how to avoid malware on flash drives

19.11.20: cyb/sec/how to avoid malware on flash drives:
co.quora:
. any computer is prone to infections from
visiting malware-infected websites or pdf's;
most usb peripherals contain firmware
that can be infected with malware,
so that a website can infect computer firmware;
then it can infect your flash drive firmware
which can then infect other computers.

bluff email ransomware for bitcoin# 1C2EbKJCZKtHMJawxBqyzZ9SHQVwRyfist

mis.cyb/sec/malware/
bluff email ransomware for bitcoin# 1C2EbKJCZKtHMJawxBqyzZ9SHQVwRyfist:
. this letter was in my spam
(Oct 6, 2019, 12:50 PM
subject: Hohe Gefahr. Konto wurde angegriffen.)
seeming to come from my own account;
but gmail warns there is no way to verify this;
it warns of a trojan but I use a chromebook,
which is not so prone to trojans.
. here is what the letter said
translated by google from german
(not necessarily the language of the attacker):

snapshot unresponsive? check for shortcut changes:

3.4: web.cyb/mac/snapshot unresponsive? check for shortcut changes:
. the mac snapshot shortcut no longer works;
one reason could be Apple had the bright idea of
moving the shortcut to Shift-Command-5:
(macOS 10.14 Mojave was released on September 24, 2018)
In earlier macOS versions than Mojave,
use Shift-Command-3 or Shift-Command-4 for screenshots.

@walmart tax cut? buy a better checkout system like @sproutsfm

2017: mis.aq/walmart/@walmart tax cut? buy a better checkout system:
. I frequent the Walmart located at
Kolb & Speedway, Tucson, AZ;
in 2017 I started storing a lot of canned food;
often I would bring 12 or more of the same item;
double charged by cashier?
I'll try my luck at self-checkout;
I double charged me too?!
. the display has only 10 lines
and displays each item on a new line,
instead of using just one line
to show you how many times
you entered the same type of item;
so, it's not obvious from looking at the display
whether or not an item scanned
when you have more than 10 of the same item type.
. it would be easier if the new system would tell you
how many times you entered that item
rather than listing each entry separately
(like occurs when using the cashier
and their one-line display
tells you what just got scanned).
. doing that would also save a lot on receipt paper:
instead of 12 lines of canned greens,
there would be one line saying:
12 x canned greens.
-- @sproutsfm has a system like that,
and it is very easy to check for charging errors;
whereas, on the Walmart receipt,
it lists each item on a separate line,
making the receipt difficult to check
for cashier or machine errors.

DOD DNI want #cyberwar command split from #NSA

10.6: news.pol/purges/war/
DOD DNI want cyberwar command split from NSA:
10.18: summary:
. the same technology used for hacking into computers
can be used for both gathering info (NSA activities)
and for making foreign computers do malicious things
(cyberwar command activities).
. anybody with that technology can do both;
not surprisingly both activities have been headed by
the same director (a military general)
but since Snowden exposed that NSA is spying on its citizens
privacy defenders want NSA headed by senate-selected civilian
rather than a general selected by the military.

#malware for #iOS #2014

news.cyb/sec/malware for iOS:
1.3: summary:
. some might say Wirelurker is no big deal
since it requires the mac user to install
an untrusted enterprise app:
moral of the story, reap what you sew;
don't trust any apps
unless you can trust its source;
right?
. but did you know that one mistake
could rewrite your other iOS apps?
in the name of user friendliness,
iOS security could be better,
and zdziarski.com has some suggestions .

#BadUSB code made public #badBIOS #android #linux #mac #Windows

news.cyb/sec/#badBIOS/#BadUSB code made public:
10.11: summary:
. in 2013 I wrote about #badBIOS malware
apparently infecting my mac and linux/pc;
 recently a demonstration of badUSB
has proven a key technology needed by badBIOS;
but the code was not revealed; because,
USB is considered to be unpatchable,
unless $billions in hardware were replaced .
. even more recently,
other researchers have released the code .
 

2014 usa homeland security review

7.23: news.pol/healthcare/2014 usa homeland security review:
. this is my abstract and commentary of usa's
2014 QUADRENNIAL HOMELAND SECURITY REVIEW: ...

DARPA's automated internet disinfectant

6.4: news.cyb/sec/DARPA's automated internet disinfectant:
Mike Walker, DARPA program manager
on Reddit.com:

In April of 2014,  insurers started selling insurance products
that covered physical harm generated by cyber effects
-- Google "cyber insurance" "property damage".
In May of 2014,
Sky News reported that over 42,000 London cars
-- nearly half of the cars stolen in the city of London --
were stolen with hacking.
The networked civilization we are building
is going to need to be able to make
strong promises about the safety of software,
because it won't just be guarding our data security
-- it will be guarding our physical security.
If we're going to be able to make strong promises about
software safety, we're going to need automation
that can investigate software in a
uniform, scalable and effective manner.
We know that expert auditors can't get there
-- IBM/Rational points out that our civilization crossed
1 trillion lines of code in the early 2000's.
Operating systems weigh in above 40 million lines
under constant development.
The problem is too big and it’s moving too fast.
We also know that today's automation is
losing every contest of wits to experts
-- in the wake of Heartbleed,
not a single automation product has come forward to say
that this flaw could have been detected
without expert annotation or intervention.
CGC is open technology development
on the problem of software safety,
a problem seen by the DoD
-- and everyone with a vested interest in our connected future.

cybergrandchallenge/about:

. What if a purpose built supercomputer
could scour the billions of lines of code we depend on,
find and fix the toughest flaws,
upend the economics of computer security,
and level the playing field
between attackers and defenders?

co.reddit comment:

. a lot invested in the [stale] attack/defense model
of computer security competition.
I've heard arguments from many players
that the current model of attack/defense CTF
[capture the flag competitions] is "stale". 

Mike Walker:

. great innovation is happening in the CTF community:
see Build It / Break It / Fix It,
funded by the National Science Foundation.

6.7: my response:
. what is stale is the attack/defense model;
because, the chip firmwares have backdoors;
you need to secure the hardware;
then you can analyze the software;
but, at least with DECREE
they are promoting a microkernel OS
that can guarantee isolation between app's?
(well, the interface is tiny, if not the Trusted Code Base).
. unfortunately what they have in mind
is to use their simple OS only for
easily managing the budding automation competition;
then they plan to evolve the winning buds
for auto-fixing today's software on today OS's.
. but, what can they do for firmware breaches?
. they are trying to show concern about cybercrime
without actually blocking the backdoors used by NSA .

#mac #osx #rtfm #badBIOS #NSA stuccomontana

9: news.cyb/sec/#mac #osx #rtfm #badBIOS #NSA stuccomontana:
intro:
. when NSA conceals a computer vulnerability
(one that can take possession of your computer
and make it do the bidding of the internet)
there is nothing magical about this situation
that would prevent criminal elements
from also exploiting these backdoors .
. NSA knows the cat is out of the bag;
that's why they set up the Snowden leak:
NSA knows they need to get our permission now
rather than use our computer vulnerabilities
because the criminals now know too much
about the backdoors NSA needs for surveillance .

. the following is someone claiming to show
an NSA leak documenting the #badBIOS malware
that has been plaguing Dragos Ruiu .

#Apple #iMac #badBIOS #malware

12.15: summary:
. my 2008 imac seemed infected by opening pdf's,
and I suspected it was #badBIOS malware;
because, it gave my dvd player troubles:
it made the os x installer disk unreadable,
and it also seemed to be coming from firmware,
as even after I reinstalled the OS via download,
and hadn't opened any more pdf's or javascript,
I still seemed to get infected again .
. my troubles started with finding a new pdf library,
and I ended up finally replacing my sick mac
with a chromebook featuring verified boot!

#OKL4 #opensource to see what #NSA did to it

2: co.okl4-developer/cyb/sec/OKL4
/open source to see what NSA did to it:

Ph.T 8:57 PM to Jim, developer 

I think the problem is OKL4 is military-grade isolation,
and the NSA doesn't want us to be protected like that .

#badBIOS @dragosr vs Mac, Linux and PC

4: cyb/sec/#badBIOS/ 
30: summary:
. malware that spreads via usb devices
can infect other usb devices,
and the problem is not the os;
it is the hardware and usb standards
which expose the os to malware infection .
. Dragos Ruiu talks about a mac infection
which sounds like the one I got;
it prevented me from reinstalling the os;
and it started infecting my chromebook,
but the chrome os was able to clean it up .
. my 2005 ubuntu laptop was not so lucky .
. a laptop in my future that will likely do well
is one running the xen hypervisor,
hardened with the Qubes OS .
(see #Qubes #Xen vs Dragos Ruiu's #badBIOS).

#Qubes #Xen vs Dragos Ruiu's #badBIOS

6: co.cyb/sec/qubes/Xen vs Dragos Ruiu's #badBIOS:
me to qubes-devel 5:41am:

. reading about the #badBIOS infection,
blog.erratasec.com/2013/10/badbios-features-explained.html
I was surprised to learn that all computing accessories
(mouse, trackpad, hub, keyboard, and of course
 flash drives) could have a software-programmable firmware
and this could be infected with malware that could spread
to your next computer if attached to dom0 .
. I was also concerned that a new flash drive malware
-- Dragos Ruiu's #badBIOS --
could infect a next machine without even being mounted;
is this a new threat that xen has yet to adapt to?