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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

#241

Post by tjwebbnorfolk »

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…

Not wanting politics crammed into every nook and cranny of daily life is not a "political" view of one kind or another, it's a preference for how I want to consume information and interact with people.

There is such a thing as being able to act and think in ways that aren't political in nature. Maybe not for you, but it absolutely is possible.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#242

Post by defrost »

tjjuckson wrote: post #235
vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the stereotype of Americans lacking nuance around political issue is valid. Obviously, like all stereotypes, it’s not 100% true but Americans seem to feel obliged to pick one side of an issue, most of the time aligned with the worth of their choice, and then to view everything that’s happening through that lens. Try to point out to a democrat that Trump is doing something right or to a Trump voter that B…

> to such an extreme in other countries I know like Germany could you remind me what country is the afd based out of thnx

Does the existence of an alt-right WannaBeNazi party in modern Germany preclude the existance of a spectrum of views within Germany and usher in an inability of a majority of Germans to express themselves with nuance though?

By all means make a considered and thoughtful point, please.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#243

Post by moi2388 »

LoganDark wrote: post #208
shiroiuma wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good point. What would people think if there was constant political discussion here about, for instance, South Sudan and things happening there now? I'm sure there's bad stuff going on there and it's unfortunately, but if we had constant references to and discussions about the internal politics of South Sudan, I think a lot of people would get annoyed about issues that don't affect them at all in their day-…

Do you think it's socially acceptable to ignore everything that doesn't affect you personally? Many activists would certainly have you think otherwise. As far as I can tell, fighting that habit is a huge goal of activism.

Yes. Activists also don’t focus on all causes, not even most. They cherry pick whatever topic is hot in that moment. Sorry, I don’t care about that when I’m browsing something about software.

When I care about politics I’ll deal with actual politics. Reddit won’t change my mind nor the world.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#244

Post by wiseowise »

prodigycorp wrote: post #19

I'm extremely wary about any application pushing politics. I subscribe to MacPaw, who makes excellent apps like Setapp, Gemini, and CleanMyMac, all of which I use. At some point, CleanMyMac started putting the Ukranian flag on the app icon and flagging utilities by any Russian developer as untrustworthy (because they are russian), and recommended that I uninstall them. I am not pro russia/anti-ukraine independence by…

> anti-ukraine independence

What the fuck is that supposed to mean, lol. Ukraine isn’t done secessionist state.

> Seeing them engage in software maccarythism makes me very, very hesitant to provide them.

So are they wrong when flagging software or not? You haven’t provided any details.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#245

Post by hsbauauvhabzb »

marcosdumay wrote: post #66
its_ubuntu wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Hum... We keep pretending the Solar Winds scandal never happened?

That didn’t cause tangible pain for the everyday person, even if it did cause non tangible long standing damage. Every windows PC ransomwaring at the same time worldwide would cause mr robot level chaos.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#246

Post by user205738 »

LoganDark wrote: post #208
shiroiuma wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good point. What would people think if there was constant political discussion here about, for instance, South Sudan and things happening there now? I'm sure there's bad stuff going on there and it's unfortunately, but if we had constant references to and discussions about the internal politics of South Sudan, I think a lot of people would get annoyed about issues that don't affect them at all in their day-…

Do you think it's socially acceptable to ignore everything that doesn't affect you personally? Many activists would certainly have you think otherwise. As far as I can tell, fighting that habit is a huge goal of activism.

> Do you think it's socially acceptable to ignore everything that doesn't affect you personally?

Yes, yes, and yes again.

> Many activists would certainly have you think otherwise. As far as I can tell, fighting that habit is a huge goal of activism.

That's their problem. As soon as you start contributing to them, you will not pursue your own goals, living your own life, but those imposed by activists or their supervisors.

It's convenient for them, you give them a political resource. But why do you need it?

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#247

Post by mikeweiss »

bakugo wrote: post #36

So uhh... what exactly did the "state-sponsored actors" do? They go on about how their server was compromised, and how the big bad Chinese were definitely behind it, and then claim the "situation has been fully resolved", but there is zero mention of any investigation into what was actually done by the attackers. Why? If I downloaded an installer during the time they were hacked, do I have malware now? The utter lack…

Exactly... Were they exflitrating files open in notepad++ , or was notepad++ installing additional malware for system wide access? What was the end goal?

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#248

Post by einr »

mmis1000 wrote: post #214
derf_ wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is baffling to me, as well. You know how you get a remote-code-execution vulnerability? You give a bunch of software permission to fetch code remotely and execute it.

Like… browser? Or anything with script loading capabilities like script engine in games. Executing remote script is almost unavoidable nowadays. And there isn't really a way to confirm if it is configured in a secure way. You either trust the developer or not.

At least JS code in a browser is sandboxed. A Notepad++ update is just rawdogging an executable on your bare metal, perhaps with admin privs even, and hoping for the best.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#249

Post by tjwebbnorfolk »

xeromal wrote: post #233
the_fall wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the most honest assessment you can expect from any small-scale developer. What do you expect them to say or do? Their adversary is presumably a national intelligence agency of a superpower . The odds may be better if you operate the way OpenSSH does: move slow, security first, architect everything to be very difficult to attack. But if you're building a text editor, it's not your mindset, and probably never wi…

Yup, the only way to combat this as a smalltime dev would be to turn off auto updates and make people build from source.

yea `curl | gcc` is much safer...

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#250

Post by anonymous908213 »

tjwebbnorfolk wrote: post #241
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…

Not wanting politics crammed into every nook and cranny of daily life is not a "political" view of one kind or another, it's a preference for how I want to consume information and interact with people. There is such a thing as being able to act and think in ways that aren't political in nature. Maybe not for you, but it absolutely is possible.

Way to completely and totally miss the point. I don't actually think you could've missed the point any harder than you did.

Politics are quite literally life-or-death for many people. War is politics. Access to healthcare is politics. Economic policy that determines whether businesses and careers succeed or fail is politics. Freedom to say what you want, believe or not believe in whatever religion you want, and be who you are without being imprisoned is politics. The people who make the most noise about politics are the people who are literally dying for as long as the rest of society ignores their plight.

If this isn't the case for you, it's because you benefit from the status quo. It is the definition of privilege to be able to "ignore politics". That means you are currently benefitting from politics. Of course you don't want to hear about politics, politics are doing just fine for you. And the comment you were asking to was asking you to reflect on that: if the biggest problem gracing you is hearing other people make noise about circumstances, the least you could do is deal with it. Your problems are trivial if that is what gets you upset. Other people are complaining about things that affect the outcome of their lives and you're complaining about... having to hear it.

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