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Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

notepad-plus-plus.org

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Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#131

Post by Aeglaecia »

idiotsecant wrote: post #86
Aeglaecia wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i dont see how saying "no politics" is similar to asking "why is there political messaging literally everywhere" , do you see how conflating the two is the exact behaviour that the original commenter was trying to discuss ?

Choosing not to engage politically is not a neutral action. Life is politics. The world is full of people that are trying to control your life in a thousand different ways. Choosing to not engage in support or opposition to that control doesn't mean you aren't participating, it means your default position is letting them do what they want.

the original commenter has explicitly stated willingness to engage politically , he has also stated this is not something he is willing to do when it is interrupting his seperate personal choices , concluding with an observation that others tend to conflate non-constant political will with a constant apolitical view. can you please explain how you are not conflating these two concepts ?

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#132

Post by p_ing »

ryandrake wrote: post #44
LoganDark wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't help but feel there must some better venue for such messaging. When I see politics in software updates or documentation, nothing happens because I'm not looking to use the software for political activism. Maybe I tell my adblocker to remove the messaging, and carry on with my task. I can engage with politics in a social context, when political messaging isn't interrupting something else I'm doing; that's a be…

Similar comments also come up in the [now regular] "I don't want to see political articles on HN" threads, and I think the response is similar: Asking for "no politics" is itself a strong political view: One in support/service of whatever the current status quo is. Trying to set oneself apart from (or above) politics is itself political. If you're lucky enough to be one of the fortunate people on earth who are not un…

> Similar comments also come up in the [now regular] "I don't want to see political articles on HN" threads

In the context of forums, the political threads are generally /not interesting/[0]. Political threads often devolve; they bring nothing 'new' or 'fresh' to the table, and they lead absolutely no where. It's a fart-in-the-wind situation no matter what your position is. Leave that stuff on reddit where the rest of the farts-in-the-wind go to waste. It's like watching commentators on Fox News or CNN or . They're a large waste of time and they're often geared towards re-enforcing your side, aka echo chamber.

Now, if a thread actually evolved into real measurable action, that might actually be interesting. But that's not what happens on these forums. There's probably very few of us that see some HN thread talking about something awful happening somewhere and they take direct action, such as petitioning their government, protesting, etc. It's probably happened once or twice, but most of the farts in those threads just hang around and stink up the place.

Please stop stinking up HN.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#133

Post by iamnothere »

idiotsecant wrote: post #86
Aeglaecia wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i dont see how saying "no politics" is similar to asking "why is there political messaging literally everywhere" , do you see how conflating the two is the exact behaviour that the original commenter was trying to discuss ?

Choosing not to engage politically is not a neutral action. Life is politics. The world is full of people that are trying to control your life in a thousand different ways. Choosing to not engage in support or opposition to that control doesn't mean you aren't participating, it means your default position is letting them do what they want.

Is choosing to set certain parts of one’s life apart from politics equivalent to “choosing not to engage politically?” If so then shouldn’t every action that you take be imbued with politics, including the choice of how long you brush your teeth and when, where, and how you sleep? Or are certain things exempt from the rule, but not posting on HN? If that’s the case, why does posting on HN require political engagement but not, say, your interactions with the clerk at the grocery store? Are those of us who fail to inform every person we meet about our political views choosing not to engage politically? Even if we dedicate a certain portion of our lives to political engagement?

Edit: I’ll also add that political messaging is highly contextual. What is appropriate and effective in one place may be counterproductive or actively harmful elsewhere. Format and tone actually matter if you care about your pet cause succeeding, believe it or not.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#135

Post by knowitnone3 »

guessmyname wrote: post #68
scratchyone wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wouldn't protect against this attack though. The Notepad++ update servers were hijacked. Presumably you would allow Notepad++ updates through Little Snitch so you would be equally as vulnerable.

No, why would you allow automatic updates? It makes no sense. You should audit every update as if each payload could contain malware. It’s a paranoid way to live, but that’s what it takes. We also need better computer science education in high schools, teaching students how to inspect network packets, verify SSL certificates, and evaluate whether a binary blob might contain malicious code. People have gotten complace…

[dead]

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#136

Post by worthless-trash »

drum55 wrote: post #78
worthless-trash wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it difficult to believe that there is levels of cooperation between different companies that would allow this to work. Source. I work for a company for longer than the internet has been alive.

My example is “living off the land”, safari already has access to everything, open it and use it to communicate. Needs no permissions, bypasses little snitch entirely.

Ah . I was thinking of non web apps.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#137

Post by melagonster »

LoganDark wrote: post #33
icelancer wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, Notepad++ is known for political messaging in their updates. Taiwan, Ukraine, etc.

I can't help but feel there must some better venue for such messaging. When I see politics in software updates or documentation, nothing happens because I'm not looking to use the software for political activism. Maybe I tell my adblocker to remove the messaging, and carry on with my task. I can engage with politics in a social context, when political messaging isn't interrupting something else I'm doing; that's a be…

Notepad++ is close to a personal project. The author can add any message he wants. Usually, he just wrote something in the updating log; most people do not read it anymore.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#138

Post by popalchemist »

getnormality wrote: post #89
ryandrake wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar comments also come up in the [now regular] "I don't want to see political articles on HN" threads, and I think the response is similar: Asking for "no politics" is itself a strong political view: One in support/service of whatever the current status quo is. Trying to set oneself apart from (or above) politics is itself political. If you're lucky enough to be one of the fortunate people on earth who are not un…

Nah, it doesn't mean they support the status quo. It just means some political tactics are pointless, incompetent, and counterproductive. Political opinions about how things should be don't automatically dictate the actions that should be taken in support of those opinions. I can be mad about a law or a court decision and still have the good sense to, for example, not throw red paint on a lawmaker or judge. Some beha…

It intrinsically does. Whatever stance changes nothing or prefers to change nothing is a vote for the status quo, by definition.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#139

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

jonas21 wrote: post #55
guessmyname wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get it, why don’t you all—absolutely all of you reading—use Little Snitch? [1] It really doesn’t compute in my head why would any macOS user not use a network firewall like this, or similar, to block unwanted outgoing HTTP(s) requests. You can easily inspect the packet with tools like Wireshark or Burp Suite Professional (or Community) edition, or any other proxy tool, of which there are many in the macOS eco…

Isn't Little Snitch exactly the sort of application they're worried about?

Zing!

The state of the world is such that I have started running everything inside VMs. Baseline OS install + virtual machine management and that is it. Which is still not immune, but makes me feel a lot better than core OS utilities are probably getting better vetting than nifty-utility-123 on which I depend.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#140

Post by tjpnz »

icelancer wrote: post #6
simlevesque wrote: post #3

Probably related to this: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v869-about-taiwan/

Yeah, Notepad++ is known for political messaging in their updates. Taiwan, Ukraine, etc.

I wouldn't brush off Taiwan or Ukraine as "political". In both cases it's about survival, and in one it's a literal fight.
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