Another wrinkle in the demise of Windows XP support

According to NCR, who make 95% of them, most of their ATMs run on Windows XP. It’s difficult to predict whether the lack of security patches for that O/S after April will make those ATMs more vulnerable. Financial institutions are aware of this, and are planning to either upgrade their ATMs to Windows 7 or pay Microsoft for a support contract that includes patches for Windows XP after April.

How well do popular sites protect your passwords?

According to a recent study by Dashlane, makers of a web-oriented password manager, Apple.com does the best job of protecting your passwords online.

The study ranked one hundred of the most popular web sites on their ability to encourage or require the use of strong passwords, to assist users in selecting strong passwords, and on their policies in relation to storing and displaying or emailing passwords. Microsoft and NewEgg scored highly, and Major League Baseball scored worst.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 coming in March 2014

According to some reports, Microsoft is planning to release the next update for Windows 8 in March this year. It’s being referred to as “Update 1 for Windows 8.1”, which breaks new ground in Microsoft’s ongoing effort to confuse us with version nomenclature. If Windows 8.1 was the equivalent of Windows 8 Service Pack 1, then what’s this new thing? What makes it an ‘update’, while the previous release got its own version number? Both are free updates, so the only real difference is that Windows 8.1 is what you get when you try to buy Windows 8.

Version issues aside, speculation about the changes in Update 1 for Windows 8.1 is rampant. Of note is the rumour that Microsoft will finally relent and bring back the Start menu. The latest is that Microsoft may make it easier to find the controls for shutting down your computer, previously – and inexplicably – hidden in Windows 8 and 8.1. While welcome, it’s difficult to characterize this as progress when the feature was in Windows for decades previously. One step back, one step forward… eventually.

Windows news roundup

Anyone buying a new HP PC these days will be steered towards Windows 7 instead of the more current – but flawed – Windows 8. It’s not entirely clear what prompted HP to stop selling their computers with Windows 8, but the lack of user acceptance of that O/S clearly played a part. It’s also likely that HP’s support costs have increased markedly for PCs shipped with Windows 8, with common questions being “where the &@*#%$ is my Start Menu” and “how do I find anything in this crappy operating system”.

Meanwhile, it looks like Microsoft might try to turn the tide of Windows 8’s failure by actually bringing back the Start menu in the upcoming Update 1 for Windows 8.1. You may recall that Windows 8.1 saw the return of the Start button, which for some reason was just a button with no useful menu attached, making it basically useless. Will this make a difference to Windows 8.x sales? Maybe. But I’m holding out for Update 2, where – and this is pure speculation, mind you – Microsoft may provide a method for disabling the “Metro” interface altogether.

And the rumours about Windows 9, the next major version of the O/S, are starting to make the rounds. At this point the pattern is clear: every other version of Windows is to be avoided. Perhaps Microsoft has realized this themselves, because Windows 9 is already under development. Code-named “Threshold”, it will supposedly meld the good bits from Windows 7 and 8. Sounds promising. And if the pattern holds, it might actually be a good O/S.

Hard drive reliability test results

Backblaze, a cloud backup provider, recently completed a series of reliability tests on consumer hard drives from Western Digital, Seagate and Hitachi. The big winner was Hitachi, with Seagate drives lagging notably in a distant third place. Having recently replaced two failing Seagate drives in a client’s PC (while a third drive – a Hitachi – continued operating just fine), my own limited observations would seem to confirm Backblaze’s findings.

People are changing their passwords

It looks like the warnings about passwords are being heard by users everywhere. For years, industry experts have been telling people not to use simple passwords, and not to use the same passwords everywhere. Now, research shows that the previous most-used password, “password” is no longer #1.

Unfortunately, the new #1 password is “123456”. Which was previously #2. It’s difficult to categorize this as progress, since both of those passwords are equally terrible. Don’t use them. Please.

Cryptolocker malware is getting worse

A new variant of the nasty malware known as Cryptolocker is appearing on the Internet. Cryptolocker – once it infects your computer – encrypts all your files and then demands money to decrypt them. If you fail to pay within a specified time period, your files become permanently inaccessible.

The new version of Cryptolocker can apparently spread itself via portable media such as thumb drives. It is also often disguised as a software activation program for Photoshop and Microsoft Office on file sharing sites. The original Cryptolocker typically arrived in the form of a fake PDF file.

Disguising Cryptolocker as a software activation program is a particularly devious way to spread the malware. Every day, thousands of people who can’t afford the massively overpriced Office and Photoshop look for alternative ways to use that software, and now those people are going to be risking more than the ire of Microsoft and Adobe.

Google releases Chrome 32.0.1700.76

A new version of Chrome fixes eleven security issues and adds some enhancements, including indicators that tell you which tab is generating audio, better blocking of malware files, and stability and performance improvements. The version of Flash embedded in Chrome was updated to the latest version (12.0.0.41) as well.

The official announcement for version 32.0.1700.76 has additional details, and a post on the Chrome blog explains the new features.

Rants and musings on topics of interest. Sometimes about Windows, Linux, security and cool software.