Posted on 06/13/2009 7:35:20 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Experts Say Chinese Filter Would Make PCs Vulnerable
By ANDREW JACOBS
BEIJING — Filtering software that the government has mandated for all new computers in China is so technically flawed that outsiders can easily infiltrate a user’s machine to monitor Internet activity, steal personal data or plant destructive viruses, experts who have studied the program say.
“It contains serious vulnerabilities, which is especially worrisome given how widely the software will be adopted,” said J. Alex Halderman, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan who examined the program. “What we found was only the tip of the iceberg.”
Known as Green Dam-Youth Escort, the software must be preinstalled on all personal computers sold in China by July 1. The government has said it will pay for the software for at least a year as part of its campaign against “unhealthy and vulgar” material on the Internet.
Foreign computer makers, which learned of the directive just three weeks ago, have been asking Chinese officials to reconsider the rules, which were formulated without their consultation. They say there are too many unanswered questions about the software, including whether it has the potential to damage operating systems.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The outsiders in this case are Big Brothers, Chinese State Security. So this is not much of the problem to Chinese regime. They do want to "monitor Internet activity, steal personal data or plant destructive viruses."
Ping!
This filtering will soon to be mandated by Obama's own Cyber-Czar!
Exactly.
This filtering will soon to be mandated by Obama's own Cyber-Czar!Absolutely. It won't be long before we need to be "protected from ourselves" and Obama is just the dufus to do it.
Question our techie crowd.
If I wanted to buy a desktop computer that had no preinstalled crap on it..just a simple browser, world processor and spread sheet program. Also a photo storage and simple photo editing. One that was free of preinstalled special offers and lord knows what.
What would you do? I’m not a gamer..just a news junky and photo hound, plus do our normal household admin stuff.
You can buy any computer you want, wipe the hard drive and install Linux.
Dell offers the Vostro line of computers without crapware
A good choice for your needs would be a Dell Vostro 220 with 22” LCD monitor for $359 - pay the extra $99 to get Windows XP.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/desktop-vostro-220mt?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
There are lots of “hole in the wall” computer stores that can build a system for you with just what you want.
He said he didn't want any crapware...
Windows is a conduit for even more crapware.
Vista is full of crapware and is a conduit also.
Windows 98 is reasonable....do Linux Mint with dualboot for windows 98...
Free.
thanks, bfl
Filtering software that the government has mandated for all new computers in China is so technically flawed that outsiders can easily infiltrate a user's machine to monitor Internet activity, steal personal data or plant destructive viruses, experts who have studied the program say.Thanks TigerLikesRooster.
The Chinese government/military can use this to conscript every personal computer in the country into a botnet that can be used for cyberwarfare.
Our neighborhood had a series of strange off-again, on-again power outages at about this time last year. Had to wonder if some grid hackery wasn’t going on.
bump to the top
If I wanted to buy a desktop computer that had no preinstalled crap on it..just a simple browser, world processor and spread sheet program. Also a photo storage and simple photo editing. One that was free of preinstalled special offers and lord knows what. What would you do? I’m not a gamer..just a news junky and photo hound, plus do our normal household admin stuff.
People who use Linux have recommended it. I have no real experience of it, having looked at it briefly over a decade ago.My own computer is a 20" iMac. Apple just reduced their prices a bit, but they don't offer much at the low $$ end. But they sell good computers which work and, like Linux, don't run viruses (there are some, as Obama would preface it, who want to believe that that is a mere artifact of the lesser market share of OS X and Linux compared to Windows, and some who agree with me that Unix which OS X is and which Linux derives from is just a fundamentally more sound design than what I perceive to be the Topsy-grown nature of Windows. It appears that there aren't viruses which work on Linux or the Mac mostly because Windows is a far more vulnerable, in addition to being a very extensive, target).
There are stress factors involved in computing. Windows is noted for virus vulnerability which causes you to run antivirus software, which in turn slows your computer and can be distracting or even paranoia inducing. Linux is known as cheap/free but is known for requiring tech support from friends. Apple is known for its premium pricing. But Apple is also known for good quality in hardware and software, including the appearance of the computer hardware. And if you have an Apple store reasonably handy, and most especially if you spring for one-to-one consultation ($100 gets you a session a week for a year) the deal turns out to be a turnkey solution. I will add that the base price of a Mac doesn't include a spreadsheet program or much of a word processor program; iWork costs an extra $79 and includes a presentation program as well. iPhoto is bundled with any Mac and preinstalled. Along with video editing (iMovie) and packaging (iDVD) and music making (Garage Band). Also a callendar app and a Mail app.
I have a camera designed for stills but capable of video, and I find myself selecting video a good deal. If you have farflung family as your Oldexpat handle suggests, you should have a webcam and use Skype.com to videoconference with them. Try it once, and you'll never be without it.
My bottom line is that the Mac is a way of throwing reasonable amount of money at the stress factors. I don't fret over viruses, I ask questions when I want information, I know where to get the 'puter fixed if it breaks - There is no division between hardware vendor and software vendor; any problem is an Apple problem. And I upgrade my OS if I wanna. Upgrades become available every year or two, and they aren't bloatware but typically are more streamlined than the version they replace (that is to be especially true of the next upgrade, Snow Leopard). Apple sues manufacturers who break the EULA by installing OS X on non-Apple hardware, but if you have a Mac you aren't treated like a suspect, and upgrades are reasonably priced - Snow Leopard will be even more so than most, at $29. I use Time Machine with an external hard drive, so if the internal HD fails I'll just replace it and recover - photos and all - from the external drive.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.