Google developed android to protect against apple taking over the smartphone market and, while it seemed like a long shot, you see how successful that project has been.
This sounds like a defensive play against oculus. Facebook/oculus should be intimidated; google executes much better than crapware companies like fb and ms.
The flag is dear to some people's hearts because it is a battle flag of their ancestors... I do not share the sentiment for this particular flag, but I understand it. And you better understand it too -- for the healing to begin.
You clearly do not understand why some people in the south love the confederate flag.
It has nothing to do with history. It is a statement of identity - the identity of a "country boy." It's borne of a very deep inferiority complex. Rural folks see all kinds of great things on television that they will never have, because television is set in New York, L.A., and other cities. Rural economies cannot support the nice houses, cars, jobs, shopping malls, and priviledge they see, and they feel left behind.
These same people also feel very intimidated by things they don't understand, and they don't understand much.
So, the people who have confederate flag bumper stickers are not all racist. But, there is a strong feeling of resentment behind that flag, and some of that resentment does get directed through racist channels (just as Roof did).
This divide between rural folk and city folk is not unique to Southern United States. You see this conflict all over the world, frequently as rural inland dwellers v/s coastal city dwellers. It's universal.
So, no, the confederate flag has nothing to do with healing after the civil war or anything like that. It's a symbol of the red state/blue state divide. That's why you're sticking up for it, after all.
The security industry is full of "thought leaders" who spout off opinions and forecasts.
There are no real credentials necessary to earn respect, because the infosec industry has historically mistrusted formal education.
So, we get people with little or no computer science education who just make stuff up. The people who know less talk louder and tweet a lot. The infosec press loves it. It's all really just marketing for infosec vendors.
No, this is simply a freedom-loving position. I don't want to have to submit my employment choices to your approval so I am resisting your attempts to similarly violate the freedom of others.
One critical flaw with your worldview is that you only recognize government as a power structure. You do not recognize wealth and ownership as providing a parallel power structure.
Therefore, less government always equals more freedom in your simplistic, contrived universe.
Here in the real world, a total lack of government would mean the power of wealth is unchecked. That is not freedom, it's slavery. By the way, "collectivists" didn't enslave blacks in the American South. Wealthy landowners did.
The digital information used for attribution is so easily manipulated that it's nearly impossible to be 100% sure you have the right person... without a police style sting where you record the attacker in action.
For malware, attribution can be inferred by looking at code similarities among the malware.
Everybody on this thread seems to have forgotten the DEA was collecting Americam phone metadata in bulk since 1992, well before the Patriot Act. They did it under USC 21 section 876 (administrative subpoenas).
From what I've read, they were probably exceeding their authority, but carriers like Sprint gave them the data anyway.
Expire all laws? Like all federal criminal law against fraud, racketeering, drug trafficking, computer misuse, theft, and murder?
All the laws enabling agencies like the FDA, which keeps the food supply safe? Laws that regulate and maintain the highway system and regulate interstate commerce? Laws that establish the FDIC and keep confidence in banks?
Not to mention the huuuuge body of procedural law, which defines how the courts work, how the military is governed, etc?
The US Congress would not have time to reauthorize the entirety of federal law, much less write new law. The states wouldnt have the time to do this either.
Businesses would hate this because there would be so much uncertainty.
Probably the "bright line" copyright distinction between APIs and actual works of art should come from the legislature, but our Congress is just as technologically illiterate as the judicial and executive branches.
Maybe in another 20 years we can have laws that actually bring us in to the 21st century.
Generally, if a carefully-crafted input can cause your application to crash, a similarly-crafted data may be able to exploit the same bug and cause an execution of malicious code. If â" as is usually the case â" the crash is due to buffer overflow and I can stomp over your app's memory, I may be able to place my code in the right place and it will be executed as part of the app...
This is only true for certain classes of memory management defects. There are many different kinds of defects, and many different ways to crash software that bring no possibility of remote code execution.
This isn't as difficult to find as you might think. You do not have to test millions or billions of random text strings.
Software security testing works by breaking inputs into categories, and assuming that if you test one or two items in the category, then the category is covered. Categories are derived from the software specifications.
Example categories: 1. 0-byte message 2. max-length message 3. max-length +1 message 4. message consisting of all NULL bytes 5. message with unicode characters...
If ellipses are treated specially, then they are part of the specifications, and should factor in to the choice of categories. There is software to automate building of test cases based on the categories, and the testing could be automated as well.
If we only test likely cases, we are not doing security testing. Given that this is an unauthenticated network vector, it should be subject to security testing. Apple has the resources to do this.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you observed "they never bothered testing."
As long as software vendors have zero liability for defects, we'll probably continue to see easy-to-catch and easy-to-exploit bugs in software. Even software out of large, mature dev groups that should really know better.
I've worked my entire career in the private sector, and there is a huge amount of inefficiency (in addition to the profit which, as you mention, comes off the top).
Dead weight in the organization, people who are worthless but protected, executives playing turf wars for budget, leaders who block change so they can watch each others' backs, sabotage against competitors inside the organization. The worst are managers who are great at "managing up" but not actually good at leading their teams. They can cause damage for years before things change.
Sometimes the individual profit motive does not line up with the larger profit motive of the company, and the sacrosanct "invisible hand of the free market" totally fails.
0x0F. 2012 - Called out on slashdot for his text file manager's extremely poor performance (11 minutes to sort 1.8 million strings). Ironically claims he "chose" Pascal because it performs better than C++. Pasted Python but failed to indent lines, indicating he did not understand even the basics of Python. 0x10. 2014 - Zontar schooled him, doxed him, caught him in several other lies. People chimed in on Slashdot to say they hated him. 0x11. 2014-2015 - Bouldin repeatedly explained why OS hosts files are not suitable security against botnets, but Kowalrus didn't understand the technical aspects. Currently seems very confused about basic networking and how malware works. Doesn't understand basic Python, and believes the hosts file cannot be bypassed even after seeing Python code that does the bypassing. When provided proof that malware with millions of infections (Ramnit, Gameover Zeus) can bypass the hosts file (and other OS protection mechanisms), he called the malware "edge cases." 0x12. Still has not accomplished anything since his long-since-deleted "security guide" from 2007 or his text file manager from 2010. Nevertheless, he declares victory over everyone, on every forum he has ever visited. Has no friends.
Other events on Jan 31st: * Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered. * Germany used poison gas at a large scale for the first time in history of warfare. * The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky. * Harry Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb. * Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive.
0x0F. 2012 - Called out on slashdot for his text file manager's extremely poor performance (11 minutes to sort 1.8 million strings). Ironically claims he "chose" Pascal because it performs better than C++. Pasted Python but failed to indent lines, indicating he did not understand even the basics of Python.
0x10. 2014 - Zontar schooled him, doxed him, caught him in several other lies. People chimed in on Slashdot to say they hated him.
0x11. 2014-2015 - Bouldin repeatedly explained why OS hosts files are not suitable security against botnets, but Kowalrus didn't understand the technical aspects. Currently seems very confused about basic networking and how malware works. Doesn't understand basic Python, and believes the hosts file cannot be bypassed even after seeing Python code that does the bypassing. When provided proof that malware with millions of infections (Ramnit, Gameover Zeus) can bypass the hosts file (and other OS protection mechanisms), he called the malware "edge cases."
0x12. Still has not accomplished anything since his long-since-deleted "security guide" from 2007 or his text file manager from 2010. Nevertheless, he declares victory over everyone, on every forum he has ever visited. Has no friends.
Other events on Jan 31st:
* Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered.
* Germany used poison gas at a large scale for the first time in history of warfare.
* The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky.
* Harry Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
* Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive.
Alex Kowalrus In a Nutshell (A Life of Failure) 0x00. Birthday was January 31st (see below). 0x01. 198x - Got a mediocre degree in IT from LeMoyne University. No computer science degree. LeMoyne actually disbanded their CS department from 1994 - 2008. 0x02. Fired from Sunbelt in 2000. Never found full-time employment again, much less as a software engineer. Moved back in with mom in Syracuse. 0x03. 2000 - Banned from Arstechnica. Rejoined under another name (lied) to argue for himself. Everyone there hated him. 0x04. 2003 - Attempted to argue with Dr. Russinovich (of sysinternals.com) in the comments below Russinovich's blog. Other commenters schooled him, but he still claims he beat Russinovich in an argument that Russinovich did not realized happened. 0x05. 2006 - Someone opened petition on petitiononline.com to have APK put to death. It got (at least) 29 signatures. 0x06. 2007 - Banned from Antionline.com because everyone there hated him. Posted his "security guide," which everyone agreed was not good. 0x07. 2008 - Actually got paid $100 for his security guide as a newsletter prize, and thus claims, to this day, that he's a "security professional." 0x08. 2008 - Admitted he doesn't understand UNIX, saying, "I am more of a Win32 guy the past few years though, so I must ask [what iptables is]." 0x09. 2008 - Made legal threats against Thor Schrock. Backed down, and was publicly embarrassed by Schrock. 0x0A. 2010 - His mom gave him the house (worth $100,000). He currently lies about that and claims to be independently wealthy. 0x0B. 2010 - Wrote a buggy file manager in Pascal that performs terribly. Could not find anyone to pay for it. 0x0C. Managed to get malwarebytes to host his file manager because it's free. Lied and denied it's just a file manager, but Malwarebytes calls it what it is: a "Small program for managing the HOSTS file" 0x0D. 2011 - BarbaraHudson caught him in a lie - that he had plenty of +5 modded posts on slashdot. They were all at -1. 0x0E. 2011 - Attempted to re-add garbage to Wikipedia 20 times on the Windows hosts file. Had it removed each time. Complained in the editorial pages, but was shot down.
Thanks for crapping on the thread, APK. Let's take a trip down memory lane.
"Better than faking you're a jew when you're not and grandma paying your way fool when you indebted yourself so far you'll never get out." - Anonymous Peter Kowalrus
"Better than faking you're a jew when you're not and grandma paying your way fool when you indebted yourself so far you'll never get out." - Anonymous Peter Kowalrus
Agreed; IPO is the exit strategy for these private investors. It's how they cash out.
I feel like I should point out that facebook's price/earnings ratio is 80, which seems insane since their business model has matured and it's not clear how in the world they can squeeze out 4x the profits. In fact, it seems more like they are a house of cards that could easily fall over given a market disruption.
But, that's the IPO these investors have in mind when they're guiding the next facebook to a public offering.
I suspect zuckerberg knows his company is overvalued, and that's why he is willing to pay billions for companies that have no revenue model. He knows FB stock is "funny money."
16. 2014 - Zontar schooled him, doxed him, and caught him in many other lies. People chimed in on Slashdot to call him out on his crazy lies and say they hated him. 17. 2014-2015 - Bouldin repeatedly explained why OS hosts files do not provide security against botnets, but Kowalrus couldn't understand the technical aspects. Currently seems surprisingly confused about basic networking and how malware works. Cannot read basic Python, and believes the hosts file cannot be bypassed even after seeing Python code that does the bypassing. When given examples of malware with millions of infections (e.g. Ramnit, Gameover Zeus) that can bypass the hosts file (and other OS protection mechanisms), he dismissed the malware as "edge cases." 18. Still has not done anything since his long-since-deleted security guide from 2007 or his text file manager from 2010. Declares victory over everyone on every forum he has ever visited. Currently has no friends.
Other events on Jan 31st: * Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered. * Germany used poison gas at a large scale for the first time in history of warfare. * The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky. * Harry Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb. * Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive.
Alex Kowalrus In a Nutshell (A Life of Failure) 0. Birthday was January 31st (see below). 1. 198x - Got a mediocre degree in IT from LeMoyne, but not a computer science degree. LeMoyne U actually disbanded their CS dept from 1994 - 2008. 2. Fired from Sunbelt in 2000. Never found full-time employment again, much less as a software engineer. Moved back in with mom in Syracuse. 3. 2000 - Banned from Arstechnica.com, but rejoined under another alias (a lie) to argue for himself. Everyone in the forums hated him. 4. 2003 - Attempted to argue with Dr. Russinovich (of sysinternals.com) in the comments below Russinovich's blog. Other commenters schooled him, but he still claims he beat Russinovich in an argument that Russinovich did not realized happened. 5. 2006 - Someone opened a petition on petitiononline.com to have APK put to death. The petition got (at least) 29 signatures. 6. 2007 - Banned from Antionline.com because everyone there hated him. Posted his "security guide," which everyone agreed was not good. 7. 2008 - Actually got paid $100 for his security guide as a newsletter prize, and thus claims, to this day, that he's a "security professional." 8. 2008 - Admitted he doesn't understand UNIX, saying, "I am more of a Win32 guy the past few years though, so I must ask [what iptables is]." 9. 2008 - Made legal threats against Thor Schrock, but turned out to be bluffing. Embarrassed publicly by Schrock. 10. 2010 - His mom gave him the house (worth $100,000). He currently lies about that and claims to be independently wealthy. 11. 2010 - Wrote a buggy file manager in Pascal that performs terribly. Could not find anyone to pay for it. 12. Managed to get malwarebytes to host his freeware file manager. Currrently lies, denying it's just a file manager, but the Malwarebytes site labels it a "Small program for managing the HOSTS file" 13. 2011 - BarbaraHudson caught him in a lie - that he had plenty of +5 modded posts on slashdot. They were all at -1. 14. 2011 - Attempted to re-add garbage about the Windows hosts file to Wikipedia 20 times, but it was removed each time. Tried complaining in the editorial pages, but was shot down. 15. 2012 - Called out on slashdot for his text file manager's extremely poor performance (11 minutes to sort 1.8 million strings). Ironically claims he "chose" Pascal because it performs better than C++. Pasted Python but failed to indent lines, indicating he did not understand even the basics of Python.
Slashdot Mirror
Google developed android to protect against apple taking over the smartphone market and, while it seemed like a long shot, you see how successful that project has been.
This sounds like a defensive play against oculus. Facebook/oculus should be intimidated; google executes much better than crapware companies like fb and ms.
That first link is to a rootkit proof-of-concept, not Linux malware in the wild.
Also, not like the malware you find in the wild that speaks DNS itself, bypassing the hosts file.
You clearly do not understand why some people in the south love the confederate flag.
It has nothing to do with history. It is a statement of identity - the identity of a "country boy." It's borne of a very deep inferiority complex. Rural folks see all kinds of great things on television that they will never have, because television is set in New York, L.A., and other cities. Rural economies cannot support the nice houses, cars, jobs, shopping malls, and priviledge they see, and they feel left behind.
These same people also feel very intimidated by things they don't understand, and they don't understand much.
So, the people who have confederate flag bumper stickers are not all racist. But, there is a strong feeling of resentment behind that flag, and some of that resentment does get directed through racist channels (just as Roof did).
This divide between rural folk and city folk is not unique to Southern United States. You see this conflict all over the world, frequently as rural inland dwellers v/s coastal city dwellers. It's universal.
So, no, the confederate flag has nothing to do with healing after the civil war or anything like that. It's a symbol of the red state/blue state divide. That's why you're sticking up for it, after all.
The security industry is full of "thought leaders" who spout off opinions and forecasts.
There are no real credentials necessary to earn respect, because the infosec industry has historically mistrusted formal education.
So, we get people with little or no computer science education who just make stuff up. The people who know less talk louder and tweet a lot. The infosec press loves it. It's all really just marketing for infosec vendors.
He uses what he calls "caustic humor" to bash his political opponents, then tries to take the high road by reminding us not to hate.
Next, he'll claim that pointing this out is an ad hominem attack.
One critical flaw with your worldview is that you only recognize government as a power structure. You do not recognize wealth and ownership as providing a parallel power structure.
Therefore, less government always equals more freedom in your simplistic, contrived universe.
Here in the real world, a total lack of government would mean the power of wealth is unchecked. That is not freedom, it's slavery. By the way, "collectivists" didn't enslave blacks in the American South. Wealthy landowners did.
For malware, attribution can be inferred by looking at code similarities among the malware.
Malware attribution is so difficult that I only know of one company that makes a serious attempt at it: crowdstrike.
Everybody on this thread seems to have forgotten the DEA was collecting Americam phone metadata in bulk since 1992, well before the Patriot Act. They did it under USC 21 section 876 (administrative subpoenas).
From what I've read, they were probably exceeding their authority, but carriers like Sprint gave them the data anyway.
What a profoundly naive and ignorant idea.
Expire all laws? Like all federal criminal law against fraud, racketeering, drug trafficking, computer misuse, theft, and murder?
All the laws enabling agencies like the FDA, which keeps the food supply safe? Laws that regulate and maintain the highway system and regulate interstate commerce? Laws that establish the FDIC and keep confidence in banks?
Not to mention the huuuuge body of procedural law, which defines how the courts work, how the military is governed, etc?
The US Congress would not have time to reauthorize the entirety of federal law, much less write new law. The states wouldnt have the time to do this either.
Businesses would hate this because there would be so much uncertainty.
Probably the "bright line" copyright distinction between APIs and actual works of art should come from the legislature, but our Congress is just as technologically illiterate as the judicial and executive branches.
Maybe in another 20 years we can have laws that actually bring us in to the 21st century.
This is only true for certain classes of memory management defects. There are many different kinds of defects, and many different ways to crash software that bring no possibility of remote code execution.
You don't understand software security testing. See my reply to gstoddard.
This isn't as difficult to find as you might think. You do not have to test millions or billions of random text strings.
Software security testing works by breaking inputs into categories, and assuming that if you test one or two items in the category, then the category is covered. Categories are derived from the software specifications.
Example categories: ...
1. 0-byte message
2. max-length message
3. max-length +1 message
4. message consisting of all NULL bytes
5. message with unicode characters
If ellipses are treated specially, then they are part of the specifications, and should factor in to the choice of categories. There is software to automate building of test cases based on the categories, and the testing could be automated as well.
If we only test likely cases, we are not doing security testing. Given that this is an unauthenticated network vector, it should be subject to security testing. Apple has the resources to do this.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you observed "they never bothered testing."
As long as software vendors have zero liability for defects, we'll probably continue to see easy-to-catch and easy-to-exploit bugs in software. Even software out of large, mature dev groups that should really know better.
I've worked my entire career in the private sector, and there is a huge amount of inefficiency (in addition to the profit which, as you mention, comes off the top).
Dead weight in the organization, people who are worthless but protected, executives playing turf wars for budget, leaders who block change so they can watch each others' backs, sabotage against competitors inside the organization. The worst are managers who are great at "managing up" but not actually good at leading their teams. They can cause damage for years before things change.
Sometimes the individual profit motive does not line up with the larger profit motive of the company, and the sacrosanct "invisible hand of the free market" totally fails.
0x0F. 2012 - Called out on slashdot for his text file manager's extremely poor performance (11 minutes to sort 1.8 million strings). Ironically claims he "chose" Pascal because it performs better than C++. Pasted Python but failed to indent lines, indicating he did not understand even the basics of Python.
0x10. 2014 - Zontar schooled him, doxed him, caught him in several other lies. People chimed in on Slashdot to say they hated him.
0x11. 2014-2015 - Bouldin repeatedly explained why OS hosts files are not suitable security against botnets, but Kowalrus didn't understand the technical aspects. Currently seems very confused about basic networking and how malware works. Doesn't understand basic Python, and believes the hosts file cannot be bypassed even after seeing Python code that does the bypassing. When provided proof that malware with millions of infections (Ramnit, Gameover Zeus) can bypass the hosts file (and other OS protection mechanisms), he called the malware "edge cases."
0x12. Still has not accomplished anything since his long-since-deleted "security guide" from 2007 or his text file manager from 2010. Nevertheless, he declares victory over everyone, on every forum he has ever visited. Has no friends.
Other events on Jan 31st:
* Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered.
* Germany used poison gas at a large scale for the first time in history of warfare.
* The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky.
* Harry Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
* Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive.
0x0F. 2012 - Called out on slashdot for his text file manager's extremely poor performance (11 minutes to sort 1.8 million strings). Ironically claims he "chose" Pascal because it performs better than C++. Pasted Python but failed to indent lines, indicating he did not understand even the basics of Python. 0x10. 2014 - Zontar schooled him, doxed him, caught him in several other lies. People chimed in on Slashdot to say they hated him. 0x11. 2014-2015 - Bouldin repeatedly explained why OS hosts files are not suitable security against botnets, but Kowalrus didn't understand the technical aspects. Currently seems very confused about basic networking and how malware works. Doesn't understand basic Python, and believes the hosts file cannot be bypassed even after seeing Python code that does the bypassing. When provided proof that malware with millions of infections (Ramnit, Gameover Zeus) can bypass the hosts file (and other OS protection mechanisms), he called the malware "edge cases." 0x12. Still has not accomplished anything since his long-since-deleted "security guide" from 2007 or his text file manager from 2010. Nevertheless, he declares victory over everyone, on every forum he has ever visited. Has no friends. Other events on Jan 31st: * Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered. * Germany used poison gas at a large scale for the first time in history of warfare. * The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky. * Harry Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb. * Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive.
Alex Kowalrus In a Nutshell (A Life of Failure)
0x00. Birthday was January 31st (see below).
0x01. 198x - Got a mediocre degree in IT from LeMoyne University. No computer science degree. LeMoyne actually disbanded their CS department from 1994 - 2008.
0x02. Fired from Sunbelt in 2000. Never found full-time employment again, much less as a software engineer. Moved back in with mom in Syracuse.
0x03. 2000 - Banned from Arstechnica. Rejoined under another name (lied) to argue for himself. Everyone there hated him.
0x04. 2003 - Attempted to argue with Dr. Russinovich (of sysinternals.com) in the comments below Russinovich's blog. Other commenters schooled him, but he still claims he beat Russinovich in an argument that Russinovich did not realized happened.
0x05. 2006 - Someone opened petition on petitiononline.com to have APK put to death. It got (at least) 29 signatures.
0x06. 2007 - Banned from Antionline.com because everyone there hated him. Posted his "security guide," which everyone agreed was not good.
0x07. 2008 - Actually got paid $100 for his security guide as a newsletter prize, and thus claims, to this day, that he's a "security professional."
0x08. 2008 - Admitted he doesn't understand UNIX, saying, "I am more of a Win32 guy the past few years though, so I must ask [what iptables is]."
0x09. 2008 - Made legal threats against Thor Schrock. Backed down, and was publicly embarrassed by Schrock.
0x0A. 2010 - His mom gave him the house (worth $100,000). He currently lies about that and claims to be independently wealthy.
0x0B. 2010 - Wrote a buggy file manager in Pascal that performs terribly. Could not find anyone to pay for it.
0x0C. Managed to get malwarebytes to host his file manager because it's free. Lied and denied it's just a file manager, but Malwarebytes calls it what it is: a "Small program for managing the HOSTS file"
0x0D. 2011 - BarbaraHudson caught him in a lie - that he had plenty of +5 modded posts on slashdot. They were all at -1.
0x0E. 2011 - Attempted to re-add garbage to Wikipedia 20 times on the Windows hosts file. Had it removed each time. Complained in the editorial pages, but was shot down.
Thanks for crapping on the thread, APK. Let's take a trip down memory lane.
"Better than faking you're a jew when you're not and grandma paying your way fool when you indebted yourself so far you'll never get out." - Anonymous Peter Kowalrus
"Better than faking you're a jew when you're not and grandma paying your way fool when you indebted yourself so far you'll never get out." - Anonymous Peter Kowalrus
Agreed; IPO is the exit strategy for these private investors. It's how they cash out.
I feel like I should point out that facebook's price/earnings ratio is 80, which seems insane since their business model has matured and it's not clear how in the world they can squeeze out 4x the profits. In fact, it seems more like they are a house of cards that could easily fall over given a market disruption.
But, that's the IPO these investors have in mind when they're guiding the next facebook to a public offering.
I suspect zuckerberg knows his company is overvalued, and that's why he is willing to pay billions for companies that have no revenue model. He knows FB stock is "funny money."
lolwut
16. 2014 - Zontar schooled him, doxed him, and caught him in many other lies. People chimed in on Slashdot to call him out on his crazy lies and say they hated him.
17. 2014-2015 - Bouldin repeatedly explained why OS hosts files do not provide security against botnets, but Kowalrus couldn't understand the technical aspects. Currently seems surprisingly confused about basic networking and how malware works. Cannot read basic Python, and believes the hosts file cannot be bypassed even after seeing Python code that does the bypassing. When given examples of malware with millions of infections (e.g. Ramnit, Gameover Zeus) that can bypass the hosts file (and other OS protection mechanisms), he dismissed the malware as "edge cases."
18. Still has not done anything since his long-since-deleted security guide from 2007 or his text file manager from 2010. Declares victory over everyone on every forum he has ever visited. Currently has no friends.
Other events on Jan 31st:
* Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered.
* Germany used poison gas at a large scale for the first time in history of warfare.
* The Soviet Union exiled Leon Trotsky.
* Harry Truman announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
* Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive.
Alex Kowalrus In a Nutshell (A Life of Failure)
0. Birthday was January 31st (see below).
1. 198x - Got a mediocre degree in IT from LeMoyne, but not a computer science degree. LeMoyne U actually disbanded their CS dept from 1994 - 2008.
2. Fired from Sunbelt in 2000. Never found full-time employment again, much less as a software engineer. Moved back in with mom in Syracuse.
3. 2000 - Banned from Arstechnica.com, but rejoined under another alias (a lie) to argue for himself. Everyone in the forums hated him.
4. 2003 - Attempted to argue with Dr. Russinovich (of sysinternals.com) in the comments below Russinovich's blog. Other commenters schooled him, but he still claims he beat Russinovich in an argument that Russinovich did not realized happened.
5. 2006 - Someone opened a petition on petitiononline.com to have APK put to death. The petition got (at least) 29 signatures.
6. 2007 - Banned from Antionline.com because everyone there hated him. Posted his "security guide," which everyone agreed was not good.
7. 2008 - Actually got paid $100 for his security guide as a newsletter prize, and thus claims, to this day, that he's a "security professional."
8. 2008 - Admitted he doesn't understand UNIX, saying, "I am more of a Win32 guy the past few years though, so I must ask [what iptables is]."
9. 2008 - Made legal threats against Thor Schrock, but turned out to be bluffing. Embarrassed publicly by Schrock.
10. 2010 - His mom gave him the house (worth $100,000). He currently lies about that and claims to be independently wealthy.
11. 2010 - Wrote a buggy file manager in Pascal that performs terribly. Could not find anyone to pay for it.
12. Managed to get malwarebytes to host his freeware file manager. Currrently lies, denying it's just a file manager, but the Malwarebytes site labels it a "Small program for managing the HOSTS file"
13. 2011 - BarbaraHudson caught him in a lie - that he had plenty of +5 modded posts on slashdot. They were all at -1.
14. 2011 - Attempted to re-add garbage about the Windows hosts file to Wikipedia 20 times, but it was removed each time. Tried complaining in the editorial pages, but was shot down.
15. 2012 - Called out on slashdot for his text file manager's extremely poor performance (11 minutes to sort 1.8 million strings). Ironically claims he "chose" Pascal because it performs better than C++. Pasted Python but failed to indent lines, indicating he did not understand even the basics of Python.