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Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

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Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#41

Post by rocky1138 »

ionised wrote: post #20
tinfoilman wrote: post #18

Brilliant, 2 options I see Never do updates again (which is what I will be doing this evening) and make system perm insecure Or let MS and the NSA rape me for even more data than they already have Go [insert abusive word] yourself Microsoft and to think just last week I got a 3rd windows 7 license because I was planning to stay on 7 long term and not upgrade to 10. Steam hopefully will push linux gaming that i can fi…

If Steam OS becomes a viable desktop gaming OS that plays most, if not all games, I'll drop Windows in a heartbeat.

There are over 1,900 games on Steam that run in Linux.

https://steamdb.info/linux/

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#42

Post by morganvachon »

simonh wrote: post #24
mnw21cam wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Linux machine with two ethernet cards acting as a firewall to the internet?

Do we even know how you'd need to configure the firewall to block the specific traffic that's the problem?

There's a list of domains that came up in a previous discussion on HN (sorry, I don't recall it right away), and was also trending on pastebin.com, which contained all of the known domains Microsoft was using to report back from the OS. Presumably you could route those to "null" or the equivalent on your router and you'd be good to go.

Edit: Here's the pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/RZW74Npk

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#43

Post by ionised »

rocky1138 wrote: post #41
ionised wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Steam OS becomes a viable desktop gaming OS that plays most, if not all games, I'll drop Windows in a heartbeat.

There are over 1,900 games on Steam that run in Linux. https://steamdb.info/linux/

Many of the games I have in my library do not run at all unfortunately.

Sometimes I like to go back and play old stuff too.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#44

Post by habitue »

Lendal wrote: post #10
Navarr wrote: post #2

2016 is the year of desktop linux. For the kind of people who care about this sort of thing. Also puts "Scroogle" into perspective.

1) Internet web sites have always been "lit up with speculation". 2) Microsoft's "spying" has been going on since Windows Vista was released, and speculation has gone along with it. 3) Since the 1990's, next year has always been "the year of desktop Linux."

I think Navarr is fully aware of the Linux desktop meme. It's clearly tongue-in-cheek

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#45

Post by amlgsmsn »

flurpitude wrote: post #36
thescrewdriver wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt there are enough people who care. Google has already proved that seemingly benevolent spying is a highly profitable business model. Most people aren't bothered, or even know, that they are being "Scroogled". Microsoft is just following suite. Sadly it seems to be a sign of things to come.

The potential big difference here is that it affects people's work computers, where they do things for organizations that have a strong interest in keeping information from leaking out. Such companies probably were never happy with corporate data passing through Android smartphones, and might have forbidden it. Now they know they can't trust Windows workstations either.

And don't some of the same companies store all their company documents, email etc. on Google Apps? Or on Dropbox?

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#46

Post by acqq »

FilterSweep wrote: post #35
mintplant wrote: post #15

Article text, since the site seems to be down: Windows 10 has been launched and already installed on more than 50 million computers worldwide. It is now a known fact that Windows 10 user data is being sent back to Microsoft servers back in Redmond, Washington. Well, now new updates that are being deployed to all Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 machines will turn their computers into a big piece of spyware, just like their prede…

Just the name "consent.exe" itself sounds malicious (although it's been around for a while).

"The consent.exe is a part of Windows operating system. It is part of the User Account Control feature which allows or disallows access to administrative functions based on your preference."

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vis...

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#47

Post by scott_karana »

morganvachon wrote: post #42
simonh wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we even know how you'd need to configure the firewall to block the specific traffic that's the problem?

There's a list of domains that came up in a previous discussion on HN (sorry, I don't recall it right away), and was also trending on pastebin.com, which contained all of the known domains Microsoft was using to report back from the OS. Presumably you could route those to "null" or the equivalent on your router and you'd be good to go. Edit: Here's the pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/RZW74Npk

You could always just do that in Windows' hosts file, too.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#48

Post by 0x0 »

jsingleton wrote: post #3

Site seems overloaded. Here are the KB links from an earlier discussion ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10110316 ). Thanks vetinari. https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3068708 https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3075249 https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3080149 Also found: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/2976978

The list of files modified (to add telemetry hooks?) in kb 3080149 is crazy. NTOSKrnl, NtDll, Lsass, winload.exe etc... Are they really adding spyware/telemetry hooks all the way down to the kernel? What happens next time there's a security patch for the kernel, do we get an ntoskrnl with all these "optional updates" included as well?

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#49

Post by FilterSweep »

acqq wrote: post #46
FilterSweep wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the name "consent.exe" itself sounds malicious (although it's been around for a while).

"The consent.exe is a part of Windows operating system. It is part of the User Account Control feature which allows or disallows access to administrative functions based on your preference." http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vis...

It's also a process run whenever you install a new program!

It's the updates to consent.exe (adding telemetry points) which are cited in this thread that are the issue.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#50

Post by jahewson »

This looks like a deliberately misleading and overblown claim to me. Looking at the knowledge base articles, we see that the diagnostics tracking service is enabled only for users who already participate in the customer experience program (a very clear option when setting up Windows for the first time:

- KB3080149: "The diagnostics tracking service collects diagnostics about functional issues on Windows systems that participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)."

The second update is short on details, but it's specifically targeting the UAC "Run as Administrator" dialog (which is implemented by consent.exe), presumably to collect information on unsigned applications which request admin privileges. Microsoft should provide further details here for sure, but I see nothing nefarious. One might guess that the information collected here might be the hash of the exe requesting admin privileges.

- KB3075249: "This update adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels."

Compare this with the ridiculous claim in the article that this is "allowing for remote monitoring of everything that happens within the operating system."

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