A brand new pc, but from where?

[Razor]

Can't afford one of those sports chips

Still rocking a 386 @ 16Mhz

[Icm76]

Hell, even Open Office, Libre Office, etc is better than a pirated version. I've seen some funny things in the last few weeks - it's definitely not for me!

my favourite might be Photoshop, it maybe doesn't happen quite as much over the last couple of years but so many people seem obsessed with the idea that they must have it "for photography" or "for college" despite not having any real idea what to do with it.

I don't why it's so hard to convince some people that free and open source products GIMP, digiKam, Shotwell, FastStone and many more will satisfy most needs, or even that Photoshop Elements is very affordable solution for home users who simply can't bear to break the Adobe chains. Surely it's infinitely better than the stress of seeing your bank, credit card and paypal accounts cleaned out

If you want one like mine the cost of the OS will be much less significant

Open source Linux is free to use, eliminating the OS price entirely from consideration. There is so little need for Windows now, even for gamers Linux take up is likely to snowball over the next few years with SteamOS likely to lead to much better driver and api support. It's a bit cynical, but Android is Linux with proprietary crap for ad delivery bolted on. Anyone who learn to use a smartphone or tablet should be able to adapt to any number of user friendly desktop Linux distros.

[thescruff]

BG

edit: I'd buy from Aria too. Scruff got his monster from there - wonder how he's got on with it?

Great bit of kit BG, Needed to update one of the drivers otherwise faultless.

[BillyGoat]

Although it might attract the wrong attention, I must say I do like GIMP.

I'm a big paintbrush man, then I break out the GIMP if I need something ..... more

Glad to hear it's still going well Scruff - they are a great company.

[toolbox]

Amazon has quite a good selection but check it is supplied from them direct. I ended up getting my new one from the co-op site

http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/Computing/fd/c

Good price and one hour delivery slot.

[Liam2349]

If we are talking a linux derivative that is designed to be shared that way and has a valid checksum - sure, why not.

If you mean a Microsoft OS and a keygen (or what other method you use) - best of luck to you.

7 in 10 downloaded versions from sharing/torrents/FTP/etc sites are infected or have injected code in some form ranging from key loggers, trojans, etc.

I'm more than aware of BIOS mods, SLP protection, enterprise versions, KMS hacks and all sorts of other methods - wouldn't do it to myself or my family.

BG

Well I've never had issues with it. KMS works extremely well. Some people might upload bad stuff, but it's avoidable by reading comments, or downloading from trusted uploaders.

KMS also works for Office, and even cloud features work. It functions 100% as the real version, including updates.

Sent from my Surface Pro 2 using Tapatalk

[BillyGoat]

If we are talking a linux derivative that is designed to be shared that way and has a valid checksum - sure, why not.

If you mean a Microsoft OS and a keygen (or what other method you use) - best of luck to you.

7 in 10 downloaded versions from sharing/torrents/FTP/etc sites are infected or have injected code in some form ranging from key loggers, trojans, etc.

I'm more than aware of BIOS mods, SLP protection, enterprise versions, KMS hacks and all sorts of other methods - wouldn't do it to myself or my family.

BG

Well I've never had issues with it. KMS works extremely well. Some people might upload bad stuff, but it's avoidable by reading comments, or downloading from trusted uploaders.

KMS also works for Office, and even cloud features work. It functions 100% as the real version, including updates.

Sent from my Surface Pro 2 using Tapatalk

Of course - the comments!! Why didn't I think of that

I can imagine the egg on the face of the person who modifies the KMS software, install scripts and attaches various things felt like a right idiot when he uploaded the bad version and wrote in the comments "THIS IS A GENUINE VERSION" - I'll bet he didn't sleep for a week riddled with guilt.

Because people don't do that, right?

I jest, but as long as you know the risks - carry on!

I've worked with people who have been involved first hand with identity theft and financial loss and it's not something I'd care to be part of, ever. Imagine 7k being taken out your account and the bank saying - nothing we can do, they used ALL of your details.

While I'm no advocate of Linux, I'd recommend it someone EVERY time over a pirated installation of another OS. I can't think of anything they wouldn't be able to do with it that they could with a Windows machine.

Web - check
Video - check
Productivity - check
Other stuff - check

It's a bit like a sparky* who comes to re-wire you house. He's not done his certs, but you can trust him because he says it's fine.

BG

EDIT: Just to ask a genuine question though, why do people buy computers and then install dodgy copies of the OS. I've known people spend thousands on the hardware, but then proclaim that Microsoft are ripping people off when it comes to the nuts and guts that run on it? What about the features, updates, security patches, ongoing development - is that really worth nothing?

*other trades do exist

[thescruff]

Talking of bugs BG what are malwarebytes on about in this news latter.

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/online-sec ... bleed-bug/

[BillyGoat]

Talking of bugs BG what are malwarebytes on about in this news latter.

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/online-sec ... bleed-bug/

It's massive. It's basically a problem with OpenSSL (the certificate that means a site is who they say they are amongst other things when you are using secure sites - think of going to your bank, then you see the padlock that says it's secure) that allows attacks to harvest data from a site beyond what they are MEANT to be able to see.

Out of the things I've seen, this sums it up nicely......(and it's fun)....

hbleed.png (299.8 KiB) Viewed 2519 times

The real shitty thing is, that even changing your passwords doesn't make things safe for you UNLESS the site has patched their certs AND revoked the old one too!

It's a good advocate for some common sense security:

- Don't use the same password for every site
- Try and use different usernames where possible
- Protect your email account - enable phone security for password resets and checks, make sure you've got a second account to recover it, secure password, enable txt messages/emails when someone tries to change things
- Close old accounts when you don't need them anymore!!!!!

There are lots of lists for sites who are affected, keep an eye on them and change when requested!

BG

[thescruff]

So what is open SSL and does/will/could it affect everyone or just a selection

Is it worth running any of the tools in the links.

[BillyGoat]

So what is open SSL and does/will/could it affect everyone or just a selection

Is it worth running any of the tools in the links.

It's a way of creating their certificate.

The tools will tell you if a site is using an affected version of OpenSSL and if it has the bug, but there is nothing you can do about it though.

It's ultimately down to the site owner/admin/whatever to create a new cert, revoke the old one and let everyone know it's sorted.

If you change your credentials and the site does not change, then the next attacker could get your details (in theory).

BG

[thescruff]

So we're talking sites we visit and not a personal computer. for example online banking.

[BillyGoat]

So we're talking sites we visit and not a personal computer. for example online banking.

Zactly.

They link to a list in that article.....have a goosey: http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartble ... -affected/

I'd hope sites were proactive enough to mail their members that:

a) they were affected and disclose the fact
b) advise people it's fixed and to update passwords as a precaution

Don't forget, if anyone mails you with a link to change your password that you should ignore it and type the site YOURSELF in the address bar. Lots of opportunists have jumped on the bandwagon with some seriously good emails/sites/etc to steal details!

BG

[thescruff]

So in theory the newsletter from Malwarebytes could be at risk or fake.

[BillyGoat]

So in theory the newsletter from Malwarebytes could be at risk or fake.

No, but yes.

It COULD be fake IF someone had used the bug to hack the server, steal the details and get their password database. Crack it, log into their blog and THEN write the fake article



It's just a normal blog and not on a secure page (at least the blog - so that part isn't affected). They might have a login to the blog that's https that's got a bad cert, so that would then be vulnerable to the attack.

BG