51–60 of 109 posts
Slightly OT if I may: Is there any reason to use anything else than Defender these days? Chrome+uBlock, good email security and update practices, Defender just in case, do we need more?
I haven't used anything other than Defender (and the Microsoft tool that predated it, can't remember the name) in ages. I've never had any issues.
I had to dig around to find a page [2] that had some useful instructions allowing me to find out what the actual status of my Windows install was. I'm grateful to the author of that page, they provided critical info that neither Microsoft nor my machine's manufacturer did. I wish I could say that it boggles my mind that they could be so hushmouthed on the subject of a vulnerability this severe. Of course, my OEM (Lenovo) has not released an update for my Windows laptop (Yoga 900) since 2016, and as of today their support page [3] on Meltdown/Spectre does not indicate that they plan to do so.
I'm posting this partly in anger/despair, partly in the hope that I'm wrong and that someone will pop up to comment and tell me there's a fix. There is a Linux BIOS for this machine but it's old and I don't know if it will actually address this issue.
[1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4056892/windows-10-... [2] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/list-of-meltd... [3] https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/len-18282
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No, another incentive to stop using Windows. 3rd party applications should NOT be responsible for insuring that the OS can receive critical security updates, and Microsoft should not be relying on 3rd party applications to determine whether or not their customers receive critical OS security updates (and of all things, hilariously defaulting to 'no')
It isn't relying on it - MS recommends people use Defender, which works fine. But unfortunately not everyone is doing that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe not a great analogy: ABS components and seat belts are, in all likely hood, manufactured by a third-party who specialises in such.
But I don't have to go get them installed myself. So it's Audi's problem, not mine.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, another incentive to stop using Windows. 3rd party applications should NOT be responsible for insuring that the OS can receive critical security updates, and Microsoft should not be relying on 3rd party applications to determine whether or not their customers receive critical OS security updates (and of all things, hilariously defaulting to 'no')
I'll never understand why AV is a third party software solution. I don't buy an Audi and then go to some other company and buy ABS and seat belts. This is a MS issue and should be handled in house.
Do I have to do anything if I'm just using Windows Defender?
[0]https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/184wcDt9I9TUNFFbsAVLp...
It's worth noting that Windows Update may also fail to apply the Meltdown/Spectre patch if other conditions aren't met. Some are mentioned on the KB page [1] but they don't mention another common scenario, which is that if your system firmware is not ready to accept the update, Windows Update will not apply it, and _it won't tell you_ that it's not applying it -- it will simply say 'Your device is up to date'. I had…
>... if your system firmware is not ready to accept the update, Windows Update will not apply it, and _it won't tell you_ that it's not applying it -- it will simply say 'Your device is up to date'.
The update enables mitigations for Meltdown regardless of firmware.
You need updated firmware for updated CPU microcode to mitigate Spectre.
>I had to dig around to find a page [2] that had some useful instructions allowing me to find out what the actual status of my Windows install was.
All this is transparently revealed when you run `Get-SpeculationControlSettings`, which is mentioned in the update guidelines, eg https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4073119/
Slightly OT if I may: Is there any reason to use anything else than Defender these days? Chrome+uBlock, good email security and update practices, Defender just in case, do we need more?
Yes, http://www.bromium.com adds next level security to Windows environments.
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The problem is that anti-virus software is not a normal application, it is a weird, very complex kind of parasite that burrows deep into the operating system. This means Microsoft must be very careful, lest the parasite unintentionally kill the host.
Symbiont. The word you're looking for is symbiont, not parasite. A symbiont lives in harmony with the host, exchanging something in exchange for the resource it consumes (in this case protection). A parasite just takes, and gives nothing back to the host. (Of course, let's ignore the obvious joke about some AV solutions like Symantec.)