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CloudFlare Puts Pirate Sites on New IP Addresses, Avoids Cogent Blockade (torrentfreak.com)

Earlier this month, several users worldwide reported that they were unable to access pirate websites including the Pirate Bay. It was because the internet backbone network of Cogent Communications had blackholed the CloudFlare IP-address of pirate websites. Less than a week later, CloudFlare is fighting back. From a report on TorrentFreak: The Pirate Bay and dozens of other pirate sites that were blocked by Cogent's Internet backbone are now accessible again. CloudFlare appears to have moved the sites in question to a new pair of IP-addresses, effectively bypassing Cogent's blackhole. [...] As of yesterday, the sites in question have been assigned the IP-addresses 104.31.16.3 and 104.31.17.3, still grouped together. Most, if not all of the sites, are blocked by court order in the UK so this is presumably done to prevent ISP overblocking of 'regular' CloudFlare subscribers.

88 comments

  1. Re: Drumf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL WHAT!?!

    These paid bots are bad. This comment makes no sense in regards to this story.

  2. All they have to do by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    But all Cogent has to do is resolve the names and update their block to reflect it, this could be automated

    1. Re:All they have to do by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Funny

      Then all CloudFlare has to do is verify if the new addresses are blocked and change them if necessary, this could be automated.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And so on, and so on, until the entire internet is just one big block. I figure it could take less than 20 minutes once it starts.

    3. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But all Cogent has to do is resolve the names and update their block to reflect it, this could be automated

      They have to decide if they are a backbone provider, or a service provider. The former are protected from crap like DMCA, the later are not... Also, we're talking multi-terabit-backbone-routers, not some linux-pc with iptables, router don't just "resolve the names and update" anything..

    4. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well that's one way to force IPv6 deployment.

    5. Re:All they have to do by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Yea, until somebody figures out that it's not that hard to fake an authoritative DNS server... Oh Wait.... Hasn't that been done?

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    6. Re:All they have to do by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      yeah, adding a reverse DNS lookup for every packet on a backbone... ouch. Which still wouldn't work anyway, as 104.31.16.3 has no PTR record pointing to it

    7. Re:All they have to do by guruevi · · Score: 1

      Then all they would have to do is:
      www.thepiratebay.org A 86400 0.0.0.0

      You really think they're going to trust a 3rd party (the same party they're trying to block) to give them the accurate addresses?

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    8. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But all Cogent has to do is resolve the names and update their block to reflect it, this could be automated

      It would also be trivial to get a server or vps that lives on another backbone yet traverses Cogent on the way to CloudFlair, which spends its time constantly verifying connectivity and notifying CloudFlair out-of-band.

      Avoiding the block could also be automated if Cogent runs the DNS servers for the domains in question, they could even automate IP reassignments and update the zone file (which will need a lower TTL cache value setup ahead of time)

      How well the block will function really depends on who's choice it was.
      If Cogent took it upon themselves to do it, then this will just become a cat-and-mouse game.
      If Cogent was instructed from the outside to block the IPs, they likely wouldn't care enough themselves to proactively fix things.

      Also Cogent has to be careful in escalating things. If they decide to blackhole CloudFlairs ASN, then Cogent should expect many other backbones to do the same with regards to their peer routes, and simply avoid transiting their network for traffic destined to CloudFlair.
      This would result in Cogent's peering agreements to become even more lopsided, and once that happens other backbones tend to cancel peering agreements and expect payment to allow Congent to transit their networks.

    9. Re:All they have to do by Revek · · Score: 1

      This is exactly how I pictured it all ending. I better run out and buy all the bread and milk I can find.

    10. Re:All they have to do by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      I thought they already did that.

      The IP block is presumably there now because people are just putting the IP addresses in to get around the DNS black hole.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    11. Re: All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cogent is damage.
      Route around it.

    12. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And so on, and so on, until the entire internet is just one big block. I figure it could take less than 20 minutes once it starts.

      Good. The support tickets will start pouring into Cogent, and all their huge ISP customers will be screaming about why nothing is working over the Cogent transit.
      Then Cogent can watch all their contracts dry up as the ISPs shift routing to go over their Competitor's links instead. And then make the decision as to whether it's worth operating in the EU anymore.
      Let Europe isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Bunch of psychotic assholes, bitching about the US trying to tell them what to do and then turning around and demanding the rest of the world follow their laws. Fuck 'em.

    13. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But all Cogent has to do is resolve the names and update their block to reflect it, this could be automated

      They have to decide if they are a backbone provider, or a service provider. The former are protected from crap like DMCA, the later are not... Also, we're talking multi-terabit-backbone-routers, not some linux-pc with iptables, router don't just "resolve the names and update" anything..

      1. Cogent is blackholing as a result of an EU law, since they do business there they are complying with that (stupid) law, not the DMCA, which is a US law.
      2. No, routers don't "resolve the names and update"... those functions are handled by other devices which then inject updates into the routing tables on the backbone routers. And yes, it can be automated, and all the major ISP's already have this capability for dealing with various types of DDoS and other attacks. It's just a matter of tying in something that specifically goes crawling around trying to find out how to connect to tPB and then injecting the blackhole for those IP's into their routing table.
      3. The real question isn't whether they can do it (they most certainly can), it's whether they should. And the answer is no, they should not, but the EU likes to tell everyone else on the planet what to do (see: Right to be Forgotton) and then get all indignant when other countries like the US do the same to them.

    14. Re:All they have to do by Neuronwelder · · Score: 2

      It makes me wonder if this "control thing" gets so bad, that people use and share line of site transmitters with each other to make their own nets.

    15. Re:All they have to do by mysidia · · Score: 2

      Blacklist 0.0.0.0/32? Feh.... I have an even better idea...:

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 38.100.128.10

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 38.119.116.148

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 81.2.129.253

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 66.28.0.14

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 66.28.0.30

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 66.28.3.10

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 80.245.32.74

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 80.91.64.50

      www.thepiratebay.org AAAA 120 2001:550:1:a::d

      www.thepiratebay.org AAAA 120 2001:550:1:b::d

      www.thepiratebay.org AAAA 120 2001:550:1:c::d

      www.thepiratebay.org AAAA 120 2001:978:1:b::d

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 207.46.163.138

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 207.46.163.247

      www.thepiratebay.org A 120 207.46.163.215

    16. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just using a different DNS service. I hear 8.8.8.8, opendns and others are pretty popular.

    17. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Crimeflare doesn't give a shit. They would rather their pirate and child porn sites keep operating. Cogent should blackhole all cloudflare ip addresses.

      In fact, Cogent could block the DNS servers ip addresses and thus nuke all crimeflare sites at once.

    18. Re:All they have to do by catprog · · Score: 1

      And watch as every single ISP drops Cogent so that their customers can access the internet. Their are so many sites on Cloudflare that if they were blocked, Customers would move from any ISP that would not let them access their sites.

      No Discord, Udacity , Stackoverflow for starters,

      --
      My Transformation Website
      Kindle Books http://www.catprog.org/rev
      Interactive CYOA http://www.catprog.org/st
    19. Re:All they have to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Cogent start violating their peering agreements in an automated way, they will soon run out of working peering connectivity and be disconnected from the internet themselves...
      Without being part of the internet, they can not block things, so the problem solves itself... ;-)

  3. For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They need to identify UK government websites that are using cloudflare, and put them on the blackholed IP's.

    1. Re:For their next trick... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Redirect all UK government websites to this address instead.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:For their next trick... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Also redirect all requests made from UK government computers to that address.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:For their next trick... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

      That's not an IP address, it is a URI

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    4. Re:For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's like saying a Word document isn't the same as a JPEG image. What's your point?

    5. Re:For their next trick... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      URLs resolve to __ _________. (hint:IP addresses)

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    6. Re: For their next trick... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

      I said URI not URL, and no they don't in either case.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    7. Re:For their next trick... by gnick · · Score: 2

      That's not an IP address, it is a URI

      He called it an address, not an IP address. "URL" is close enough to being synonymous with "web address."

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    8. Re: For their next trick... by gnick · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You did say URI. You could have said URL. It was, after all, a URL. This page gives a good description of the difference as well as a guide for responding to the statement, "Actually, that’s called a URI, not a URL"

      The response to this correction can range from quietly thinking this person needs to get out more, to agreeing indifferently via shoulder shrug, to removing the safety clasp on a Katana.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    9. Re: For their next trick... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

      All URLs are URIs. Not all URLs are URIs. THAT is the correct response to any claim they are identical.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    10. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All URLs are URIs.

      Correct.

      Not all URLs are URIs

      Not correct :P

      (This reply is intended as friendly poking fun at you.. I've made the same swap-of-similar-letters mistake plenty of times too)

    11. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. I noticed that right after I hit submit, but it will be interesting to watch all the "Accuracy doesn't matter!" Weenies do a 180 and nitpick when it is someone that disagrees with them ;-). ZK

    12. Re:For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Knew I was gonna get rolled, clicked anyways. I love that song. :)

    13. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who said they were identical? .

    14. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not all URLs are URIs.

      You're not an authority on this, are you?

    15. Re: For their next trick... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

      Look closely. Look again. Now you see it, right? Hint the second statement has the TLAs accidentally reversed. Here is some info from someone who isn't me.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    16. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All URLs are URIs. You're a dumb ass. You can learn about it here.

    17. Re:For their next trick... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      The 80's rocked.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    18. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Not all URLs are URIs." Yes they are. URLs are a subset of URIs. The address you're so upset was a URL - You called it a URI as bait to let you get pedantic.
      "THAT is the correct response to any claim they are identical." You're the only one even suggesting that.

    19. Re:For their next trick... by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

      Hell yea cause that's where i came from. It had to rock.

    20. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you truly are an idiot. He already said that AND provided a link.

    21. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      URI or URL, yes they do. URIs and URLs both resolve to IP addresses.

    22. Re: For their next trick... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

      The subset of the URL that is the domain name resolves to an IP Address. A URL only resolves to an IP address when that URL consist of ONLY the domain name. That was NOT the case in the OPs post, nor is it the case for the vast majority of URLs, as you well know. Most likely you think "resolves to" means "I can determine it. It's in there somewhere". If there is a remainder, it doesn't resolve to it. IOW, given just the IP Address I CANNOT access the content. I don't have enough information. There is no RESOLUTION to my problem as the URL does NOT resolve to an IP.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    23. Re:For their next trick... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

      The article is about changing IP Addresses. It is literally about substituting one IP Address for another. He went on to say they should substitute "this address". So you are wrong. The discussion - indeed the entire article - is about the substitution of IP Addresses. It is patently absurd to say that the addresses in question are not IP Addresses.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    24. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      URLs resolve IP addresses and contain other information necessary to access specific content. There's plenty of RESOLUTION to you're problem.

    25. Re: For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK. We get it. You are a clueless idiot. You have us convinced. No need to keep trying.

    26. Re:For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is patently absurd to say that the addresses in question are not IP Addresses.

      Not if the address in question is a URL. If the address being referenced is a URL, it's obviously a web address rather than an IP address. That's the case here. Nobody was confused except you. And I'm not convinced you were confused - I think you just wanted to whine.

      AC 'cuz this is silly.

    27. Re:For their next trick... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not a URI, it's a URL dumb ass.

  4. Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Level3 should have nuked it when they were caught hot-potato routing in violation of peering agreements

  5. Funny by viperidaenz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Surely there are some MPAA/RIAA members who use Cloudfare.

    Cloudfare should switch their sites to the previously blocked IP addresses.

    1. Re:Funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Especially those IP's used to "listen" in on all those torrent trackers....

  6. The solution is unfortunately national segregation by Baron_Yam · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We already have nations cutting off Internet during times of unrest, and applying massive filtering and spying efforts against communications to and from their populations regardless.

    If you're going to apply national laws to an international system, that system is going to need to be chopped up into pieces that fit the political borders.

    That really sucks if your nation is surrounded by nations who disagree on what should be passed through their borders, so ultimately there needs to be some kind of Internet Treaty, where it is agreed that traffic is only to be interfered with if one of the end points is domestic, or by agreement with one of the governments with authority over an end point.

    Let governments be responsible for the border filters (and, presumably, spying), and then private companies like Cogent will have no interest in taking actions like IP block blacklisting.

  7. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Something about interpreting censorship as damage and routing around it.

    Internet censorship is an exercise in futility. If there is connectivity, you can get anything through. Anything. The only way to censor the internet is to not allow access to it at all.

  8. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why didn't they move someone important...oh, sorry, the most pertinent site in their top 10 is medium.com.

  9. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

    You can limit the bandwidth severely, and if you control the chokepoints for the trunks you can choose to only let through what you can scan and approve.

    Yes, people can pass messages through steganography, or sneakernet, or radio links... but that's trivial to make illegal and while you can't easily enforce such laws they can be enforced well enough to reduce state-prohibited communications significantly.

    So yes, the Internet can route around it... but when 'around it' means around the 'around the area containing the destination' that's not really a solution.

  10. Someone Revoke Cogent's Common Carrier Status by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Fuck those greedy nI-ggers

    1. Re:Someone Revoke Cogent's Common Carrier Status by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. How dare someone not do everything in their power to support the theft (yes theft. you are getting to use something without paying for it) or other people's property.

  11. Show of hands .. by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... who didn't see this coming?

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  12. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by torkus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not true.

    It's a game of diminishing returns but there's never an absolute winner.

    You can make it nearly impossible to circumvent, and then someone can build a complex circumvention...and so on. Remember when 'hacking' was dumping the plaintext password database after booting off a floppy?

    You can make censorship difficult enough to circumvent that people will find something else to do...but the cost (implementation and maint) in that is very high.

    --
    You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
  13. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, that's the fantasy that all the wannabe internet censors entertain, but it doesn't work that way. Making things illegal doesn't make them extinct. Prohibition doesn't work. There are always people who think they can make it work, but they are just delusional idiots.

  14. Re: Drumf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If someone paid for this then they got screwed hard.

  15. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

    Your memory is embarrassingly short, since it's not been that long since we've actually seen governments kill their Internet.

    You can indulge in your 'information wants to be free' fantasies all you want, but the only thing stopping governments from effectively controlling their Internet is the cost of the required infrastructure and the negative effect it would bring to their economy.

    Reducing the 'Information Superhighway' to a pedestrian path with a guard at the border crossing isn't impossible.

  16. H,,mmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds Confusing as Fu*k..

  17. TPB on TOR by DrYak · · Score: 1

    Meanwhile, The Pirate Bay has .onion address on TOR, and that one was still running during the whole situation.

    (It can't technically be blocked that easily.)

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  18. They do what malware does & why this works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Prevention = best medicine (& what you can't touch can't hurt you) via NEW APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/

    Ads & malware rob speed/security/privacy

    Hosts add speed (via hardcodes/adblocks), security (vs. bad sites/malware/poisoned dns), reliability (vs. dns down), & anonymity (vs. dns requestlogs/trackers).

    Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus + less security bugs/complexity & faster vs. addons/routers/remote dns!

    Avoids DNSChangers in routers/IP settings & dns redirects (99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it) + lightens DNS load & resolves faster from local system RAM!

    * Via what you NATIVELY have built into the TCP/IP stack in FASTER kernelmode!

    APK

    P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/e01211ca36aa02e923f20adee0a3c4f5d5187dc65bdf1c997b3da3c2b0745425/analysis/1433430542/

  19. Vaguely related - I'm probably asking for trouble. by mmell · · Score: 0
    I've been evaluating APK's Hosts File Engine . . .

    If you ignore all of the grandiose claims of stopping spam, disabling malware and blocking advertising, yes - running the software does create a rather large, correctly formatted hosts file, one which does include multiple custom host definitions which blackhole numerous known malware sites. By incorporating host entries for web browser favorites, the software does speed page load times by eliminating DNS lookups. In this regard, the Host File Engine performs exactly as promised, and exactly as expected. The benefits derived are from using a hosts file; the Host File Engine does significantly enhance the convenience of doing so and does result in a large but correctly formatted hosts file. While I might reasonably (and with only some effort) replicate much of this functionality with a few shell scripts in a UNIX environment, this software does perform the task well enough for users of the Windows operating system.

    There are multiple benefits to using host file lookups in certain situations, and the Host File Engine does do a lot to make doing so more thorough and more convenient. Not unlike other software I've used, it's free and well worth the price.

    With that said, to reap the vast majority of the benefits claimed by the system, it will be necessary to do considerably more. The Host File Engine (as its name implies) only generates a host file. Granted, a great deal of clerk-work is performed - notably in normalizing entries, ensuring that all entries are valid and correctly formatted - but if more is required (for example, enhancing the security of TOR/VPN access), a user must still ensure that appropriate host file entries are present. Host File Engine can accommodate such work but does not in and of itself actually perform this work, nor would I reasonably expect it to do so.

    This is salient to the current article because one of the tools used to block/censor sites deemed by a government is the almighty domain seizure. Servers are left online at their existing IP addresses but without DNS lookups they become essentially inaccessible. Using host files makes overcoming such activities trivial, and the Host File Engine accommodates this.

    My conclusion - APK's Host File Engine is a good tool for managing host files under Windows. It is not in and of itself a security solution. While APK's claims for the software are vastly overblown, the software itself is useful, usable and reasonably well-written. For those who wish to access the dark web (whether for nefarious purposes or not), this software or something like it will be quite useful. It could also play a part in adopting an enhanced security stance on a Windows platform.

  20. Sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can see some of the sites here;
    https://askdns.com/ip/104.31.16.3
    https://askdns.com/ip/104.31.17.3

  21. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can kill the internet, but they can't have the internet and censor it. If you think you're better off without the internet than with an internet that can't be censored, you're a special kind of stupid.

  22. Re:The solution is unfortunately national segregat by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

    Well, at least you're smart enough to post your stupidity as AC so it doesn't stick to you.

  23. Addendum: You're already being downmodded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject: You're right but I know WHO does it & why. 1 of 5 types imo & experience - advertisers, webmasters, inferior competitors, & malware makers/botnet herders (the last ones care least - they just 'make more doritos' to compensate, yes costing them in domain fees hosted but they make MILLIONS (sometimes, I think I am in the WRONG game, per the film "Layer Cake", one of my favs)).

    (There is ALSO lastly what I call "jealous wallies" in "ne'er-do-wells" but they are not even WORTH noting as their own wasted LIVES do them in, lol!)

    * It makes me happy KNOWING that IF I WISH? I can just post again, NULLIFYING their unjustifiable abused downmods they use to "hide" their OWN failures (& to hide knowledge of my work, possibly that of others that adversely affect THEIR agendas... & this program, vs. the 1st 4 noted above respectively, ABSOLUTELY does - I've built a better mousetrap that does more for less, far more efficiently).

    Scares them shitless & their effete "ReAcTioNs" PROVE THAT MUCH for me, lol...

    APK

    P.S.=> In any event, they're SO predictable & defeatable (I have NO posting limits like most ac posters do) that I can easily RUN THEM DRY of their abused modpoints but it's enough for me to KNOW most folks reading here do so WELL beneath the +1 easily sockpuppet cheated so-called "moderation systems" threshold default view & SEE MY POSTS ANYHOW, yours too!

    (Which imo, the system here? Bogus, & IS constructed so that those doing abused downmods to 'bury' things can happen - /. doesn't even LET YOU CONFRONT THOSE DOING IT to defeat them with facts - that's bogus & wrong, but it's what "$" does & we all KNOW who holds the pursestrings on websites (advertisers my MAIN opponent above who are notorious for sockpuppetry fake accounts to abuse for downmoderation as noted above))... apk

    1. Re:Addendum: You're already being downmodded by mmell · · Score: 1
      I'm fairly certain that I've been downmodded for giving your software a fair shot (and, in fact, posting an overall favorable impression of it), rather than the content of that informal review.

      Your software is just fine - well written, functional. Your claims that it's practically the cure for all the internet's woes are over-the-top and make you seem rather like the current POTUS. Your bellicose and acerbic posts, combined with your repeatedly posting straight binspam have given you a reputation here which even a calm, reasonable analysis cannot overcome. Your own reaction to this thread are a prime example.

      I've long known that host files can solve certain problems - and nowadays, those problems are becoming more and more common. Your Host File Engine does make the task of managing a local host file on one Windows desktop easier - but that's all it does and your attitude and your bellicose, fanatical posts make it impossible to determine or even say that here. You've successfully increased the signal/noise ratio beyond the tolerance of nearly everyone here.

      I'm going to continue using the Host File Engine. Have fun languishing in your self-imposed obscurity. Nearly all Slashdot users know who you are and won't even give a second thought to anything you write, suggest or say. I have, and now I'm paying the price for it. Downmod away, mods! I've said what is required and been heard by the intended recipient of my message.

  24. #1/3 - Thanks: Soon 4 ALL OS (repost) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the Host File Engine performs exactly as promised, and exactly as expected" - by mmell (832646) on Thursday February 16, 2017 @07:17PM (#53882945)

    See my subject: It's just waiting for Borland Delphi (it'll always be Borland to me) to do 64-bit Linux in 2018 per "The most exciting new feature on the roadmap is the coming Linux support, which weâ(TM)ll soon start previewing." from https://community.embarcadero.com/article/news/16418-product-roadmap-august-2016/ so the codebase stays EXACTLY the same (for most part, some small diffs between *NIX & Windows, in WinSock2 vs. *NIX sockets - these I have resolved already for the most part, drive letters vs. mounted devices (I don't use registry, it's a 'portable app' so it's VERY *NIX like, uses .ini file)).

    Delphi already does Win16/32/64, Android, MacOS X (iirc, 64-bit here already) but not Linux (used to in Kylix, they stopped it - not sure why, dumb move imo!).

    I chose Object Pascal Delphi due to seeing it outrace MSVC++ in Oct 1997 VBPJ (competing trade rag) "Inside the VB5 Compiler" where it MORE-THAN-DOUBLED C++ in strings & math performance (which IS what the hosts engine does mostly).

    APK

    P.S.=> It does block most all advertising (if not all, this is how that works downloading scripts from adservers https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10221859/ ) IF not served on same site (99.999% isn't), spam & phish payload links (& if done by malicious attachment, it stalls it, stopping communique back to C&C servers if a botnet type) & it does stop MANY forms of malware (like C&C botnets I noted or other types that coordinate w/ other machines-botnet herders OR downloaders etc.)... apk

  25. #2/3 - Folks use GUI not scripts (repost) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "While I might reasonably (and with only some effort) replicate much of this functionality with a few shell scripts in a UNIX environment, this software does perform the task well enough for users of the Windows operating system" - by mmell (832646) on Thursday February 16, 2017 @07:17PM (#53882945)

    Like my last post said: Soon it'll be "savoir faire is EVERYWHERE" https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10255867&cid=53883187/ as Borland releases that (soon).

    Per my subject & what I quoted from you: Not all environs have BASH/CShell etc. & folks use GUI. That's a decades long fact now (I script too, & write character mode/tty apps galore but I don't put them out - heck, I wrote 4 DOS terminal apps to make this program that write part of this one's code, small apps, like 50 lines each or so (builds filters, 3582 to be exact currently x 4 vs. false positives)).

    I had others TRY what you said & they failed badly (using over iirc, 13++ *NIX commands & I had to help show them WHERE they missed things galore or functionality), e.g. - https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1929880&cid=34728830/ , https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2019504&cid=35367694/ , https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1922942&cid=34687498/, & https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2019504&cid=35405580/

    APK

    P.S.-> Each of those 'attempts' resulted in MASSIVE screwups on the attempted imitators' part & that is 1 of, oh iirc, 6 that tried to here (failing badly most of all by NOT going GUI)... apk

  26. #3/3 - I depend on 9 datasources (repost) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "a great deal of clerk-work is performed - notably in normalizing entries, ensuring that all entries are valid and correctly formatted - but if more is required (for example, enhancing the security of TOR/VPN access), a user must still ensure that appropriate host file entries are present. Host File Engine can accommodate such work but does not in and of itself actually perform this work, nor would I reasonably expect it to do so." - by mmell (832646) on Thursday February 16, 2017 @07:17PM (#53882945)

    See my subject: 9 of them are GREAT reliable, reputable & decades long existing security community sources but they do NOT get "everything" (nothing does, & I use security sources GALORE each day scouring THEIR NEWS for things like malicious servers, botnet C&C, etc. that my sources do NOT catch (they get most though - they overlap one another too, hence the sort/deduplicate portion)).

    THIS IS WHY IT IS DESIGNED IN ITS GUI THE WAY IT IS (came from 4 smaller progs I used before I released it to the general public in 2012, they were used circa 2001-2011, but the "malware/malvertising explosion hit, so out the door she went gratis - right thing to do imo on MY end because of it - if the advertisers didn't be so negligent? It'd NEVER have seen the light of public day, so you know...).

    Its GUI looks & functions as it does so users can add their own stuff just as I do, from other sources... even /. source articles HELP LIKE MAD for me here in fact!

    (See, it's GUI is that way for that very reason - most unlike hostman which isn't 64-bit & depends on SQLite (my code is ALL mine, easily maintained - I didn't want dependence on others' patch turnaround time IF it could be patched that is if bugs crop up)).

    This is WHY the IMPORT/NORMALIZE tabs are they way they are with right-click menu editing etc. tools for the data (users can "play" with it ALL they like, imo, it's important & helps them understand WHAT hosts do for them (which is, clearly, MORE than ANY OTHER SINGLE "so-called 'solution'" does & for less, natively, in PURE fast kernelmode as part of the IP stack itself).

    APK

    P.S.=>

    " It is not in and of itself a security solution" - by mmell ( 832646 ) on Thursday February 16, 2017 @07:17PM (#53882945)

    MANY security pros & web pros back me on the fact hosts IS good "layered-security/defense-in-depth" (from ESET/NOD32, Malwarebytes whose employees verified my code + HOST & RECOMMEND IT (helped me build False Postives filter too), SYMANTEC/NORTON, Steve Gibson, & more https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10245269&cid=53870029/ )... apk

  27. Re: Drumf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IN SOVIET RUSSIA, bitch looks like YOU!!!!!

    What a country!

  28. You're in GOOD company #1/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the Host File Engine performs exactly as promised - by mmell

    his hosts program is actually pretty good by xenotransplant

    his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources by alexgieg

    I've never tried to belittle (APK's) work, I've flat out said it's good by BronsCon

    take a look at the APK hosts file engine by SuperKendall

    APK is kinda right. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works by bmo

    APK is totally right on this count. Adblock Plus on Firefox mobile is a dog on older, or lower end, phones. A hostfile based adblocker makes for a much better experience by chihowa

    I like your host file system by Karmashock

    I find your hosts file admirable by vel-ex-tech

    * My code's liked + recommended & hosted by Malwarebytes' hpHosts!

    APK

    P.S.=> More coming... apk

  29. You're in GOOD company #2/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I support APK's stand on the hosts file by Trax3001BBS

    Your premise that hostfiles are a good way to deal with advertising and malvertising is quite valid by JazzLad

    No complaints from me, I like APK... Reminds me to use a host file. Also, his stuff is free by aaaaaaargh!

    APK's monolithic hosts file is looking pretty good by Culture20

    APK... Awesome to see he's still spreading the good word by Molochi

    ABP is insufficient as a solid hosts file does everything that APK reminds us about by fast turtle

    APK isn't wrong by cfalcon

    APK, I know people give you a lot of shit regarding hosts, but please don't ever stop by nasredin

    You need APK's hosts file by Teun

    APK solution STILL relevant by Thud457

    you're right about hosts files by drinkypoo

    APK

    P.S.=> They're in addition to https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10255867&cid=53886247/ many more earlier + 1,000's worldwide - there's no arguing w/ success... apk

  30. So they admit they know pirate content is present by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So instead of maybe stop doing business with pirate sites, they acknowledge they are hosting the pirate content.

  31. Ok, discussion time... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Your claims that it's practically the cure for all the internet's woes are over-the-top" mmell

    I never say hosts do all: Show where I did. You answered before I never have. You claim I 'imply' it - you misinterpreted.

    What do I 'exaggerate' per list @ it's download page @ Start64.com (still on front page there)

    ?

    APK

    P.S.=> My rep's fine - sockpuppets can say what they want behind fake names online (lol) for their FAKE lives. I can show otherwise, even from you. My naysayers don't prove me wrong. It's what matters... apk

  32. Opinions vary on this note... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Have fun languishing in your self-imposed obscurity. Nearly all Slashdot users know who you are and won't even give a second thought to anything you write, suggest or say" -

    If this is obscurity, I'll take it (best antimalware in the world hosts & recommends my work) https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10255867&cid=53886247/ & https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10010777&cid=53510613/ & it seems many /.ers gave me MORE than just a 2nd thought too!

    * :)

    APK

    P.S.=> Many 1,000's worldwide use my program & if you recall, I stopped what? 10 botnets in a week's time not too long ago also https://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10020701&cid=53529963/ so again, if that's obscurity on MY end? Hey - I'll take it... apk

  33. Best thing I could hear from you? Quoted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I'm going to continue using the Host File Engine - Your software is well written, functional" mmell

    FULLY err-trapped UNCRASHABLE code via a custom centralized/refactored errhandler overriding default structured errhandling

    &

    Virus-proofed in 280 procs/functions in ~27,000 lines of SINGLE space Object Pascal code check INLINE (4 speed) & 40 check .exe size "on the fly" via a central proc (virus can't add 1 byte w/out it shutting down)

    * "Hyper-Alloy Combat Chassis - Microprocessor controlled: FULLY armored, VERY tough" - Sgt. TechCom DN38416 "assigned to protect you - you've been targetted for termination!"

    APK

    P.S.=> Does more 4 less vs. ANY 1 "so-called 'solution'" 4 more speed, security, reliability & anonymity online NATIVELY vs. "illogic logic" "Bolting on 'MoAr'" complexity using more resources doing less w/ more bugs + room for breakdown/exploit in SLOW usermode (addons/dns/antivirus) for most all parts vs. hosts in FAST kernelmode (part of IP stack)... apk