties to Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.[10] Manafort was hired to advise Yanukovych months after massive street demonstrations known as the Orange Revolution overturned Yanukovych's victory in the 2004 presidential race.[34] Borys Kolesnikov, Yanukovich’s campaign manager, said the party hired Manafort after identifying organizational and other problems in the 2004 elections, in which it was advised by Russian strategists.[32] Manafort rebuffed U.S. Ambassador William Taylor when the latter complained he was undermining U.S. interests in Ukraine"
ibm watson was no line for the jeopardy games.
So that there will be no Karjakin !
You're right, but there is also some subtle psychology and gamesmanship going on here.
Magnus Carlsen is much, much stronger than his opponent. He's the highest rated in history, and there is a huge gap between him and everybody else. And of the top 20 or so players right now, he's really the most able to play for a win from an equal position. Or for non-chess-players, that means he relies less on preparation than his opponent! Simply discovering his preparation would be less of an advantage than it would be against anybody else in the top grouping.
So yeah, it is funny to ask MS for help; but it also promotes a match that is here in the US by name-checking a US company. it also, if believed, might give encouragement to those who would try it, and there might even be a honey pot waiting. And, the most important and real driving reason, he's bragging that his opponent would need some help to win.
All the top chess players agree that psychology is a very important aspect of the game. Even for intelligent, very-well-prepared professionals, it is still really hard to avoid making even minor mistakes through a whole chess game. Magnus Carlsen not only plays a lot of great moves that astound his competition, he also makes less routine mistakes. So hard is it to not make small mistakes, that there are lots of mistakes even at the world championship level. Well, everybody else makes lots of mistakes; Magnus makes very precious few. A slight psychological advantage that leads to one time where his opponent makes a slightly hasty move, pow, game over, and the match is very difficult for an underdog to recover. So even just the threat of psychological advantage can create one, because Magnus really is that much stronger!
Also, they would need to have already hacked his preparation to have time to make good training advantage out of it. They either are already training based on his training; or they aren't. That won't happen last minute.
> It's like asking Hannibal Lecter for cooking tips.
Pretty sure the people doing the #spiritcooking did just that...
Mod parent up as informative.
This is so true. Most is Windows only, and many need continuous internet access.
It doesn't surprise me at all, because I read the pathetic long logs that Brazilians create trying to crack ssh passwords.
The same IP will try for *years*. I don't even use allow ssh passwords, people. Crack a private key, or go home, jeeze.
What he needs is a real medical doctor, a diet, good sleep, and probably a short holiday.
Why would need MS's help?
You can use a new MacbookPro and never go online. No easy way to connect an usb stick and never turn wifi on.
That's the most braindead thing I've probably ever seen posted on an IT security article on Slashdot.
The idea that changing OS can magically give you absolute security is an astoundingly dangerous myth to peddle.
Please, step away from the keyboard before you cause someone some kind of data or financial loss.
I too am impressed by Microsoft's impeccable track record at computer security.
>> Microsoft!
>> safe
LOL!
It is well known that chess players try to unsettle their opponents before important matches, and a world championship match is as big as it gets.
However, capitalizing on the fact that the opponent is Russian, the match is played in New York, the fact that it starts immediately after the presidential elections, and that there was a lot of noise about Russia hacking US servers, is quite low.
Well below what is expected from a reigning Chess World Champion.
Disgusting stuff.
It's like asking Hannibal Lecter for cooking tips. Just use OSX or Linux. Problem solved.
This comment works very well but it's incomplete, doesn't take into account what end result is trying to be achieved, and may actually work against you.
Let's go for taste
It's like asking Hannibal Lecter for cooking tips. Just use McDonalds or KFC. The last two will get food into your mouth with limited effort or knowledge of cooking required. The former is likely delicious (working against you, lots of meat is delicious and I don't see humans being any different), but will actually require effort to cook.
Security is a process not a thing. Saying just use Linux you'll be secure is just utterly braindead, especially against a targeted attack. Now given the choice between me just using Linux or having the resources of a multinational despite what you think of them, against a state sponsored hacker I'm probably better off with the latter.
You'll have a computer that doesn't open any ports to the world by default.
So a useless computer? I mean if you're not going to open any ports then just disconnect it from the internet and then your Windows system is just as secure as Linux by default.
You're missing the fact that very very few attacks come in via some "open ports" typically because those "open ports" are behind some firewall or NAT and aren't actually "open". If they are open then there's likely a reason for it and they will be just as "open" on Linux as Windows.
Security is a process not a thing.
...doing brain dead stuff like uploading and trying to run x86 programs on a mips computer, and when it failed, trying it again as if it would magically work the second or third time...
Well, it's an x86 program. It often *does* magically work the second time.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
You forget that Russia were nearly blanket banned from World Athletics because of systematic doping of their atheletes and their unwillingness to comply with anti-doping regulations.
Low blow? Or unpleasant reality?
To me you're a fucking traitor who'd defend Russia even as they invade countries, hack elections and bomb children in Alleppo. But hey.... Republican right? It's all OK, as long as their hacking gets your guy elected, you'll totally screw over America for your choice of President. So what's wrong with pretending a Chess champion doesn't have a genuine complaint from a known active hacking group?
> OSX
I'd rather use Windows than MaCoS10. At least Microsoft does not take multiple months to fix known security issues.
In case you have ever used a computed for chess preparation you would have known that this is the best use case for an air-gapped machine. No need to ask Microsoft for that.
Ah but you can't disconnect a Windows machine...
It has to phone home every couple of days to transfer what it has been collected from spying.
The match is just after the election, so chances are about 50/50 that the rules will be changed to Parcheesi just so the new president can fool himself into thinking he's the best ever at understanding chess.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Well if Trump gives 'information sharing' right to Russia, making 5-eyes into 6-eyes. Then Putin will have access to PRISM, which Microsoft was the first to sign up to.
Won't that be fun for 5 eyes countries? You signed up to spy on your own, and share it with the other 5eyes member countries. Putin puts Trump into power, and now NSA shares all that with Putin's FSA.
Magnus Carlsen is much, much stronger than his opponent. He's the highest rated in history, and there is a huge gap between him and everybody else.
Highest rating achieved normalized to an equivalent (ELO) rating system:
2893 - Fischer
2882 - Kasparov
2880 - Botvinnik
2878 - Carlsen
2870 - Capablanca
So if by "highest rated in history" you mean 4th highest... sure.
source, with a very nice historical graph animation system
He is significantly higher rated than his opponent, but his opponent isnt even in the current active top-5 rated at the moment (he is in 9th):
2853 - Carlsen
2823 - Caruana
2811 - MVL
2810 - Kramnik
2795 - Aronian
There is no doubt that Carlsen (2853) has a big edge against Karjakin (2772), so there is no need to be dishonest about it.
"His name was James Damore."
I actually had some respect for the kid, but reading this undid all of it.
Train in an environment that isn't connected to the internet in any way. And severely limit physical access. There's only so much you can do - but if someone gains physical access....that's that.
Are chess competitions nowadays still face to face at a given venue, or are they now online? If they are online, unplug the cable doesn't sound like a plan
Also, how does a cyber attack help anyone here? In chess, both the players would have to think out their moves and then play, and everybody will see their move at the same time
While corruption is an issue in Russia, it does need a strongman. 8 years of Boris Yeltsin exposed what would happen if Moscow tried to be truly democratic, and allow anyone to do anything. You had the Chechens revolt, and carry out unspeakable terrorist attacks in Moscow, Beslan and anywhere they liked.
Also, people look at the territory covered by the Russians - from the Bering Strait to the Baltic Sea - and conclude that they are one big bully. But the historic reason that Russia got so big was that they had to. In their history, aside from being threatened by countries on their West - like the German states and Sweden, they were also the target of attempted conquests by the Mongols/Golden Horde, Tatars and Turks. Also, reason Tsarist Russia conquered Central Asia - it wasn't a lebensraum issue, but rather, the fact that the Kazakhs would conduct raids on the border and enslave Russians living on their borders. Same issue w/ the Crimean Tatars, who people now hold up as helpless victims of Russia: the Crimeans would launch raids into Russian and Polish lands to enslave people, and even burnt down Moscow on one occasion. But everybody assumes that they were this small tribe sitting in Crimea and minding their own business when the evil Russkies marched in
You are absolutely right about Islam & Muslims, and the insane thing about events since 2001 is that even while the West came face to face w/ Jihadist movements in their countries, they turned a blind eye to the identical threats towards Russia and China. If one is against the stated goals of theirs, there is no reason to support it anywhere. And the US, which was supported by Uzbekistan after 9/11 w/ 2 military bases there, stupidly supported the Islamic Movement of Turkestan in an attempted coup, and that resulted in them being kicked out of those 2 bases and getting into the shit list of the Tashkent regime. Granted that President Karimov (and now his successor) were not Jefforsonian democrats, but one can't be that if the opponents are Jihadists who want to restore the Timuride empire.
I can just picture Will Ferrell running around: "Help me Jesus! Help me Allah! Help me Tom Cruise!! Tom Cruise use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me! Help me Oprah Winfrey!"
Airgap the PCs used for chess. Don't communicate online about your strategies (OTOH, if you're the best chess player, you can talk about your success strategy and others still won't beat you. Skill is not about having an unique secret.)