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Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

sourceforge.net

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Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#331

Post by alemanek »

beng-nl wrote: post #280
prox wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a law that a human representative can be spoken to within 24 hours or directly when something critical happens. Also “there is no appeal possible” should be plain illegal.

I understand the sentiment, but.. do you realize how much more expensive that would make all these services? I don’t know the number. But personally I think using the services and ‘simply’ only use them if the disappearance isn’t catastrophic and have the price be low or free while it works isn’t too bad a trade-off. Admittedly that’s a big ‘if.’

That is the wrong way to look at it.

If this requirement was in place they would be a bit more careful about terminating accounts because the cost equation would incentivize it. Maybe they would be more careful in their automation or require more than one level of human review before cutting off access.

These companies are gatekeepers for their platform. It isn’t crazy to require them to act more responsibly.

Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#332

Post by burnt-resistor »

prox wrote: post #245
ninjagoo wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has been clear for a while that certain providers and services need to be regulated as utilities - Microsoft, Google, Apple, Visa, Mastercard, and soon Openai and Anthropic. It should be illegal for these companies, just like utilities, to deny service to anyone or any entity in good standing for dues. There is little hope for getting this through in the US where most politicians of any stripe hate the public, and…

We need a law that a human representative can be spoken to within 24 hours or directly when something critical happens. Also “there is no appeal possible” should be plain illegal.

Technofeudalism is what happens when grossly under-regulated anarcho-capitalism dominates rather than sustainable, more ordinary capitalism where government regulation is the supreme, minimized biased arbiter that keeps things fairer and sensible for the benefit of the many rather than the benefit of the few.

Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#333

Post by octoberfranklin »

pocksuppet wrote: post #124
zx2c4 wrote: post #39

This is the same problem I'm currently facing with WireGuard. No warning at all, no notification. One day I sign in to publish an update, and yikes, account suspended. Currently undergoing some sort of 60 days appeals process, but who knows. That's kind of crazy: what if there were some critical RCE in WireGuard, being exploited in the wild, and I needed to update users immediately? (That's just hypothetical; don't f…

The other day I tried to create a Github account and was repeatedly told I am fraudulent. Nothing else. Try again later, it says. This is the same thing that's happened every time I've tried to have a Microsoft account. I don't think Microsoft wants to have customers who aren't rich.

Same here with github.

Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#334

Post by reincarnate0x14 »

rsync wrote: post #324
zx2c4 wrote: post #39

This is the same problem I'm currently facing with WireGuard. No warning at all, no notification. One day I sign in to publish an update, and yikes, account suspended. Currently undergoing some sort of 60 days appeals process, but who knows. That's kind of crazy: what if there were some critical RCE in WireGuard, being exploited in the wild, and I needed to update users immediately? (That's just hypothetical; don't f…

You said: "Currently undergoing some sort of 60 days appeals process, but who knows." .. and the op said: "I have tried to contact Microsoft through various channels but I have only received automated replies and bots. I was unable to reach a human." ... which is a roundabout way of saying you did not spend lawyer hours and you did not contact them through channels that they cannot ignore: registered, physical mail,…

Microsoft hasn't managed to burn down entire towns (But Copilot is probably working on it), so I suppose we do have at least some kind of gauge of callousness to work off of thanks to PG&E. Which was also the company behind that whole slightly famous Erin Brockovich thing, amongst so very many others.

Sometimes, it's both incompetence AND malice.

Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#335

Post by burnt-resistor »

whycome wrote: post #187
vstm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No tinfoil needed. That's what Big Tinfoil wants you to believe!

I heard it doesn’t even contain tin!

Total enshittification with this pure aluminium shit. The hats don't block government UFO mind control waves and hold their shape nearly as well as the tin ones did. Fucking private equity ruins everything.

Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#336

Post by burnt-resistor »

Gigachad wrote: post #114
ngetchell wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or more likely, some automated security system flagged popular but suspicious apps for further review.

Automated systems breaking things without any human contact to get them resolved seems to be the theme of the last 10 years.

This phenomenon is so Orwellian with insufficient awareness, it should both be an SNL skit and a John Oliver episode. It's illiberal, neoliberal, corporate bullshit that causes harm to individuals. These companies need to be treated as utilities and the "companies can do whatever they want" arguments must be debunked and defeated because of the pervasive power they hold and immense harm they can cause to individuals without a remedy when they rug pull access without clear cause.

It also reminds me of the case of the entire family who lost all of their payment-linked individual accounts including business data and an academic dissertation because the son allegedly behaved inappropriately with a bot. Collective punishment on top of technofeudal instant banishment.

Re: Microsoft terminated the account VeraCrypt used to sign Windows drivers

#337

Post by amluto »

beng-nl wrote: post #280
prox wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a law that a human representative can be spoken to within 24 hours or directly when something critical happens. Also “there is no appeal possible” should be plain illegal.

I understand the sentiment, but.. do you realize how much more expensive that would make all these services? I don’t know the number. But personally I think using the services and ‘simply’ only use them if the disappearance isn’t catastrophic and have the price be low or free while it works isn’t too bad a trade-off. Admittedly that’s a big ‘if.’

These services are designed such that security sort of depends on reviewing the programs that are allowed to run. Microsoft, Google and Apple all do this. It adds expense, annoyance, limitations, and really very little security.

The contrasting approach, where one designs a platform that remains secure even if the owner is allowed to run whatever software they like, may be more complex but is overall much better. There aren’t many personal-use systems like this, but systems like AWS take this approach and generally do quite well with it.

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