Posted on 03/25/2017 11:04:05 AM PDT by blam
Yesterday we reported that an international group of hackers claim they have breached Apple’s iCloud user database and stolen 300 million usernames and passwords. The group has threatened to initiate a widespread factory reset on April 7th, 2017, potentially wiping out data on tens of millions of iPhones and iCloud accounts should Apple fail to pay a ransom.
But that breach by nefarious hackers, while serious, is nothing compared to what your trusted operating system provider may be doing on your personal computer.
According to a recent report, if you are a Windows 10 user then every single keystroke you have ever typed on your computer may have been logged and sent to Microsoft.
You know those nagging questions during the installation process that ask you whether or not you want to “help” improve Windows by sending data to Microsoft? If you happened to answer “yes” to one of these questions, or if you went with the Microsoft default installation, there is a real possibility that everything you have done on your computer from the get-go, including sending “secure” messages (because the keyboard logger captures your keystrokes before they appear in your secure messaging app), is now a part of a massive user database somewhere.
There’s been heaps of controversy associated with Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 10 since it was launched, but the latest issue takes the cake – apparently Windows has been quietly logging every single keystroke users make on their keyboards from the beginning. Even better, that data is being constantly sent to Microsoft’s servers on a regular basis.
Via IB Times
It’s been reported that Microsoft has been using the data to improve artificial intelligence writing and grammar software, but it’s not clear what else they are doing with it.
(snip)
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfplan.com ...
Not sure if the following is stil ltrue or not- but apparently there is no way to totally stop windows 10 from spying on you
“Windows 10 Doesn’t Stop Spying You, Even After Disabling It’s Creepy Features”
Microsoft still tracks you, even after you harden your Windows 10 privacy to an extreme level by disabling all privacy-infringing settings”
http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/windows-10-privacy-spying.html
The push for Windows 10 on Windows 7/8 PCs has been halted. You may want to reconsider those missed updates, although Microsoft is notorious for messing up working PCs with their updates.
Google -
Windows 10 block telemetry
Type “privacy” in the ask me anything box (no quotes), then choose privacy settings.
I wouldn’t bet too much that changing the setting will change what they do, but at least we tried.
I ignored the windows 10 update. One day my computer automatically updated, after I had selected no for months.
Go to your bottom taskbar, click on the box on the lowest right corner ( also called notifications ) . Will give you All settings, also on the lowest right. Click on that and privacy setting are there.
 |
 |
|---|
Where are the "WE'RE DOOMED!!" guys??
The option is “about how I write”. That does not say “send every keystroke “.
The headline says that it is sent. The body says “may”. The article is a fraud as you would expect from a bunch that is trying to scare everyone into using their services.
It's really quaint and sort of charming how naive people are about what companies and agencies do with their private data -- identity, financial, business, personal, educational, occupational, health...
Actually health data may be the best protected -- in theory -- because of HIPAA. But only in theory.
In another year nobody will worry about Windows 10's invasive default settings, or what Microsoft does with the data. It'll just be accepted by the vast majority of users as "the way it is", and the rest of us will simply not use it for anything important.
Switched to Mac and Linux a couple of years ago, never to look back.
Simply click on your Windows 10 Start Menu. From there, go to Settings (or the gear icon) -> Privacy -> General
You’ll want to turn off the option that says, “Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improve typing and writing in the future.”
The On & Off buttons are there only for display.
You turn the slide button Off it is still On!
Does anyone really believe that changing a setting will stop this?
The only solution is to use an older computer without this technology. Because if the option is on your computer, it WILL be used, whether you want it or not.
Bkmk
But it turned out not to be true. They had a few Phished iCloud accounts that they had garnered passcode access to from other sites where iCloud users had used their iCloud account names and passwords as their access IDs. The owners of these accounts have verified they were using their iCloud IDs in multiple locations and were also using simple passwords. The "Turkish Crime Family" turned out to be an group of amateur teenagers in London.
"There have not been any breaches in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud and Apple ID," the spokesperson said. "The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services."A person familiar with the contents of the alleged data set said that many of the email accounts and passwords contained within it matched data leaked in a past breach at LinkedIn. The professional networking site, since acquired by Microsoft (MSFT, +0.28%), was pilfered of information for more than 100 million accounts in 2012, though the extent of the digital heist only came to light last year. — Fortune Magazine — Mar 22, 2017
So sorry your triumphant moment of Apple iCloud failure has turned out to be a failed extortion HOAX using purloined data from non-Apple sources.
“Time to roll back to W7.”
Time to roll back to MS-DOS :)
This is why I use a Mac and I don’t use iCloud. There is nothing good about Microsoft, they should be RICOed.
I have what looks like a round snow flake-like object (not sure what you call it) on my task bar and when I put my cursor over it, says settings. I went in there and then clicked on “privacy” then I turned the settings off which is the first thing you see when clicking on privacy.
Hope that helps.
Has anyone attempted to compute how massive that is?
What kind of an investment must Microsoft have accumulated by now on hardware alone?
How many hard drives would it take to save 10gazzilion messages?
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.