Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Good recommendation, I use that as well. In fact I use a number of sources to draw on for blocking on Windows 7 / 8.1, loading the lists into various tools in the OS and browsers, as well as perimeter network devices, all work together to provide what I hope is a semi-seamless barrier.
These issues are now in the mind of the average person far deeper than before, so hopefully this will cause pressure to be applied to Microsoft as well, and stop all this craziness - sucking the time and life from their customers.
ScriptSafe has replaced my use of NoScript for now, and I use the host blocking in ScriptSafe to load block lists too. And, along with uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger + AdBlocker for Youtube / Facebook, and I am happy for now with browser blocking.
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I'm curious what you meant by Permimeter Network Devices? For e.g., like Block Items saved in Router settings? (outside of hosts file lists used by my browser, plus my own hosts file, and firewall, my only other tweak is Block Items -so just curious if there's anything else I can do. Thanks in advance for any help.
PS -Today's KB4093118 is funny. Who keeps IE enabled these days? The update provides fixes for past F-ups, yet Known Issues include SMB server memory leaks, yada yada. Vegas oddsmakers have the new Simplix Update Pack over/under at 08-18-2018. I'm taking the Over.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4093118/windows-7-update-kb4093118Raiderman likes this. -
Unfortunately the simple answer is that it's complex
There are schools of thought on where to block and where to let free through connect, so as to not burden the network device with "unnecessary filtering".
It turns out all the schools of thought agree on blocking bad traffic, in and out, but they have differing opinion on the level and place to put the blocking.
It's different for every network, every application, fortunately the home user has only 1 or 2 choice's - the router or the PC, and hoping that the upstream provider blocks and handles DDOS events for you - not always / often the case.
Most people have access to and control over their personal PC - at least their own - and can install filters in their PC firewall, DNS server for local control blocking - both serving all applications, and application specific filters like in browsers, but they all block either an IP address, IP Range, DNS domain or DNS sub-domain, and / or substitute "fake" IP's - localhost, a local spoofed web address with content return for applications that respond better to a return than a block.
Forms of those block lists - black lists, and white lists (pass through) established for lowest latency processing for some destinations / sources, can be installed in Perimeter Network Devices.
The network perimeters are established at routing, switching, gateway devices to logically and / or physically separate packet domains, real or virtual.
So your home router is a Perimeter network device, as is your PC node firewall, as is the ISP's switch / router that provides you connectivity, as is each device visible and "invisible" passing your packets up and down stream to / from packet destination / sources.
Simple blocking at the perimeter network device, like blocking your own source IP address from entering from the internet - someone spoofing your network device IP trying to use that deception to pass through services as if they were on your network.
You can block multicast packets, ICMP packets, and other protocol level blocking to reduce the chance of intrusion.
Your simple home router probably has some of these options built in, and others, enabled by default or by user enable.
Some routers will allow you to block IP's, IP ranges, DNS domains and sub-domains as well. So you can block specific annoying incoming traffic, or to deny access to external devices and services - keeping your kids or employee's "safe" from time wasting accesses
Then you can use all of these options to greater effect by loading lists of malware and known bad sites to protect all devices on your LAN / WLAN - like phones, TV's, refrigerators, monitoring cameras, PC's, etc.
There are "gaming" routers that have enough memory and fast CPU's for home use that can handle large block lists and still provide excellent lag free throughput. Especially when you white-list some destinations - like gaming sites / services - or protocols - so those packets are quickly processed before the rest of the blocking activity is applied.
There are lots of different routers / access points / switches and their software interfaces using differing paths to do the same thing. After reading the manual and online support info for that specific device, there are lots of online sources for block lists and suggested filter priority techniques.
There are some devices already available for companies to assist them in securing their network and tuning their access, but they are way too expensive to suggest for home users, and really you can accomplish almost all the same functionality with your hardware - if you research the exploits, domains, and IP ranges to block.
I hope that helps.
Last edited: Apr 11, 2018MobileArtist, Vasudev and Riley Martin like this. -
Makes a lot of sense. Assuming you use a VPN, what about loopbacks to your IP -depending on the multitudes of VPN client applications or configurations, can a VPN loopback be a concern? Lots to digest, and I get the crux... just need to spend some time in this new wormhole. Many thanks for the dynamite feedback!
Very curious... sounds like you've taken smart steps to negate MS intrusion into your machine's business, so to speak.
*Question: Looking at your Network Activity or Resource Monitor, or even better Wireshark packets -do you have ANY Microsoft IPs/servers sniffing around your machines? (barring anything you've initiated, say WinUpdate). Thanks so much hmscott! Good stuff! -
Yeah, can't really comment on that... but you've got the right idea, y'all are well on the path to finding out for yourselves...
FYI - every such report that is any good I've seen on the internet that shows such traffic exists, even after blocking techniques are used, quickly disappear, it must be a "sniffles virus", "Aaah Choooo!!, and it's gone - poof!!.
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I'm sure they appreciate logging your DNS requests and tracking where you go, to compliment and correlate the rest of the data they already collect on you and your internet devices.
efjay, jaug1337, 6730b and 1 other person like this.
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UpdatePack7R2-18.4.15. No issues with this latest installation here. Unfortunately (both win7 OS) there is a performance hit when enabling meltdown protection. Negligible on an i7-6700 4.0ghz (w/ a 1TB Samsung 850Pro +HDD hybrid, 32GB RAM), but noticeable on an i7-4700 2.4ghz (w/ 2 Sandisk SDSSDXP-480G's, 16GB RAM). No benchmarks atm, but I'll post if interested. Curious what others have noticed. Using InSpectre tool I've disabled Meltdown protection for the Haswell (which needed Intel microdata using the uCode workaround), the Skylake Gigabyte MB has an updated BIOS.
Friends of mine with inferior processors using Win10 report no performance penalties. Is MS using this historic hardware/processor exploit to force feed hold-outs their win10? Machines that legit can run win7 are taking performance hits. Hopefully the patch complexities are the reason MS has yet to offer more efficient win7/8 Meltdown/Spectre OS updates -not apathy to their non win10 users?
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Thanks man. Good point! I thought I alluded to using only the InSpectre results, i.e., "Performance: Good/Slower" result.
So yeah, we're not comparing GPU/CPU/APU numbers. I literally have to beg 90% of friends/family/colleagues to install and run InSpectre -then follow up with questions, "are you noticing slower performance?", "what does the InSpectre tool say"?. There's tons of good data points online comparing and contrasting real benchmark numbers -but out of the 20+/- Intel and win10 users I've asked, seems Ivy Bridge or better users are pretty cool w/ MS patches.
You def. make a good point. It got me thinking... seems that as long as 80-90% of computer users machines boot, and they can surf the web, play games, look at social media, check email, and blindly provide metadata aggregators with heaping pounds/kilos of personal data, they're cool. 100% of people taking the time to post and read forums like NBR, not so much
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From 05/03... interesting piece. Only a matter of time until Linux distros see unprecedented usage spikes.
https://www.computerworld.com/artic...sy-turvy-world-with-windows-10-down-7-up.html
or askwoody...
https://www.askwoody.com/2018/april-windows-10-share-down-windows-7-up/ -
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The part there that I bolded and increased the font size on, can you possibly point me to where steps to accomplish that can be found? I've just started using a near-mint ThinkPad W541 with an i7-4810mq in it and using InSpectre I see this:
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/In_Spectre_Status.png)
I've spent time trying to figure out which patches need to be installed (given I'm doing my best to avoid anything potentially related to the telemetry and other BS with Windows 7 which is my OS of choice, but I don't seem to be having much luck. The W541 is running the latest BIOS from Lenovo (2.35), I'm just about to do a clean install of Windows 7 Pro using the latest simplix update pack (from May 10th) as I just finished making the ISO but I would like to get the Meltdown and Spectre patching issues resolved before I do this all over again and still not be able to get them taken care of.
Thanks for any info or direction... -
Hey now. When was that BIOS 2.35 released? Probably prior to Spectre/Meltdown? Same thing with mine (no Manufacturer BIOS updates on one of my machines)... so the "workaround" (keep in mind, the uCode workaround isn't a true fix -b/c microcode doesn't run at BIOS/Low-Level). BUT, it helps w/ some performance & cooling issues, and I'll take the half-ass security fix as well.
Check the link here (it's an interesting read cover to cover),
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/ucode-fix-for-spectre-ht-bug-fix-and-meltdown.806451/
Peace!Papusan likes this. -
The 2.35 BIOS/UEFI update for the ThinkPad W541 was from April 20 2018 so, well past the Meltdown/Spectre fiasco. After doing some more research it seems Intel is "in production" in terms of the microcode update for the Haswell 4th gen Mobile Core processors so, "they're working on it" basically and if they do push it out it'll be out whenever.
With the new findings from the first week of May about 12-15 more potential Spectre-like or related exploits now coming along it could be a long time before any machine is safe again, if they ever truly were.
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Hmm, then you should be able to enable Spectre (and/or Meltdown) protection. You're right in the sense all these patches are works in progress. But in the meantime, use a Simplix Update Pack to install the latest unbundled, no telemetry win7 updates -then you'll at least enable some Spectre protection. (Enabling Meltdown protection will likely see your performance take a hit on that Haswell). If you have updated your OS, then maybe you have a 3rd party, AV registry issue going-on? 'Something is better than nothing', 'better safe(er) than sorry', et.
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Use POP or IMAP to sync AOL Mail on a third-party app or download your email
https://help.aol.com/articles/how-do-i-use-other-email-applications-to-send-and-receive-my-aol-mail
Thunderbird - Manual Account Configuration
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manual-account-configuration
Set up your Thunderbird connection to AOL through IMAP instead of POP:
Add Your AOL mail Account to Thunderbird Using IMAP
http://pop2imap.com/aol_thunderbird.php
Finding the AOL Mail IMAP Settings
https://www.lifewire.com/what-are-aol-mail-imap-settings-1170847
2nd post from Toad-Hall has some Connection Security vs Authentication suggestions:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1201406#answer-1068952
Thunderbird among other mail clients have a bug that allows attackers to read encrypted emails, so if you use PGP be aware - some suggest disabling PGP (EFF), some suggest other mitigations (GNUPG):
#EFAIL vulnerability: What PGP and S/MIME users need to do right now
https://www.windowscentral.com/efail-vulnerability-what-pgp-and-smime-users-need-do-right-now
Attention PGP Users: New Vulnerabilities Require You To Take Action Now
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/...w-vulnerabilities-require-you-take-action-now
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/05/disabling-pgp-thunderbird-enigmail
Efail or OpenPGP is safer than S/MIME
https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-users/2018-May/060315.html
Read full email for full details.
After you've downloaded your email using Thunderbird securely, now secure your Thunderbird local files:
Protecting the contents of the profile - mail
This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ).
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Protecting_the_contents_of_the_profile_-_mail
Download the latest version of Thunderbird for #efail fixes, partial fixes available now, the next dot release is supposed to fix them all - but read the release notes and informative updates such as this to be sure:
Thunderbird 52.8.0 security update released
https://www.ghacks.net/2018/05/21/thunderbird-52-8-0-security-update-released/
"Thunderbird 52.8.0 protects emails against some exploits of EFAIL, a recently disclosed attack against OpenPGP and S/Mime. Attackers may use EFAIL attacks to retrieve the actual text of encrypted messages provided that they managed to get hold of the encrypted email and that the target runs a vulnerable client.
The team plans to publish Thunderbird 52.8.1 to fix the issue completely in Thunderbird. Check out the descriptions for the vulnerabilities CVE-2018-5184 and CVE-2018-5162 for additional details."
Have fun
Riley Martin and alexhawker like this. -
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IDK if it's the best, but it works.
Outlook isn't something I like to use, but you could use that too.
There are other apps available, Eudora which I used to use regularly was folded in to Thunderbird years ago.
Thunderbird has worked fine for me for many many years, and others I've helped and I have no complaints about it, but here are some links for alternatives:
Top Alternatives to Mozilla Thunderbird for Windows
https://mozilla-thunderbird.en.softonic.com/windows/alternatives
Also, from time to time there comes from out of nowhere rumors of Thunderbird being dead or canceled, as answered by this post in 2006:
Is Thunderbird dead and other FAQ
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=366405
Thunderbird's got a home at Mozilla with financial support, and there is no announced EOL for Thunderbird, despite what competitors like Mailbird say (and retract), so I'd donate to Thunderbird to help it's ongoing support as linked here in this notice, May 9 2017:
The Mozilla Thunderbird Blog
Thunderbird’s Future Home
https://blog.mozilla.org/thunderbird/2017/05/thunderbirds-future-home/
"The investigations on Thunderbird’s future home have concluded. The Mozilla Foundation has agreed to serve as the legal and fiscal home for the Thunderbird project, but Thunderbird will migrate off Mozilla Corporation infrastructure, separating the operational aspects of the project."
" Philipp Kewisch wrote on May 9, 2017 at 12:40:
I’m going to make the first comment my own. Now that we have our financial home settled I think it would be a great time to make a donation to support our work. While the Mozilla Foundation is our financial home, it is up to us to raise the funds needed to make sure Thunderbird is a modern and secure email client for years to come.
If you would like to help us out, please head over to https://donate.mozilla.org/thunderbird/. Your support means a lot to us! Maybe you would even consider a recurring donation, as this would help our success in the long term."
Thunderbird:Home
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Home
" Status
Thunderbird is alive and well in 2018! Yes, 2018. Please help us keep it that way!
- The community has continuously shipped releases with bug fixes and enhancements for several years.
- The community holds regular meetings to discuss important matters of common interest, open to all.
- The Thunderbird Council is the governing body for the Thunderbird project, and coordinates legal and fiscal matters on behalf of the community."
Time moves on, as there are alternatives, and if you have a problem with Thunderbird functionality, then take the time to investigate alternatives.
Be aware that most mail apps come and go, mostly go, so it's best to at least keep a toe dipped in the reliable long term supported app Thunderbird - keep all your email archived in Thunderbird as well as whatever new flavor mail app comes along.
What I am trying to say is, if you have years of Email from AOL to archive, having local backups of that email in a couple of apps including Thunderbird is probably a good idea.
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I was just going to mention EFAIL. You summed it up well. Is anything sacred? Geezus, one thing after another. Oh yeah, and don't forget to reboot your Routers, as I'm sure most of you have read the FBI announced last week some pesky Ruskies have developed whatever its called, "VPNFilter router exploit"?. (no offense to Aleksander [sidenote: to whom I've donated for his UpdatePacks project, or his tech savvy countrymen for that matter).
To Mobile Artist's question, I was going to suggest using say, Outlook2007 (you can probably find a Key dirt cheap now that MS doesn't support it)... caveat being, IF you don't intend to use that AOL account anylonger. I'd set-up Office 2007 or use 2010 if you want security updates (when setting-up, make sure you go through all the settings, do not check "delete from server" for anything you want to keep, ofc. Then once your Outlook runs for a day or so (depending on connection)... you will "data file management" > "Compact" those .pst files down in your Archive, and Main Folder set-up (typically). Then disable Outlook from connecting (or you could check "work offline" permanently). You'd have all those files forever & ever. *Plus, aside from Efail news, Thunderbird can be quirky with some email clients (I dunno about AOL). Oh yeah, and using SMTP & POP vs IMAP (you will prob have better luck not removing them from the server). Sorry if some of that was already covered. Peace.
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Extraneous info: I just installed a Samsung 970 Pro NVMe M.2 (they are sick, wow). To my question, I figured I'd run Windows Update after cloning existing (old SATA SSD) to new Nvme. Win7 Update populated a bunch of previously hidden updates. So I ran the last simplix update (and patch) from Mid-May. Then installed a cpl KB's that were legit through WinUpdate. [I've been meaning to ask this forever btw]. I took a screenshot, see attached. I'm concerned I am messing up my KB Updates location? (I'm too lazy/busy to read up on Temp KB locations, et.). So thanks in advance for any help & insight one may be able to offer!
Typically, I'll save the UpdatePack7R2 on a Flash (say P: ) So I'll run cmd prompt as admin, change system32 with P:, then type UpdatePack7r2(whatver file name) / Silent / Reboot . You know the drill, machine reboots, system file clean-up, all is well (seemingly).
Am I missing a step specifying KB locations? Again, check screenshot from recent installs. I installed some from Simplix (first), then some using Regular Windows Update. Much obliged to anyone for taking the time to read this.
Attached Files:
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More crazyness from Redmond Morons HQ. @Mr. Fox This is from worse to even more worse
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/csm_windows_Lupe_5_8ffbd9d78b.jpg)
Microsoft Changes Telemetry Updates for Windows 7 & 8.1 to Critical Updates
Anyone who has avoided Windows 10 so far because of its spy tools via telemetry services will find it a little harder now. Because Microsoft ranks the previously available as optional telemetry updates for Windows 7 and ...Ashtrix, Riley Martin, inm8#2 and 2 others like this.
Windows7/8 - Updates to hide to prevent Windows 10 Upgrade / Disable Telemetry
Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Spartan@HIDevolution, Aug 23, 2015.
