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LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

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Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#291

Post by phendrenad2 »

devttyeu wrote: post #20

This is so much worse that the title makes it out to be: 1. Your OS installs malware (technically manufacturers software) from a 3rd party vendor in background, zero user interaction 2. Happens as soon as you or anyone with physical access plug in a device into the HDMI port 3. That malware has internet and full system access, no sandboxing 4. It starts with every system boot 5. This software gets installed when you…

I'm tired of everything being classified as "malware". The word has no meaning anymore. Malware can mean "zero-day state-sponsored ransomware attack" or it can mean "software was automatically installed by a trusted consumer-beloved company because they forgot to make an opt-out window" (which is what I'm guessing happened here).

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#292

Post by silverlimetea »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #251
ikidd wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've gotten to the point that if you're trying to show me something and I see you're using Windows, I just assume you're an unserious person and it's worthless. All the major tools for advanced work are Linux-based, and there's maybe a Windows version, but it's probably a kludge like Docker Desktop.

> All the major tools for advanced work are Linux-based No, they aren't. Linux hasn't yet got anything remotely close to PDB symbol servers and WinDbg's record-replay debugging. perf is... an attempt. Source: worked on Windows and Linux drivers and user-mode applications. Windows tooling blows the competition out of the water in actually advanced developer experience. Vim is cool to the ricing hackerman types but not…

> people who actually earn salaries

Maybe a hot take but the world's "most advanced software engineering" is not happening in W-2 employment scenarios.

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#294

Post by [deleted] »

warshinder wrote: post #280
delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All the major tools for advanced work are Linux-based No, they aren't. Linux hasn't yet got anything remotely close to PDB symbol servers and WinDbg's record-replay debugging. perf is... an attempt. Source: worked on Windows and Linux drivers and user-mode applications. Windows tooling blows the competition out of the water in actually advanced developer experience. Vim is cool to the ricing hackerman types but not…

I know you’re joking, but there is a very small sliver of truth in there somewhere. There are some tools on windows that stand shoulder to shoulder with better os’s.

[deleted]

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#295

Post by Someone »

devttyeu wrote: post #20

This is so much worse that the title makes it out to be: 1. Your OS installs malware (technically manufacturers software) from a 3rd party vendor in background, zero user interaction 2. Happens as soon as you or anyone with physical access plug in a device into the HDMI port 3. That malware has internet and full system access, no sandboxing 4. It starts with every system boot 5. This software gets installed when you…

> This situation has.. no precedent as far as I can tell..

- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/drivers...: “Windows can automatically download recommended drivers for the hardware and devices connected to a system by using Windows Update“

- eight years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8tlre3/why_is_it...: “I can't seem to stop it from installing device drivers, even after unchecking the 'Do you want to automatically download manufacturers' apps and custom icons available for your devices?' and saving.

I uncheck it, reboot. Uninstall all drivers except USB (so I can use mouse and keyboard) and reboot. Aproximately two minutes after the reboot, I get notification ballons telling me everything is installed again. Heck, even the super old Nvidia 388.1 driver is installed (the latest now is 393.2).”

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#296

Post by masfuerte »

MatejKafka wrote: post #242
coldtea wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and it worked great since it would pull all necessary drivers after installation without you going hunting on the internet like in the Windows XP days. A driver shouldn't be a front-facing program that shows ads of any kind. It should be sandboxed and follow strict APIs to talk to the OS and that's it - any extra options should be shown inline in the main e.g. printer or mouse dialog.

How exactly do you propose to sandbox drivers running in kernel space? Do you even know how drivers work? (I'm guessing no, based on this comment)

The User-Mode Driver Framework is a thing. Most plug-in devices do not need (or have) a kernel-mode driver.

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#297

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

It's shit like this that caused me to start refusing to help my mom and her friends with their windows computers. I'm not going to support their shady activities anymore. If you want my help the first thing we're doing is installing Linux.

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#298

Post by newsoftheday »

scottydelta wrote: post #262

Similarly after getting annoyed at my TV for showing ads and other privacy issues, I have started working on a smart TV version of the casting device my startup makes. I have been using it for both personal use and other work use-cases, here is a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jObZzI2_pv0 Just like youtube, I can log in to my netflix, amazon prime and then use the touch screen to choose the movie to watch and…

We have a smart TV on the way. We do not plan to run the setup, it won't have Internet access. We plan to do what we've done for over a decade now, connect our Kubuntu laptop in the entertainment center to it and select it as the default input device. And occasionally watch OTA TV shows. So we will use it as ... a monitor and plain TV, that happens to have far better video and sound quality than our old TV.

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#299

Post by zargon »

delusional wrote: post #82
motbus3 wrote: post #41

I am tired of this. LG is now on my blacklist alongside EA and Blizzard Entertainment for their anti consumer practices. I can't change them, I can't change policies about it. I can choose to not buy.

> Blizzard Entertainment You mean "Microsoft Xbox Activision Blizzard King Bethesda Mojang"? I wish you luck with your boycott.

There's not much worth playing coming from this group anyway.

Re: LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent

#300

Post by marcosdumay »

joe_mamba wrote: post #91
embedding-shape wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This situation has.. no precedent as far as I can tell.. Microsoft has been allowing this sort of ludicrous behavior for decades at this point, it's not a new issue. What's new is how visible LG made their malware, compared to previous auto-installs that happen like this, where they try to make the thing not so in your face, as they know there will be a huge backlash. I don't know what Microsoft is thinking even al…

>I don't know what Microsoft is thinking even allowing and enabling this sort of thing This has been a feature since Windows 7, and it worked great since it would pull all necessary drivers after installation without you going hunting on the internet like in the Windows XP days. Just that no HW manufacturer thought to push spyware in their driver repos at that point to improve some team's KPIs.

> Just that no HW manufacturer thought to push spyware in their driver repos at that point to improve some team's KPIs.

Except for every printer, some popular GPUs, Microsoft's peripherals...

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