IMPORTANT… PLEASE NOTE Windows 10 Spies on Almost Everything You Do, Unless You Opt Out

________________________________

Microsoft’s Windows 10 spies on nearly everything its users do, and anyone who agrees to the operating system’s new terms of service consents to surveillance, whether knowingly or otherwise. Included in Microsoft’s new 12,000-word service agreement, which goes into effect August 1, is the following excerpt from the privacy policy:

We will access, disclose, and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications, or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to.

Whilst Microsoft does allow Windows 10 users to opt out of all the features that one might consider invasions of privacy, users are opted in by default. Rock, Paper, Shotgun explains the opt-out process step-by-step. Windows 10 will sync settings and data by default with its servers. That includes browser history, favourites, and currently open web pages, as well as saved app, website, and mobile hotspot passwords and Wi-Fi network names and passwords. Activate Cortana, Microsoft’s personal virtual assistant, and you’re also turning on a host of data sharing, as Microsoft’s new privacy statement points out:

To enable Cortana to provide personalised experiences and relevant suggestions, Microsoft collects and uses various types of data, such as your device location, data from your calendar, the apps you use, data from your emails and text messages, who you call, your contacts and how often you interact with them on your device. Cortana also learns about you by collecting data about how you use your device and other Microsoft services, such as your music, alarm settings, whether the lock screen is on, what you view and purchase, your browse and Bing search history, and more.

The updated terms also state that Microsoft will collect information “from you and your devices, including for example ‘app use data for apps that run on Windows’ and ‘data about the networks you connect to'”. Windows 10 generates by default a unique advertising ID for each user on each device. Developers can use that and advertising networks to profile you and serve commercial content.

31 July 2015

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/us/20150731/1025283047.html

Editor:

Geekly friends of mine give the advice, “Do NOT enable Cortona under any circumstance. You don’t need it… it’s a crude tracking device”. DISABLE CORTONA WHEN YOU INSTALL Windows 10. That’s especially relevant to leftist and pro-Russian users. Do you want Langley spying on you? DISABLE CORTONA… you’ll be glad that you did.

BMD

Advertisement

10 December 2014. The Cabinet Weighs In On Windows 8

_______________________________

My computer was showing some signs of age, so I broke down and picked up a new computer around the Thanksgiving holidays, to be ready in case of a complete system failure. I bought a new HP machine with Windows 7… my computer geeks all told me to avoid Windows 8. Of course, now that I got the new one, my old computer started working just fine. However, I figure that I didn’t waste my money. I’ll just keep my new one in the box until the old one crashes (which it will). Since Windows 7 is harder and harder to find, I think I did the right thing. If my present machine lasts another year, there probably won’t be any more computers with Windows 7 out there by that time. I don’t know anything about computers. I’m just going by what my geeks told me, and I found that Windows 7 is easy to operate for a computer moron like myself!

******

My Cabinet is UNANIMOUS… everybody (including me) HATES Windows 8. It has all the problems of early Vista… plus some more, for good measure. Remember what Windows 7 is… it’s a revamped and debugged Vista, but they had to call it something else as its early fuckups utterly trashed the Vista brand’s street rep. The buzz has it that the new OS coming out is to Windows 8 what Windows 7 was to Vista… that is, a debugged version that had to have a new name as the old marque is irretrievably in the shitter. Not boring, is it? Pass the jug…

BMD

10 December 2014. My Geek Told Me… Windows 8 Has MORE Quirks Than You Thought Of…

_____________________________

Just when you thought that you were out of the woods… ANOTHER quirk in Windows 8 surfaces. Apparently, it likes to stick on “shutting down”… if that happens, my geek said to reset the machine by taking the battery in and putting it back in (I know that it sounds stupid, but that’s what they said… what about these things makes sense?), if you can, for in some machines, it’s welded to the motherboard. Another thing that you can do is to hold down the “power” switch for at least 30 seconds (yes, I tried it, it works). Also, sometimes, Eight will screw you up by repeating lines of text. I had this happen yesterday… yowza, one of the Cabinet told me about it. Yes, my geek warned me of that, too. By the way, you can disable that pesky “mousepad” on your machine by hitting “F9”. There sure isn’t a boring time with Windows 8! Have you noticed that INORDINATE number of upgrades to it lately? God willing, they’ll put it to rights… pass the jug, that’s all that you can do!

BMD

READ N’ HEED! Microsoft Sez Collaborative Viruses Can Sync To Fuck Up PCs

______________________________

Microsoft research assumes that two computer viruses that collaborate will be harder to clean from infected PCs. The pair of viruses foils removal by downloading updated versions of their malware partner. Once accidentally downloaded on a PC, the viruses allow hackers to take control over a machine and use it for saleable information or spamming. A blogpost by Microsoft malware researcher Hyun Choi illustrated this close interaction between the two viruses. Mr Choi explained that one often finds the two Windows viruses, known as Vobfus and Beebone, together. Vobfus was usually the first to appear on a machine, he said, and used different tactics to damage its virtual victims. Vobfus could install via booby-trapped links on a various range of websites, travel via network links to other machines, or lurk on USB drives and infect PCs that it’s plugged into.

Vobfus, which installs first, then downloads Beebone, connecting the machine to a botnet… a huge network of infected computers. Mr Choi said, after this, the two malware programs start working together to regularly download new versions of their virus-partner, thus, multiplying cybercrime. He said that was an effective mechanism that helped the virus remain sustainable on infected machines, explaining, “In the case with Vobfus, even if it is detected and remediated, it could’ve downloaded an undetected Beebone, which can, in turn, download an undetected version of Vobfus. The two threat families are intrinsically related”. Mr Choi stated that this “cyclical relationship” helped Vobfus become a persistent issue since 2009, when it first appeared. He explained that defeating the two viruses together was not easy, he said, because Vobfus was very good at travelling via networks. In addition to keeping software up to date, he recommended disabling the “AutoRun” feature on Windows machines, as Vobfus exploits this when it comes via USB drives. In addition, he said, people should be more attentive when they click links on external websites to avoid falling victim to booby-trapped URLs.

2 July 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_07_02/Viruses-sync-to-destroy-PCs-research-9219/

Editor’s Note:

Let’s keep it simple. DON’T CLICK ON EXTERNAL LINKS (hey, guys… that means the link with the image of the gal with the gigundo titties, OK?). That should help you a great deal. Secondly, talk to your geek… they can help you. They have the knowledge that you don’t have. Don’t fuck with your machine without talking with your geek first. You’ll probably screw things up worse. Trust me on this one.

BMD