« first day (225 days earlier)      last day (4676 days later) » 

12:07 AM
@Iszi the author could have deleted it
@Mvy done, and scheduled
:-)
 
Wow, here's no surprise...
"54 viruses!" "4 ... are in my system32:" "The other ones are: [in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Temp]" "And the rest are my torrents downloads;"
 
Wow
"It is not without reason that the Linux devs don't report security bugs anymore."
 
Holy crap... This guy is so pwned, and he's still asking for more?!?!
flag

I can get a virus just by downloading a torrent or only when opened? – Totty 2 hours ago

@Totty - What else are you going to do with the torrent? Why are you downloading it, if not to open it? And, nobody here is going to direct you to a site that can infect your PC just by browsing it. It would be irresponsible in the first place, and damaging to this site's reputation for it to have links to known malware providers. If anyone did decide to provide you with a link, I'm certain the link would be hastily deleted by the moderators and that person may even be subject to punitive actions
 
@Iszi frightening, isn't it
 
@RoryAlsop Who wants to bet the guy'd post his e-mail address if we said yes? (I'm not going to tell him, of course.)
 
12:22 AM
He also seem so think that your processor has a fixed lifespan that is counted in terms of cycles used...
This entire question is turning into a goddamn trainwreck!
 
@RoryAlsop - Can you shut that thing down? I don't see it going anywhere productive from here. It's an okay-ish question with some decent answers, but the comment discussions need to be cut off now.
Come to think... who called it a troll to begin with? (And then, who helped feed it? D'oh!)
Haha... no surprise that he's not going to post the file names of his torrents.
...or that he's got some keygens...
 
:-)
 
@RoryAlsop Wait... you invited him here?!?!
 
erm...it's the usual comment :-)
 
This can't possibly go well... if it goes at all...
 
12:33 AM
heh
 
Right, so I just finished Portal 1.
Fun stuff.
The ending made me happy :)
 
@ScottPack Yay!
 
@ScottPack Want to post a torrent so @Totty and I can play? ;-)
 
right - now you need to head on over to thinkingwithportals.com
and download the following community maps:
 
Ooo!
 
12:39 AM
I have hopes (perhaps in vain) that this one will click...
How the virus goes from a site to the PC? – Totty 2 hours ago

@Totty - Your PC has to download the site's files (HTML, JPG, SWF, etc.) to a local location (either on the local HDD, or in RAM) in order to view it. Then, the browser will process the code necessary to render the site for your viewing - which may include exploit code. – Iszi 30 mins ago



But in order to activate the virus, the browser must have vulnerabilities in opening files as is the only thing that will open those local files. – Totty 22 mins ago
 
@Iszi Sorry, mate, I'm not down wit dat.
He sounds an awful lot like some of, what we like to call in the Security Office, our Repeat Customers (tm).
 
@ScottPack I was kidding anyway, in case you couldn't tell. I haven't torrented in years and wouldn't dream of it now. By now I've probably lost (either accidentally or deliberately) anything I have torrented.
 
@ScottPack Most importantly - The Flash map pack - this is bigger than the original game
 
@Iszi I find it's usually bad form to be active in the warez scene and work in Information Security.
 
@ScottPack No, I think he's smart (dumb?) enough to not be a customer of the Security Office at all.
@ScottPack That was long before my infosec days, or even my professional IT career for that matter.
 
12:41 AM
@RoryAlsop By 'The Flash' are you thinking, dutdutdutdutdutdutdutdutdut FLASH!! Awwaaah!
 
all the Remmiz chambers
pl_fling
BoxyTrixy
 
@Iszi Well, by "customer" I mean "people whom we regularly deal with on a professional basis, often at our invitation"
 
flinging_for_noobs
skinnycap
 
@ScottPack Ah, of course.
 
and watcher chambers
oh, and Gear Portal 01
Cassata is good too
maybeblackmesa
and the electric castle
Reach the top has some challenges
that'll keep you going for a while
 
12:44 AM
That's good. I found the main game surprisingly short
 
Well, I think things have settled down enough here that I can pull myself away long enough to go home. (Got caught up at the office in a last-minute high-priority issue, then in this.)
 
trying to get all the achievements will take you a while
 
@Iszi Ouch, that sucks.
 
you have it on steam on pc? or something else
 
I'm already one glass of wine down for the night.
I may have to crank up a G&T after this.
@RoryAlsop Mac!
 
12:45 AM
If that guy shows up in here, someone star a bookmark to the conversation for me when it's done?
 
nahhh
 
@ScottPack - Don't forget to let me know when you'll be down here, so we can hook up for some drinks.
 
@Iszi heh - I'm about off to bed too. Finished redecorating my son's room as a surprise fow when he gets home on Monday from granny's, and have celebrated with much wine
@ScottPack yay
 
@Iszi Oh right! The dates are hard set, what with flights and all. I'll DM you
@RoryAlsop Yay!
 
12:47 AM
@ScottPack LOL Our "pr0n cabinet" (translation: HDDs from investigations) is currently 20 feet to my left.
 
We've joked about getting one of the blue emergency phone lights, labeling it "Porn Alert!!", and rigging it up to a packet capture box to fire on some random hex string.
@Iszi Ah, we keep ours in a safe in the forensics lab. Slightly less exciting.
But, the beeping from the keypad and the kachunk sound of the bars locking into place makes me feel like a man to be sure.
 
@ScottPack Oh, c'mon... why make it "some random hex string"? Make it actually useful - trigger it by a sites filter.
 
heh
 
@Iszi I do have an IDS signature for google image searches with safe search turned off...
 
And add a klaxon sound to it. Gotta have the "red alert" sound...
@ScottPack How often does that false-positive on you?
 
12:50 AM
night, you crazy guys :-)
 
("false-positive" in the sense that what it's detecting really isn't worth worrying about - not that it's detecting the search improperly)
@RoryAlsop G'night
 
@Iszi Being an educational environment with thousands of students in dorm housing....I don't have it turned on.
@RoryAlsop G'night bears sitting in chairs!
 
@ScottPack Ah, right. Yeah, that blue light would be going all night.
 
Pretty much.
Oo! There is the distinctive creaking of the ole lady coming downstairs. Night guys.
 
G'night
 
1:13 AM
Okay... seriously going home now. See y'all on the other side.
 
2:11 AM
692
Q: Our security auditor is an idiot, how do I give him the information he wants?

samarudgeA security auditor for our servers has demanded the following within two weeks: A list of current usernames and plain-text passwords for all user accounts on all servers A list of all password changes for the past six months, again in plain-text A list of "every file added to the server from re...

WOW
 
2:43 AM
@JeffFerland Where've you been all week?
 
3:11 AM
Oh, here and there... busy life some days
Thinking about buying a house
 
4:01 AM
@iszi By the way - sorry for all the nits I picked in your post
I think it was great overall. +1 But you've gotta fix the 0-day refs :)
I do wonder if any AV companies hold any exploits that they detect back from the vendors - anyone know?
 
@nealmcb You mean, like VUPEN?
 
@Iszi Wow - unfriendly trust-demanding site they have. No content in the middle presumably unless I allow javascript/flash from them. And I can't copy/paste text, but they say they provide "detection guidance" against 0-days. Doesn't sound like AV to me.
 
4:22 AM
@nealmcb I think it's more of an IDS service, but they've been known to chat about vulnerabilities that they're not disclosing to the vendors. You can probably find their Chrome exploit on YouTube still.
 
4:32 AM
@Iszi Last I heard it was a flash vulnerability, not chrome per se
 
@nealmcb Strictly speaking, it was. But VUPEN still wasn't talking to the vendors about it.
 
Right. I know of several organizations that sell vulnerability info and don't give it to vendors. Just wondering if that applies to any of the AV players
 
 
3 hours later…
7:50 AM
mornin' - everyone's probably still sleeping :-)
 
Hey @RoryAlsop
Actually trying to drink my coffee+orange
 
Morning @Mvy
coffee&Orange?
 
orange juice
 
not in your coffee - surely?
 
No no :P 2 drinks. :P
 
7:56 AM
thank goodness for that - adding a tot of whisky to a coffee I can understand, but Orange Juice.....
 
^^
Oh French L&U is nearly 100% on 200+ rep users :P
 
excellent
I mean - superb
 
Ok I officially beat my highest scored answer
 
you just use 'beat' :-)
 
yep, smelled like irregular :P
But couldn't remind me about this one ^^
 
8:10 AM
yay - you have 12 rep for the AV answer
 
Second best is now : "Is it OK to tell or give your password to an admin?"
Conclusion, popular topic rewards more than technical subjects
5
 
sad but true
 
8:36 AM
0
Q: What's a good program to practice buffer overflows on (for educational purposes only)?

KenBI have recently learned the basics of buffer overflows, and I have written a few very simple pieces of C/C++ code with unsafe buffers and have produced some interesting results. Now my question is this: Can you name a program that's actually out there in the wild that has a known buffer overflow...

folks here might want to chip in :-)
 
^^
Hummm did someone read this:
1
A: Typing [status-*] in chat shows red moderator tag

Jeff AtwoodThere are per-site chatroom easter eggs for many sites. This is meta's easter egg. What are the others? Hmm...

 
Heh [status-TERMINATED]
damn - doesn't work
 
No
it's meta only it seems
 
8:51 AM
ahhhh
 
> This is meta's easter egg.
 
:-)
 
But we may have one too :P
 
9:16 AM
that could take some time:-)
 
indeed
I wonder if there is some "rickrolling" easter egg somewhere :P
 
<(?:"[^"]*"['"]*|'[^']*'['"]*|[^'">])+>
nope - doesn't work
:-)
 
Hm, I think it's really room specific
I need to try to insert coin one :P
BTW @RoryAlsop : it's Stack Overflow/(any room)
we are Stack Exchange/The DMZ
Funny, the two top answers on AV thing got Downvoted
He? Since when downvotes are signaled on per post basis?
Oh nevermind
these are -1 on his question.
I don't get it. Why did he added a AV report to his question?
 
9:47 AM
it is a very odd scenario all in all
 
10:22 AM
@nealmcb - I'm guessing this question could use your input:
0
Q: Secure Internet Polling

deuseldorfIn the United States, there has been a lot of talk about creating a secure polling system that would operate over the internet. I have also heard that Securing a poll over the Internet is impossible. The system would need to be secure enough that politicians could make policy decisions based on v...

That's one of your specialist areas isn't it? :-)
 
10:44 AM
The blog link in the bottom page is only for graduated blogs? or is for graduated sites?
 
@Mvy ooh - which link?
 
on security.se
footer
it currently don't link to our blog, by I heard of something like this for the gaming blog.
Don't remember we are "allowed" to link on the corresponding blog.
@RoryAlsop you still have the old favicon on the blog BTW?
 
Good spot - will ping Rebecca
@Mvy on IE7, yes. On all others it is fine
 
Ok I need to eat meat
If one day I open a restaurant, reminds me to use that joke from meta.so
brb
 
ttfn
@Mvy then you can let me know what joke you mean
 
11:34 AM
The chat easter eggs are fun. IF you look at the page source, there's an easter egg javascript that contains all of them.
They're setup based on parent site.
At one time I had thought of a great one for us, but forgot it :(
Very nice
 
@ScottPack page not found
 
Exactly!
Look at the image
 
star trek folks with hats?
I don't get it
 
12:01 PM
@RoryAlsop meat.steakoverflow (would make a great name XD)
 
Discussion on BBQ's, grilling, marinades etc.
 
^^
 
posted on July 29, 2011 by M'vy

Last week, we looked at the hardening tag. Today we are going back on a specific question : Does an established SSL connection mean a line is really secure? Why did we pick up this question? Because almost everyone has heard of SSL, but many are not sure how it works and what it is [...]

 
^ Seems interesting XD
 
12:20 PM
that's a good read:-) think I need to go and tweet it
 
:P
 
12:37 PM
@RoryAlsop WTF?
 
3 hours ago, by M'vy
also : http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/75861/what-easter-eggs-do-the-chat-sites-have
 
Oh, FFS...
Ok but in my case with 54 viruses apparently I have no problem and no stolen money from none of my accounts. Why I can't just live with them? – Totty 4 hours ago
 
...
 
@Iszi 'because you're a selfish **** who doesn't care they are probably helping steal money and ruin businesses'
(and calm)
obviously I didn't mean you there @Iszi :-)
Hi @Thomas
 
I always said, we need a new close reason: the user's a moron.
But that would be rough :P
 
12:44 PM
morning
 
@RoryAlsop Hello
 
Difficult to tell how much was just trolling - I couldn't tell if he was actually that oblivious or whether he was just winding everyone up
hello @Thee
 
so i noticed that thread about whether someone should really have antivirus got heated... noticed @AviD told the commenters to take it to chat ;)
 
did he do that too :-)
 
@RoryAlsop Of course, but thanks for clarifying.
 
12:46 PM
Well, could help the understanding
I'm in a point where I don't know what he wants
 
I perused his profile, and his other posts on other sites don't make him out to be a troll. But around here, that really seems to be what he's done.
 
now i'm curious... who and what are ya talking about
 
@TheEvilPhoenix You've been warned...
0
Q: Do we really need an antivirus? if yes, what for? And how do they activate and enter in a PC?

TottyI've been reading on various sites how PC get infected by viruses and I got: Email attachments (but of course, only if I get an exe and open or execute something, right?) Don't update windows Downloads (the same as email attachments, right?) Pros: I can't think of any worthwhile. Cons: ...

 
OP
 
oh THAT
 
12:50 PM
Brace yourself @Thee
 
I'm sort-of comforted that right now that post has a zero score.
 
you mean the thread i've been watching for three days
 
I personally down-voted it because of the way the thread went.
 
the one which should be burned
 
But, there's good info there that almost makes it up-vote worthy.
 
12:50 PM
@TheEvilPhoenix heh, you and your burnination
 
@Iszi perhaps in theh answers, but not the question.
 
@TheEvilPhoenix Sure feels like it, doesn't it?
@TheEvilPhoenix Yes, that's what I meant.
 
@RoryAlsop i'm kinda in a super-rage mode... lack of sleep does that to ya >.>
 
I hear ya, @Thee
 
Oh, hey... whatever happened to that question?
 
12:52 PM
although since the coffee machines and espresso machines arent working at the coffee shops due to a blackout on those blocks due to blown power stuff...
i'm even more ragey...
:P
 
Totally forgot about it in the midst of yesterday's mess.
 
no coffeeeeee???
RAAAAAAGGGGEEEEEEE :-)
 
NO COFFEE!
btw whats the purpose of that tag?
@RoryAlsop WITHOUT COFFEE, THE WORLD SHALL FEEL MY WRATH AND THE FULL EXTENT OF MY RAGE! (yes, it results in bad things when i dont get my coffee)
oh good they just got power back on
 
the one tagged black hat - well, I removed that tag and replaced it with
5
Q: Where can I find a mentor/teacher in computer security?

Filip HaglundI really enjoy computers - especially security. That's why I went to a school profiled as technical/IT. However, they teach crap. They don't know anything after the release of windows xp/2003. When one of our teachers told us about the dangers involved with a ping of death I gave up on trying to ...

 
@RoryAlsop Yeah, found that now too. Thanks.
 
1:06 PM
the comments on that thread about antivirus... that user needs to be shot... or burned... depending on everyone else's thoughts on it...
btw, i have returned from my coffee run with coffee :P
 
Shot, then burned. That way he can't come back as a zombie.

Oh, wait... we're too late on that already.
 
;) @Iszi my rage knows no bounds, huh? :P
 
@TheEvilPhoenix Remember, its all CC licensed - we own it. If we can swallow the idea of letting the OP get some credit, we can just edit the question to suit. Or, better, someone can just ask the question in a different way, and everyone can just move or reproduce their answers there... In fact anyone can reproduce an answer there, with credit....
We can work make the site what we want it to be....
 
@nealmcbl indeed. however i was specifically commenting on that user... not the question... the thread turned into a more trollish thread
whereas the initial thoughts on it were that its valid
 
Yup
 
1:16 PM
@TheEvilPhoenix No, the thread started out as trollish. Set off my "troll alarm" from the very beginning. Yes, some of the concerns in it may be valid and may generate some useful and valuable discussion, but this particular thread was a troll from the outset.
 
@Iszi i beg to differ, but thats because i started reading the thread at the very end of the day :P
in any case
it shouldnt continue to exist in its current state
at least thats my thinking
 
@TheEvilPhoenix Despite having gotten a "Nice Answer" badge from it, I have to agree. It needs some serious cleanup, and perhaps a bit of overhaul, if it should remain.
 
+1
 
well my version of overhauling a thread is destroying it, so i'll let the overhauls come from one of you people. ;P
 
LOL - I'm more tempted to keep any of the comments that have value and feed them into the question or one of the answers, and just wipeout the rest
 
1:21 PM
@RoryAlsop Keep his AV scan results though. I wanna check 'em out online. I'm curious to see exactly how screwed this guy's gotten himself.
 
(by the way @Iszi: we're now 12-12)
 
Or, I suppose I could always just review the edit history...
@Mvy Hey, I recovered from the down-vote? Cool!
 
@Iszi i think he's royally screwed...
 
@Mvy - Actually, I don't think I recovered from the down-vote. It appears you've gained one.
@TheEvilPhoenix I don't disagree. I'm just curious to find out exactly how royally screwed.
 
@Iszi I see 12 - 12
 
1:24 PM
@Iszi i've only seen that level of contamination on the system from a system having multiple rootkits and various trojan.downloaders
a client had that, i came in, scanned their system, found that crap and was like "Yeah... you're screwed..."
:P
 
@Mvy - You should be able to view the vote counts. We've each got a down-vote.
 
ha the question had a +1 score... i fixed that >:)
 
@TheEvilPhoenix Yeah, that came in just this past hour.
 
just noticed it
 
Well ok, it 14 -1 / 14 -1
 
1:26 PM
i'm splitscreened with an SSH terminal so i dont get to see all the questions :P
 
@TheEvilPhoenix The real life should fit in a SSH terminal
 
@Mvy I'm wondering when and why you picked up the down-vote.
I know (I think) why mine got down-voted, but what did you do?
 
@Iszi Hm. I don't really care. That happens.
Could just be someone annoyed by all the blah blah
 
1:40 PM
@Mvy an SSH terminal should be big enough to host real life?
 
Well who knows @Jeff
Maybe
 
Or, put another way, my life is too damn awesome for an SSH window. :)
 
XD
Oh! I like that one! Math is awesome
2
 
As far as I'm concerned, security is damn easy when compared to that equation. I can more easily understand RSA than the Batman equation...
 
@Mvy very cool
 
1:49 PM
The resolution is not very cool though.
Can't get that equation.
 
tidied a fair bit:
0
Q: Do we really need an antivirus? if yes, what for? And how do they activate and enter in a PC?

TottyI've been reading on various sites how PC get infected by viruses and I got: Email attachments (but of course, only if I get an exe and open or execute something, right?) Don't update windows Downloads (the same as email attachments, right?) Pros: I can't think of any worthwhile. Cons: ...

 
2:00 PM
That's why I keep my IM and terminals on the secondary monitor
 
decided I'm getting a new PC, and will get another monitor - any good thoughts on good quality, high res monitors these days?
 
Historically the Viewsonic VP930 have been fantastic. They're several years old at this point, and only 19" 4:3
I'm using a Dell P2210 and a P2310H, and have been really happy with both.
 
think my main one is a 2210, with a samsung something as my document reader screen
 
That's a version with higher resolution
Actually the math is not complex, it is just wrong
this is programmation, not math, and arguably using a security hole in the calculator
 
2:19 PM
@ThomasPornin security hole?
 
There are many instances of sqrt(|z|/z) for some values of z
|z|/z evaluates to either 1 or -1
the equation uses it to clip the curve elements
 
okay - makes sense :-)
 
sqrt(-1) is not defined, so the equation is relying on the calculator not rejecting invalid input
 
2:38 PM
This screams NaA at me:
0
A: Building a security framework

M15KWhat I don't understand thus far is the distribute it as a re usable code in an internal portal Is this code for internal usage? I don't know what methods and standards you are going by here as far as application development. But I can say that cobbling something together without a proper...

 
2:49 PM
@TheEvilPhoenix good call - fixed
 
moved to comment
 
and this is why my flag weight rose quickly on ask ubuntu...
i actively seeked those NaA ones out
and sniped em with flags
 
^^
 
what does flag weight get you? Aside from Deputy badge? I mean it is invaluable for mods - without the flags we would miss all sorts of sins:-)
 
2:57 PM
Well we were talking about getting some mod-tools with the flag weight once.
But I guess this has not been implemented.
 
@Scott - congrats on the 2k
 
nope it hasnt been implemented anywhere
having said that...
higher flag weight == higher priority flags :P
comes in handy over at AskUbuntu :P
 
so does that just make them appear to mods first in the list, I wonder
 
yep I guess
31
Q: Consider flag weight as well as reputation for earning moderation tools

Won'tUsers who have shown they are responsible wielders of moderator flags should be able to access moderator tools at lower reputation levels.

No status...
lost in time :P
 
@Mvy Not an uncommon occurrence.
@RoryAlsop - Wow, you cleaned up the comments on that thread!
 
3:19 PM
I moved ones with extra info to answers - tried to do that fairly and correctly, and ditched everything else
so you'll see the odd bit you had as a comment now in your answer
etc
where relevant anyway
 
hm. Moderation in action.
 
it was needed. was a mess
 
Happy SysAdmin day, y'allz!
 
@Iszi MarcoCeppi said the same thing
happy sysadmin day to you
 
Well does it counts for a researcher-hotliner-developer-CISO-product_manager-phd_candidate-sysadmin?
 
3:26 PM
don't think they do a jack-of-all-trades day...
 
3:39 PM
:P
 
@ThomasPornin
0
A: Does the certificate a SSL connection/state "points" to change if I load a new certificate in OpenSSL?

Jeff FerlandFirst, I'm confused about the implementation details you're asking for. Second, I can't think of a circumstance in which different keys would be useful unless you're trying to authenticate your users by their certificates -- which you're apparently not doing (users needing different encryption, n...

 
I think he wants to learn a detail on how OpenSSL (the library) works
OpenSSL is known for having one of the worse documentation in existence
 
@ThomasPornin I think he's trying to have his server use a different SSL cert depending on who connects to it under the idea that it enhances security.
 
Ah well, he does not say if he is talking about software on the client or server side
 
4:06 PM
i posted another answer to the whole 'don't use antivirus' question...... why do i respond to questions that i know are trolling me.....
 
4:20 PM
@RoryAlsop Thanks for the tip on that internet polling question. And I'm delighted to see pulpspy's recent answer also - he's done research in the field.
3
Q: Secure Internet Polling

deuseldorfIn the United States, there has been a lot of talk about creating a secure polling system that would operate over the internet. I have also heard that Securing a poll over the Internet is impossible. The system would need to be secure enough that politicians could make policy decisions based on v...

 
4:32 PM
@ThomasPornin The batman math is very cool even with the unstated assumptions. But I want a good post about it to point people to, e.g. with the equation itself in a reusable form so people can play with it. Haven't found anything yet.
 
4:44 PM
C.V. the evolution of the logo:
 
5:21 PM
@RoryAlsop Yay me!
Just 8k more! :)
 
5:47 PM
A thought: As more applications become like Chrome.... (link interjection)
... compartmentalization will matter far more for security. Apps will need external permissions in the style of apparmor to be effectively secured against malicious updates. My browser shouldn't ever access my documents folder without my operating system interfering.
That the functionality of software is regularly updated without user intervention just unnerves me. I know the upside, but I dislike the downside.
Also, I want to throw my phone out the window. I get annoyed after I get about 4 texts in 2 hours, and I'm up to 16 in the past 10 minutes
 
@JeffFerland Turn phone off.
 
6:04 PM
haha, turn it off and have fun when it starts getting all those messages :-P
 
 
2 hours later…
8:01 PM
user image
2
 
@thisjosh I might get work calls on my phone.
@Iszi Yeah, that's about right.
 
8:16 PM
And printed
 
 
2 hours later…
10:21 PM
@JeffFerland Call forwarding, caller ID
 

« first day (225 days earlier)      last day (4676 days later) »