True enough... but I've given up trying to explain even the rudiments of good security to people that just can't be bothered. So I'll agree with you on that score: but that still doesn't let Microsoft off the hook on such incredibly obvious issues as this one. And let's face some facts: Microsoft is very much in bed with the media companies and they want this option to be available to them. It's a wonder that they even left the ability to bypass it with the shift key. Sony really screwed the pooch by using it in such a stupid manner, and even worse getting caught at it by someone as high-profile as Mark Russinovich.
Frankly, even with autorun disabled and my shift key held down, I'm not putting a disc in my Windows box that I know has a ROOTKIT on it! If Microsoft really wants to follow through on their mantra of improved security, they should turn autorun off by default. The minor convenience of running disc-based programs without having to click on them isn't worth the risk. They've had ten years to figure this out and if they had, this rootkit issue wouldn't have been an issue. Matter of fact, it's unlikely Sony would even have bothered. Let's face it... the real culprit isn't Sony's rootkit: it's AUTORUN. As you say, allowing removable media of unknown pedigree to execute arbitrary code is just stupid, but there you go. Microsoft left a a security hole so big you could drive a bus through it, and someone finally used it. The only surprise is that it was one of the world's biggest consumer electronics / media companies. I feel sorry for all the people that got rooted and screwed over, but with any luck Sony's penance will mirror their own.
Yeah, I still have most of the Tom Swift, Jr. series in a box somewhere. Been almost forty years since I read them, but they had much the same effect on me. The Polar-Ray Dynasphere, Spectromarine Selector, Electronic Retroscope, Repelatron Skyway, Jetmarine, Subocean Geotron, Caves of Nuclear Fire, Sonic Boom Trap, Giant Robot, Deep Sea Hydrodome, Triphibian Atomicar, 3-D Telejector, Atomic Earth Blaster, and so on. Can't believe I remembered all that. Not to mention the other miscellaneous inventions/discoveries like the Swift solar battery, Tomasite, Durastress, Serptilium, the Repelatron and that little nuclear power pack he invented for the Triphibian Atomicar, to name a few. I think first one I got was Tom Swift and his Jetmarine. I was hooked from the first chapter.
Just incidentally, I discovered this: Tom Swift Lives although I haven't read any of them.
Very poor... the lower the temperature the less energy being stored in the working fluid, and the smaller the temperature differential. During the early days of steam engine development, it was thought that alcohol would make a better working fluid than water, because it boils at a lower temperature. It doesn't: alcohol transfers less energy to the pistons.
What would make more sense, from a business standpoint, is to provide the service to large corporations that supply laptops to their employees. Etch the company's corporate logo onto the laptop, along with a phone number to call for a reward. Unlike an adhesive sticker, this can't be removed and would make a stolen computer a hell of a more difficult sell, assuming a thief would even bother with it in the first place.
No no, you misunderstand the grandparent poster. The "choice" part came when the user inserted the disc into the computer, because the user chose to do that. If the user had chosen not to put the disc in the computer, no DRM/rootkit infection would have occurred. See? And even if you do get infected (by exercising your right to choose) if it so happens that you don't understand what a "rootkit" is, then you don't actually have a problem.
At least, that's how Sony seems to perceive this issue, odd as it sounds.
Not at all. The "major purpose" of Bit Torrent is to transfer large files efficiently. Bram Cohen intended that to be used for entirely legal purposes such as Linux distributions. The fact that, like most tools, it had wider application is completely irrelevant. You can break into someone's home with a screwdriver... that doesn't make a screwdriver inherently evil.
Bit Torrent and similar technologies simply give individuals more power. Yes, more power to do things that some organizations would rather they didn't do, but also more power to make their lives better as well. A trade-off, in other words, and one that (for once) is on the side of the many, rather than the few.
Valid complaints about RFID are generally not "RFID rechnology is just inherently evil", but are oriented against governments and/or criminal organizations that would use it to hurt people. Yes, there are many legitimate benefits conferred by RFID tech, but those must be balanced against the potential for people to get hurt by them. Thoughtless dissemination of RFID technology (such as the U.S. State Department was all set to do with passports) will cause a lot more damage than it is worth.
Slashdot Mirror
Believe me, if I was one of the unlucky half-million that got rooted by this XCP abomination I guarantee I'd be apoplectic right about now.
... have you considered parthenogenesis?
Not too sure about the children thing
True enough ... but I've given up trying to explain even the rudiments of good security to people that just can't be bothered. So I'll agree with you on that score: but that still doesn't let Microsoft off the hook on such incredibly obvious issues as this one. And let's face some facts: Microsoft is very much in bed with the media companies and they want this option to be available to them. It's a wonder that they even left the ability to bypass it with the shift key. Sony really screwed the pooch by using it in such a stupid manner, and even worse getting caught at it by someone as high-profile as Mark Russinovich.
Frankly, even with autorun disabled and my shift key held down, I'm not putting a disc in my Windows box that I know has a ROOTKIT on it! If Microsoft really wants to follow through on their mantra of improved security, they should turn autorun off by default. The minor convenience of running disc-based programs without having to click on them isn't worth the risk. They've had ten years to figure this out and if they had, this rootkit issue wouldn't have been an issue. Matter of fact, it's unlikely Sony would even have bothered. Let's face it ... the real culprit isn't Sony's rootkit: it's AUTORUN. As you say, allowing removable media of unknown pedigree to execute arbitrary code is just stupid, but there you go. Microsoft left a a security hole so big you could drive a bus through it, and someone finally used it. The only surprise is that it was one of the world's biggest consumer electronics / media companies. I feel sorry for all the people that got rooted and screwed over, but with any luck Sony's penance will mirror their own.
Not at all. In this case, I find it unfortunate.
Yeah, I still have most of the Tom Swift, Jr. series in a box somewhere. Been almost forty years since I read them, but they had much the same effect on me. The Polar-Ray Dynasphere, Spectromarine Selector, Electronic Retroscope, Repelatron Skyway, Jetmarine, Subocean Geotron, Caves of Nuclear Fire, Sonic Boom Trap, Giant Robot, Deep Sea Hydrodome, Triphibian Atomicar, 3-D Telejector, Atomic Earth Blaster, and so on. Can't believe I remembered all that. Not to mention the other miscellaneous inventions/discoveries like the Swift solar battery, Tomasite, Durastress, Serptilium, the Repelatron and that little nuclear power pack he invented for the Triphibian Atomicar, to name a few. I think first one I got was Tom Swift and his Jetmarine. I was hooked from the first chapter.
Just incidentally, I discovered this: Tom Swift Lives although I haven't read any of them.
I just dug out my copy of the book ... it was actually spelled "Crmblznski". My mistake.
Here's a link to the entire text of the novel, for anyone that's interested:
The Great Time Machine Hoax
it's too bad they won the BnetD lawsuit ... otherwise the headline might have read "Gamers sued for Death of Blizzard".
... they are still publically showing such slow progress ...
... someone set up a Beowulf cluster of those.
They? Don't you mean "it"? Unless
Yeah ... and we got lucky, at that. Until it figured out what was going on, Spartacus wasn't pussyfooting around.
Very poor ... the lower the temperature the less energy being stored in the working fluid, and the smaller the temperature differential. During the early days of steam engine development, it was thought that alcohol would make a better working fluid than water, because it boils at a lower temperature. It doesn't: alcohol transfers less energy to the pistons.
It's a reference from Keith Laumer's novel "The Great Time Machine Hoax". Don't know if I spelled it quite right.
Don't forget Crzmblski's Limit.
You forgot "stealing", "theft", "rampant piracy" and "defending the rights of the artists".
And "hypocrisy", but that exists on both sides so I think it cancels out.
I guess that makes you Chapawairish, then. Me, I'm Greek, German, Irish and a smidgen of Polish, which would make me Gripolirmanish.
What would make more sense, from a business standpoint, is to provide the service to large corporations that supply laptops to their employees. Etch the company's corporate logo onto the laptop, along with a phone number to call for a reward. Unlike an adhesive sticker, this can't be removed and would make a stolen computer a hell of a more difficult sell, assuming a thief would even bother with it in the first place.
No, because it is a hell of a lot more identifiable. The more unique something is, the harder it is to fence.
Owner: "I'd like to report my laptop stolen."
Cop: "I see. Does it have any unique markings to help us identify it?"
Owner: "Yes, it has a large image of tarsier permanently etched into the cover."
Cop: "Excellent!"
I think it's about time to let Faraday out of his cage.
No no, you misunderstand the grandparent poster. The "choice" part came when the user inserted the disc into the computer, because the user chose to do that. If the user had chosen not to put the disc in the computer, no DRM/rootkit infection would have occurred. See? And even if you do get infected (by exercising your right to choose) if it so happens that you don't understand what a "rootkit" is, then you don't actually have a problem.
At least, that's how Sony seems to perceive this issue, odd as it sounds.
Not at all. The "major purpose" of Bit Torrent is to transfer large files efficiently. Bram Cohen intended that to be used for entirely legal purposes such as Linux distributions. The fact that, like most tools, it had wider application is completely irrelevant. You can break into someone's home with a screwdriver ... that doesn't make a screwdriver inherently evil.
Bit Torrent and similar technologies simply give individuals more power. Yes, more power to do things that some organizations would rather they didn't do, but also more power to make their lives better as well. A trade-off, in other words, and one that (for once) is on the side of the many, rather than the few.
Valid complaints about RFID are generally not "RFID rechnology is just inherently evil", but are oriented against governments and/or criminal organizations that would use it to hurt people. Yes, there are many legitimate benefits conferred by RFID tech, but those must be balanced against the potential for people to get hurt by them. Thoughtless dissemination of RFID technology (such as the U.S. State Department was all set to do with passports) will cause a lot more damage than it is worth.
They really had no idea who they were dealing with.
Indeed ... and given the sheer number of rootkitted CDs that were sold ... I'd say it qualifies as rampant piracy!
that a scientist dedicated to longevity research is named "Dr. Longo."
So, what you're saying is that you like Ajax about as much as you like Flash?
Yeah ... almost as bad as applying it to a disc of Woody Guthrie's music. Which they may have, for all I know.
This time it's web-based software using technology such as AJAX (that MS 'invented but failed to exploit').
... I'm sure that systems running Microsoft's implementation of Ajax will be successfully rooted^H^H^H^H^H^H^exploited in short order.
No problem