Will malware/virus scanners detect any bad software?
Most edr has a “this program is doing something bad” detector. But the number of folks running security on their build process is still not ubiquitous.
Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
181–190 of 560 posts
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#182Vindicated once again for turning off any update checks the moment I install any new piece of software.
Even if this sort of (obviously rare) attack is not a concern, it baffles me how few otherwise-intelligent people fail to see the way these updaters provide the network (which itself is always listening, see Room 641A and friends) with a fingerprint of your specific computer and a way to track its physical location based on the set of software you have installed, all of which want to check for updates every goddamn day.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#183Earlier 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…
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Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#184So what mitigations should the end user be doing? How do we know if anything compromised?
Disable auto-updates, just like you should with every piece of software on your machine. This was the result of letting other people silently replace your programs. Don't allow that.
that's why I still run Windows XP. Automatic updates are dangerous!
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#185So, let me get this straight. If I've been lazy, postponed updates and I'm still on 8.5.8 (Oct 2023) - it turns out I'm actually...safer?
Anyway, I hope the author can be a bit more specific about what actually has happened to those unlucky enough to have received these malicious updates. And perhaps a tool to e.g. do a checksum of all Notepad++ files, and compare them to the ones of a verified clean install of the user's installed version, would be a start? Though I would assume these malicious updates would be clever enough to rather have dropped and executed additional files, rather than doing something with the Notepad++ binaries themselves.
And I agree with another comment here. With all those spelling mistakes that notification kind of reads like it could have been written by a state-sponsored actor. Not to be (too) paranoid here, but can we be sure that this is the actual author, and that the new version isn't the malicious one?
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#186Earlier 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.
Based on arrest of protesters in UK, US, and recent laws passed in Australia; it is fair to say that Notepad++’s freedom to protest would depend on who and what they are protesting.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#187Probably related to this: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v869-about-taiwan/
Everyone is entitled to their opinions. My opinion is that open source documentation is like polite dinner conversation: It’s not the proper place to discuss politics. If an author wishes to use their open source project as a platform to discuss politics, that’s the author’s prerogative. But then, as perhaps in this instance, it could be to the detriment of the project itself.
Skirt too short, in other words?
I'm going to place the blame on the party committing the crimes, not the person exercising free expression.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Taiwan is already independent. That is a very controversial statement, and one that both Taipei and Beijing disagree with.
Controversy doesn't change the reality. Stating that Taiwan is not independent is political posturing. Look to French Guiana, which is not independent.
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Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#189Vindicated once again for turning off any update checks the moment I install any new piece of software. Even if this sort of (obviously rare) attack is not a concern, it baffles me how few otherwise-intelligent people fail to see the way these updaters provide the network (which itself is always listening, see Room 641A and friends) with a fingerprint of your specific computer and a way to track its physical location…
If the people with access to Room 641A want you, you're toast unless you're ready to make some REALLY big digital lifestyle changes that most people would not be amenable to, because you would have to be extremely paranoid on multiple fronts all the time. That kind of heightened vigilance is exhausting and really not worth it.
Threat modeling: it keeps things realistic.
Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors
#190Earlier 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…
I don't care for the current status quo at all. The current administration has wrecked this country and completely compromised its position in the global economy potentially forever. But there is a time and a place for those arguments and activism, as well as the same for other parts of the world suffering from similar or worse issues. Like, I wouldn't be receptive to hearing about Ukraine every time I go to the groc…
You may not be in the right state, but the point of that part of the website is that it's a donation link. It will drive some people to help. If it's at the cost of some others getting grumpy about too much messaging... that's probably still worth it.