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To: pabianice

I’ve always thought the most nefarious attack vector would be for the bad guys to get a list of all the installed AV software from one of the major vendors, then send out an evil automatic “update.” What safeguards are in place to prevent this from happening?

I get auto update all the time for Apple macOS, IOS, for Adobe Apps, every app I’ve bought on the app store and more. Many of these are auto-installed in the background. Who protects the safety of these updates?


11 posted on 03/17/2018 2:22:08 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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>>”PC now useless.”

almost like a troll, Pabiance is on here several times a year with his computer emergencies, and no your PC is not useless!


13 posted on 03/17/2018 2:29:54 PM PDT by RBStealth
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
That's how the Israelis and Americans hacked into Iran's uranium centrifuges and caused them to self-destruct.

They used a Windows Update Trojan Horse.

Since that was publicly revealed, Microsoft has changed its update protocol.

I don't know what they changed, but updates now take longer, and they usually involve one or two auto-restarts, which requires new log-ins, of course.

If anyone on this thread does know how MSFT changed their protocol, I'd be interested in hearing a summary.

27 posted on 03/17/2018 3:14:32 PM PDT by zeestephen
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Any updates that flow through the App Store are vetted before released. The REAL danger, even on a Mac, is non App Store software. While most is ok/safe, there are trojan bits out there - as well as vectors for other nefarious actions.

Very few (and further shrinking) Apple-related software installs use pop-ups or emails to remind one to update to a new version. In fact - other than JAVA (if you have it actually installed) and MS Office (and only after you launch one of the suit’s apps when it auto-checks for updates).


66 posted on 03/17/2018 9:52:16 PM PDT by TheBattman (Democrats-Progressives-Marxists-Socialists - redundant labels.)
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