January 19th, 2010 by Hescominsoon

Computer Security Research – McAfee Labs Blog.

This is an expansion of the most recent IE exploit.  Now comes the analysis.

Allowing a system level file for windows(in this case a dll) be executable without any kind of security context is a really bad idea.  That’s really all  Activex is but there are several other DLL’s inside of IE that allow other DLL’s to be executed.  In this case it was mshtml.dll.  Mshtml.dll was the source of hte exploit and now a further analysis of the malware shows it uses it’s own dll to leverage this vulnerability.

ECC HIGHLY reccomends you do one of two things:

1.  Simply don’t use IE at all

2.  If you can’t(or won’t) at least get your security setup to wholesale blacklist dll’s at the firewall.  This will break some sites that are coded for IE.  Many of these sites will work under Firefox as well.

January 15th, 2010 by Hescominsoon

This was an exploit form back in ie6.  It is present in all version up to 8.  mshtml.dll once again has a major issue that allows remote sites to take over your machine.  If you are running ie6, ie7, or ie8 you are vulnerable.  HOWEVER if you have DEP turned on for ie 7 or 8 then the threat is reduced but not eliminated.  This is also why you NEVER surf on a server.  Frankly I am going to extend Microsoft’s advice.  Raise ALL security levels to high except trusted sites…leave it at medium(for windows updates) then never launch IE again.  I am being dead serious.

VIDEO OF EXPLOIT IN ACTION.  Blow the video up to full screen then watch for a list that shows up at around 1 minute.  Notice how notepad is running nicely.  At around 1 minute 50 seconds the “hacker” issues a kill command followed by a number.  That number is the notepad.  watch as notepad goes boom..no warning..no notifications.  This person has full control of your system..all because of a badly designed OS and browser.  Notice the users on the right.  Those are system processes..processes even the administrator does not have direct access to.  I have said it over and over having a web browser tied so closely to the kernel is a bad idea.  As long as IE exists in it’s current form Windows will NEVER be remotely secure.

Here’s the backstory.  Apparently some Chinese folks(possibly the gov’t) started using this unknown security hole in IE to start trying to get into various activists that are opposed to the vast range of Chinese gov’t controls.  They targeted Google because this is where these targeted activists had their mail.  Google detected this activity and began a backtrace.  They found out that multiple large companies had also been attacked using this issue.  The story is continuing to unfold.  The only fix available right now is to put all of your IE settings up to high.  This has the effect of making IE unusable on the internet.

My recommendation:  Use either google chrome or firefox.  Don’t bother with IE anymore…at all.  There’s so many links with full information I am not going to embed them into this post.  The list follows.

*UPDATE* there are quite a few programs that idiotically use IE to operate.  Now various exploit writers and researchers are hitting these as well.  Many other programs are now falling over after being hit either with IE exploits or ones similar that are now being found in a rash of other software.

Google’s Initial Response disclosure of what was targeted and revelations of other companies hit

Microsoft’s confirmation and advisory.

Other companies also hit.

(This list will continue to grow)

Mcafee has multiple postings:

1 2 3(twitter feed) 4

*UPDATE*  Itworld has much the same opinion of IE as I have had for a long time.

January 7th, 2010 by Hescominsoon

{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}

{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}

{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}

{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}

{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}

{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}

{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}

{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}

{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}

{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}

{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}

{62D8ED13-C9D0-4CE8-A914-47DD628FB1B0}

{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

via The Other 16 “GodModes” For Windows 7 – Tom’s Hardware.

here is how you activate them:

Step 1: Right click.

Step 2: Click create folder.

Step 3: Name your sparkly, new folder this, “<whatever you want>.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}” and press enter.

so you could clal this ultimate shortcut number 1.(guid) or whatever you wanted it to be..:)

This is not for you  XP folks but it is for Vista.

January 5th, 2010 by Hescominsoon

Want a good way to access all the control panel options in Windows 7 in one easy location? Simply make a folder on your desktop and rename it GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} and you are all set. This handy tip was brought to you by [H] reader Edward Cabarles. Here is what your folder should look like after you rename it:News ImageFYI: This trick does NOT work on Windows Vista

via [H]ard|OCP – Windows 7 Tip of the Day: God Mode.

November 30th, 2009 by Hescominsoon

Microsoft looking into Windows ‘black screen of death’ problem.

I have not run into this with any of my clients.  Will keep a lookout though and will update this if things change.

*UPDATE*  The black screens are caused by the machines already being infected with malware BEFORE the security updates are installed.

November 29th, 2009 by Hescominsoon

Windows 7 – Performance Improvements.

Wayne gets overenthusiastic though saying it’s faster than XP.  There’s no way that’s true as i have run both on my notebook and my quad core desktop.  XP is still quicker than 7 but ANYTHING is faster than vista.

November 24th, 2009 by Hescominsoon

Windows 8 by 2012 as Shown on Microsoft Slide – Tom’s Hardware.

Otherwise there would be no need for another “major release” in 2012.  Which means now I am going to be holding off on buying new operating systems until that if my clients can.

November 12th, 2009 by Hescominsoon

Laurent Gaffié blog: Windows 7 / Server 2008R2 Remote Kernel Crash.

notice this is only in the two major operating systems that use the new smb protocol by Microsoft?  Vista isn’t mentioned but i bet this will kill Vista as well.

October 31st, 2009 by Hescominsoon

I was presenting a seminar on data encryption and security and I got caught now knowing some commercial FDE products other than what is built into Vista and 7.  As per my word here are some vendors I would reccomend simply based on either their security reputation or personal experince with other products:

1. Mcafee Endpoint Encryption  (I have used other Mcafee products in the past with good results)

2.  Checkpoint Full Disk Encryption  (The checkpoint compny has one of the best security reputations in the industry)

3.  Symnatec Endpoint Encryption  (Symantec may have lowered detection rates on their a/v but several of their other products including this one are top notch)

 I have migrated away from Truecrypt not because it was bad security but the Bitlocker built into certain Vista and 7 editons just makes it easy…and it just works.

October 24th, 2009 by Hescominsoon

Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media.

You can get a family pack of Windows 7 Home premium upgrade which includes 3 licenses here.

Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

It was the final unanswered question about Windows 7. But now, thanks to numerous reader reports and my own hands-on experience, I’m can now report that Microsoft is still making it difficult to clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media. But fear not, there is some good news. While you can’t simply use Upgrade media to do a clean install of Windows 7 on an unused PC with a blank hard drive, the workaround this time is easier than ever. Assuming you know the trick.

Remember how this used to work? In older versions of Windows, Microsoft would actually prompt you to insert an install floppy or CD from a previous Windows version, to prove that you qualified for the upgrade version. But beginning with Windows XP, PC makers were able to dramatically change the Windows install disc, so much so that, in some cases, those discs weren’t even identifiable as valid install media to Windows Setup. Clearly a different system was required.

In Windows Vista, Microsoft supported in-place upgrades from Windows XP, but if you wanted to use an Upgrade version of the Windows Vista Setup disc to do a clean install, you had to perform a weird double install trick. (I documented this process in How to Clean Install Windows Vista with Upgrade Media.)

Since Windows 7 is simply a slightly updated version of Windows Vista from a Setup and deployment standpoint, most people (including myself) guessed that the Vista trick would be required in Windows 7 as well. But over the past several months, Microsoft has been very cagey about this requirement, and never publicly explained how the process would work. Tech reviewers such as Ed Bott and I pestered the software giant again and again for Upgrade media but were denied every time.
Here’s what you don’t want to see.

With the general availability of Windows 7, of course, we’re finally able to get our hands on shipping Upgrade media. The news is mixed. First of all, the double install trick from Windows Vista actually still works in Windows 7. But there’s a better way.

Here’s how to clean install Windows 7 using Upgrade media and a new or reformatted PC with no installed OS.

First, perform a normal clean install of the OS by booting the PC with the Upgrade Setup disc and stepping through Setup.

After performing the clean install, ensure that there are no Windows Updates pending that would require a system reboot. (You’ll see an orange shield icon next to Shutdown in the Start Menu if this is the case).

Then, open regedit.exe with Start Menu Search and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/

Change MediaBootInstall from “1″ to “0″.

Open the Start Menu again and type cmd to display a shortcut to the Command Line utility. Right-click this shortcut and choose “Run as administrator.” Handle the UAC prompt.

In the command line window, type: slmgr /rearm

Then tap ENTER, close the command line window and reboot. When Windows 7 reboots, run the Activate Windows utility

, type in your product key and activate windows. It should just work.

Final thoughts … For now

There are a few other methods for clean installing Windows 7 with Upgrade media. I haven’t tried these yet, but I will, and as I do, I’ll update this article to describe these methods in more detail. But the method described above should work for just about anyone, with the understanding that any pending Windows Updates could screw things up. If that happens, just shut down, restart, rerun the command line sequence, and retry activation.

Please let me know if you have any issues with this or if you discover another method that did work for you.

–Paul Thurrott
October 22-23, 2009