Attacks that leverage Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities "have escalated," warns CNN. They cite a senior White House official saying the window for updating exposed servers is incredibly short -- "measured in hours, not days."
Why are we hearing this from a "senior White House official" and not Microsoft?
A Conspiracy!!! Yep, definitely a conspiracy. No news organization should make any decisions on what to report, report everything all the time, everywhere! What? Not enough bandwidth you say? Aha!! Caught you, another Conspiracy to deny you the news you deem is news. Those bastards!
Well technically the news CNN wants you to hear about. Nothing else. Since they sensor much of what is newsworthy out there and seem to have an agenda I don't think I will be looking for reliable tech news from CNN. Much like slashdot these days.
You don't like what they choose to report, so you don't consider them reliable. Got it.
Thanks for notifying everyone of your thought.
But given that you thought your thought was the only news worthy to report today, I think I'll stick with other sources. You don't seem reliable.
Except that CNN has completely quit the news business, around 2015.
It used to be a biased but reliable news source (ie, they'd interpret facts their way, but at least mention the facts even if unfavorable), it is more akin to left-winged Daily Stormer than to something reputable.
CNN is an extreme case, but this insanity has infected most of US news. Compared with the US, here in Poland only govt-run media have this hide-all-unfavourable-facts, lie-completely-otherwise shtick, while independent media, while
Same in Canada where the State Broadcasting and News system suffers the same problem. Unfortunately in Canada almost all the "broadcasters" and "publishers" (meaning Television, Radio, and Print) are "financed" by the Government -- ownership is therefore not required -- they all know on which side Justin "sex offender" Trudeau butters their bread and they all tow the party line and publish only approved opinions almost totally devoid of "fact".
The only exceptions are those (very few) outlets which do not a
Just had to get that joke off my chest, but I guess it's also a minor criticism of the FP question. Yes, it is a legitimate question, but I'm doubting it's the best way to have started the discussion.
My primary question is "Is there a threat to users of email who are limited to outlook.com email?" I'm almost certain that Microsoft eats their own dog food and uses Exchange servers in house, but I can think of various reasons that outlook.com might not use them.
Okay, back again, and able to confirm that the linked story does not mention outlook.com at all. Also, I'm the only one to mention outlook.com so far in this discussion, but I'll check back later, though mostly for the witty jokes that rarely appear these days. (But obviously need to check on some websites with more technical and security sophistication than CNN.) Still don't know what was bugging Firefox (again). Now what about that mysterious Printer driver update from Microsoft that keeps rebooting my co
I don't have the link handy, but when this was first reported a few days ago, it was mentioned that M$' own services (outlook.com, O365, etc.) were supposedly patched before the vuln was publicly announced.
This is hearsay, and poorly remembered hearsay at that. YMMV.
I suppose perhaps it's a measure of the seriousness of the attack. A very large number of businesses use Exchange, and as a consequence, a lot of people are being affected by this. Previously, there have been worms and malware that made the general news as well, ILOVEYOU, MyDoom, Zeus, Code Red... basically, anything that affected a lot of people / businesses, or had some unusual aspect, like StuxNet.
I think the White House and CNN are involved because there's a need to get the word out to as many people
Mod parent up, though it's not the biggest insight of the day.
I actually think the EULA may be the largest innovation that can be attributed to Microsoft--but even that EULA is just a refinement of other people's ideas. The key notion is that no matter how badly Microsoft screwed up and no matter how much damage was (and is) caused by Microsoft's incompetence or negligence no one can legally touch Microsoft. (The #2 innovation was selling upstream rather than to end users.)
Attacks that leverage Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities "have escalated," warns CNN. They cite a senior White House official saying the window for updating exposed servers is incredibly short -- "measured in hours, not days."
Why are we hearing this from a "senior White House official" and not Microsoft?
And why is this from CNN?
Very odd.
I suppose you could wait until Fox News reports it so you know it's true.
1. Signs point to this attack being launched and leveraged by nation state actor. I.e. It's State sponsored cyberwarfare. That's why the White House is involved.
2. It's weird for the White House to speak about a cybersecurity issue. CNN is reporting on it because it's weird and widespread. I recall similar reporting for e.g. Code Red, Nimda, and Slammer*.
* I just realized that was 18 years ago. Holy crap I'm old.
Back to the topic at hand, Microsoft's official guidance is to pat
Weird chain of notification (Score:4, Interesting)
Attacks that leverage Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities "have escalated," warns CNN. They cite a senior White House official saying the window for updating exposed servers is incredibly short -- "measured in hours, not days."
Why are we hearing this from a "senior White House official" and not Microsoft?
And why is this from CNN?
Very odd.
Re:Weird chain of notification (Score:5, Informative)
Why are we hearing this from a "senior White House official" and not Microsoft?
Because Microsoft is trying to limit the damage to themselves.
And why is this from CNN?
Because CNN is a news organization. Their job is to provide information about issues which people may be interested in or affects them in some way.
Re: (Score:3)
A Conspiracy!!! Yep, definitely a conspiracy. No news organization should make any decisions on what to report, report everything all the time, everywhere! What? Not enough bandwidth you say? Aha!! Caught you, another Conspiracy to deny you the news you deem is news. Those bastards!
Re: (Score:2)
Well technically the news CNN wants you to hear about. Nothing else. Since they sensor much of what is newsworthy out there and seem to have an agenda I don't think I will be looking for reliable tech news from CNN. Much like slashdot these days.
You don't like what they choose to report, so you don't consider them reliable. Got it.
Thanks for notifying everyone of your thought.
But given that you thought your thought was the only news worthy to report today, I think I'll stick with other sources. You don't seem reliable.
Re: (Score:2)
Except that CNN has completely quit the news business, around 2015.
It used to be a biased but reliable news source (ie, they'd interpret facts their way, but at least mention the facts even if unfavorable), it is more akin to left-winged Daily Stormer than to something reputable.
CNN is an extreme case, but this insanity has infected most of US news. Compared with the US, here in Poland only govt-run media have this hide-all-unfavourable-facts, lie-completely-otherwise shtick, while independent media, while
Re: (Score:2)
Same in Canada where the State Broadcasting and News system suffers the same problem. Unfortunately in Canada almost all the "broadcasters" and "publishers" (meaning Television, Radio, and Print) are "financed" by the Government -- ownership is therefore not required -- they all know on which side Justin "sex offender" Trudeau butters their bread and they all tow the party line and publish only approved opinions almost totally devoid of "fact".
The only exceptions are those (very few) outlets which do not a
Born to be pwned? (Score:2)
Just had to get that joke off my chest, but I guess it's also a minor criticism of the FP question. Yes, it is a legitimate question, but I'm doubting it's the best way to have started the discussion.
My primary question is "Is there a threat to users of email who are limited to outlook.com email?" I'm almost certain that Microsoft eats their own dog food and uses Exchange servers in house, but I can think of various reasons that outlook.com might not use them.
My secondary question is "Can this vulnerability
Re: (Score:2)
Okay, back again, and able to confirm that the linked story does not mention outlook.com at all. Also, I'm the only one to mention outlook.com so far in this discussion, but I'll check back later, though mostly for the witty jokes that rarely appear these days. (But obviously need to check on some websites with more technical and security sophistication than CNN.) Still don't know what was bugging Firefox (again). Now what about that mysterious Printer driver update from Microsoft that keeps rebooting my co
Re: (Score:2)
I don't have the link handy, but when this was first reported a few days ago, it was mentioned that M$' own services (outlook.com, O365, etc.) were supposedly patched before the vuln was publicly announced.
This is hearsay, and poorly remembered hearsay at that. YMMV.
Re: (Score:2)
I suppose perhaps it's a measure of the seriousness of the attack. A very large number of businesses use Exchange, and as a consequence, a lot of people are being affected by this. Previously, there have been worms and malware that made the general news as well, ILOVEYOU, MyDoom, Zeus, Code Red... basically, anything that affected a lot of people / businesses, or had some unusual aspect, like StuxNet.
I think the White House and CNN are involved because there's a need to get the word out to as many people
Notification from the U.S. government: (Score:2)
Remediating Microsoft Exchange Vulnerabilities [cisa.gov].
It seems to me that Microsoft is not managed well. There are MANY articles about that:
Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made. [networkworld.com]
Quoting: "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC."
Windows 10 problems are ruining Microsoft's reputation -- and the damage can't be understated. [techradar.com] (Sept. 28, 2019)
Criticism of [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
The Microscrewups are hiding and hoping this will blow over, like so much of the damage they have done.
Re: (Score:2)
Mod parent up, though it's not the biggest insight of the day.
I actually think the EULA may be the largest innovation that can be attributed to Microsoft--but even that EULA is just a refinement of other people's ideas. The key notion is that no matter how badly Microsoft screwed up and no matter how much damage was (and is) caused by Microsoft's incompetence or negligence no one can legally touch Microsoft. (The #2 innovation was selling upstream rather than to end users.)
If Microsoft had ANY residual frac
Re: (Score:2)
Mod parent up, though it's not the biggest insight of the day.
Indeed it is not. It is so blatantly obvious that using MS crap on servers is a bad idea, it should automatically count as gross negligence.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed it is not. It is so blatantly obvious that using MS crap on servers is a bad idea, it should automatically count as gross negligence.
What a wonderful world that would be...
Re:Weird chain of notification (Score:5, Funny)
Attacks that leverage Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities "have escalated," warns CNN. They cite a senior White House official saying the window for updating exposed servers is incredibly short -- "measured in hours, not days."
Why are we hearing this from a "senior White House official" and not Microsoft?
And why is this from CNN?
Very odd.
I suppose you could wait until Fox News reports it so you know it's true.
Re: (Score:2)
I suppose you could wait until Fox News reports it so you know it's true.
Fox news won't cover it because it doesn't effect AOL mail. Citation https://www.volomp.com/isp/bye-bye-aol-yahoo-hello-oath/ [volomp.com]
Cymbal crash! Well played, Sir or Madam!
Re: (Score:2)
There are a few reasons.
1. Signs point to this attack being launched and leveraged by nation state actor. I.e. It's State sponsored cyberwarfare. That's why the White House is involved.
2. It's weird for the White House to speak about a cybersecurity issue. CNN is reporting on it because it's weird and widespread. I recall similar reporting for e.g. Code Red, Nimda, and Slammer*.
* I just realized that was 18 years ago. Holy crap I'm old.
Back to the topic at hand, Microsoft's official guidance is to pat