Will malware/virus scanners detect any bad software?
Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
141–150 of 560 posts
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#142Earlier 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…
There’s a difference between arguing over the tax rate and ignoring fascism. At a certain point there is nothing more important than “politics”.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#143Earlier 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…
> I can't help but feel there must some better venue for such messaging. I would argue that this has been an effective avenue for messaging/protest. You’re responding to it on this very board - that means you’re thinking about it. Another angle: would such free protest be allowed if the developers of Notepad++ were based in China or Russia? I seriously doubt it.
> I would argue that this has been an effective avenue for messaging/protest. You’re responding to it on this very board - that means you’re thinking about it.
I think about a lot of things I do absolutely nothing about (or with).
Thinking about whatever messaging is here is like saying "thoughts and prayers". It means shit all nothing. The messaging was a waste of my time and your time. It was an ad for a product you'll never purchase.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#144Earlier 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…
> Asking for "no politics" is itself a strong political view
We are all Schmittian now
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I can't help but feel there must some better venue for such messaging. I would argue that this has been an effective avenue for messaging/protest. You’re responding to it on this very board - that means you’re thinking about it. Another angle: would such free protest be allowed if the developers of Notepad++ were based in China or Russia? I seriously doubt it.
> would such free protest be allowed if the developers of Notepad++ were based in - US arguing for independence of any of the States for whatever reasons? - Spain for Catalonia? - France for Basque? and many more just in Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_separatist_move...
Not pertinent. My point is more in reference to the ancestor comment with respect to Ukraine and Taiwan:
> Yeah, Notepad++ is known for political messaging in their updates. Taiwan, Ukraine, etc.
If you’re calling Ukraine in particular a “separatist movement”, I don’t think we can have a productive conversation.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Anecdotally, my company has a device driver posted on Windows Update. I inherited the project and was digging through Microsoft’s hardware dashboard trying to find information on the stability of the driver. I ended up finding that our driver was crashing rather frequently. Looking closer, the name of the driver shown was curious as it contained the name of our driver as defined in the inf file, and appended at the e…
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Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
out of curiosity, why is a self signed cert bad for this case? Can't the updater check the validity of the cert just as well regardless? Or did the attackers get access to the signing key as well?
From the Heise article: > Until version 8.8.7 of Notepad++, the developer used a self-signed certificate, which is available in the Github source code. This made it possible to create manipulated updates and push them onto victims, as binaries signed this way cause a warning „Unknown Publisher“ It also mentions "installing a root certificate". I suspect that it means that users who installed the root cert could check…
Notepad++ has way too many updates for a text editor. I purposely decline most of the nags to update for precisely this reason. It is too juicy of a target and was bound to get compromised.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#148Earlier 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…
> I can't help but feel there must some better venue for such messaging. I would argue that this has been an effective avenue for messaging/protest. You’re responding to it on this very board - that means you’re thinking about it. Another angle: would such free protest be allowed if the developers of Notepad++ were based in China or Russia? I seriously doubt it.
Typically when I see such messaging in an out of place venue it nudges me slightly against both the message and the venue pushing the message. This occurs regardless of whether I agree with the message. I feel the same way as when I see an ad: this does not belong here.
I don’t think I am the only one who has this reaction. People who do this should consider if it’s actually helping their cause. If not it’s just feelgood signaling, or possibly even counterproductive.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#149Earlier 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…
Maybe, but telling people who are speaking to their audience on the platforms that audience is voluntarily visiting that they need to shut up is even more pointless, incompetent, and counterproductive.
Notepad++ is free, open source software for which there are dozens of alternative packages of equivalent quality. The entire cost of using this software and benefiting from the work of the developer, is having to scroll past or close a few political opinions.
If the reaction, if someone vehemently dislikes this sort of thing, is to tell that developer to "just shut up and make your software" rather than to stop using that software? Then I think that's possibly the most entitled and hypocritical position that I think it's possible to have.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Bro, it's political. Political isn't synonymous with "bad" or with "propaganda". Wars are waged on many fronts, and securing economic and hardware support takes messaging.