Petya Ass It's Ransomware Again!

[nilepez]

You threw me there, I had to go reread the chain to figure out your comment. My part in this came from you saying there was negligence involved and I was trying to explain that sometimes, it's by design that systems are unpatched.

Let's see, I want to try and say it better taking in the progress of the discussion so far;

Let's try it this way.

There are situations where systems remain unpatched by design and not through negligence. Such systems should remain unconnected to the internet in lab environments but if they are going to be connected to the internet then strong measures should be taken to mitigate risk of attack, VPN only connections would be a good starting point along with other strong measures like restricted ACLs, tight firewalls, and point to point encryption. I would include removing or disabling all applications and services not required for the systems basic functions. Reduce everything to it's most fundamental purpose.

If you are going to ride bareback, make damn sure the pony is clean

I was always referring to systems that are connected to the internet. Obviously if you have an unpatched version of Windows 95 that's isolated from the web, it's not going to attacked via this vulnerability, but I guess the way I worded it included all systems...so I stand corrected

 

[B00nie]

Wait up. You are saying that Microsoft, who sells a product they developed, has to maintain compatibility with free open source software because they constitute a standard?

I'm going to explain something in a way I hope you grasp. No serious business depends on free shit. If you pay for it, you can demand support for it. If it's some free open source bullshit standard no one is under any gun to make changes and provide support.

This is why open standards and products have poor adoption rates with business.

This is why a company like Red Hat can take something that is an open source product and successfully commercialize it. Because by taking money for it, and for the promised support and development to maintain it, they provide the security in service that businesses need in order to take products seriously.

It's the way it is B00nie. Free is great for people who, as individuals, want something that's free and maybe works good enough for being free.

But for businesses and people who want to stake their lively hood on something, free is a loser's game, unless you are taking free so you can sell it to a chump, then it's a low cost development vehicle

Cough, bullshit, cough. Microsoft rots the computing world solely because it has used every dirty trick in the book to kill off the competition.

There is zero reason why any company couldn't use free software. The only reason is that so many are dumb enough to be tricked by Microsoft into paying for a product that can be had for free.

Sometimes it's worth to pay for a product if it gives you considerable time savings or comfort. With MS Office this doesn't hold true.

 

[BulletDust]

Wait up. You are saying that Microsoft, who sells a product they developed, has to maintain compatibility with free open source software because they constitute a standard?

.docx is an international ISO standard that is not outlined specifically by Microsoft, although early on Microsoft did strongarm the standard against the wishes of many other participating organisations, breaking it into two sections. However, as it stands now, Office is supposed to be fully compatible with the .docx ISO standard; It wasn't for a long time, but is supposed to be fully compatible as of 2013.

However, when saving a file in the .docx ISO standard under MS Office, a standard that is supposed to completely eliminate cross compatibility issues, there is still a chance that compatibility issues exist when the document is opened using alternate suites also conforming to the ISO standard. Yet if you save a .docx file using an alternate office suite and open it using another alternate office suite, both conforming to the .docx ISO standard, you can swap documents until the cows come home and they open just fine with no compatibility issues whatsoever.

While I'm sure the 'unbiased' users tethering on complete Microsoft bias will disagree and reel off excuses, in such a scenario even a mildly intelligent individual will agree that it's obvious that it's MS Office that has the issue and not the alternate suites - As a matter of logical deduction.

Microsoft are not above international ISO standards. You've been duped into loving the world's least compatible office suite and paying waaaay too much for it to boot.

There is an argument that MS have lost control over their Office code, hence the reason for the incompatibilities with standards - Whatever the case may be, MS Office has compatibility issues when conforming to standards that exist for a reason and have for quite some time now. Hell, MS Office has compatibility issues with older versions of Office itself.

A great number of businesses I deal with use the G-Suite range of applications now with great success.

 

[nilepez]

Cough, bullshit, cough. Microsoft rots the computing world solely because it has used every dirty trick in the book to kill off the competition.
There is zero reason why any company couldn't use free software. The only reason is that so many are dumb enough to be tricked by Microsoft into paying for a product that can be had for free.
Sometimes it's worth to pay for a product if it gives you considerable time savings or comfort. With MS Office this doesn't hold true.

Companies want support. There's no doubt that they'll use free tools, but when it comes to the OS, the only time it's free is if a developer decides to run Linux (and then they're supporting themselves). the only time our server software is free is if it's used by another vendor who's charging us a fuckton to support both that OS and their product. Otherwise, we're using a distro that costs money and comes with paid support.

 

[B00nie]

Companies want support. There's no doubt that they'll use free tools, but when it comes to the OS, the only time it's free is if a developer decides to run Linux (and then they're supporting themselves). the only time our server software is free is if it's used by another vendor who's charging us a fuckton to support both that OS and their product. Otherwise, we're using a distro that costs money and comes with paid support.

Come on. When was the last time you actually got support from Microsoft? They only charge you money and give nothing in exchange. Besides most support cases are caused by indiscriminate changes in the OS by Microsoft itself.

It's a big illusion. Microsoft gives you zero support and only causes problems. If you want real support you have to pay a consultant to come over and do it. Same as with any other OS.

 

[nilepez]

Come on. When was the last time you actually got support from Microsoft? They only charge you money and give nothing in exchange. Besides most support cases are caused by indiscriminate changes in the OS by Microsoft itself.
It's a big illusion. Microsoft gives you zero support and only causes problems. If you want real support you have to pay a consultant to come over and do it. Same as with any other OS.

I'm not talking about consumers. Businesses want and pay for support. And yes they get it from MS too. No, the desktop user isn't calling MS, but support does.

 

[lcpiper]

Cough, bullshit, cough. Microsoft rots the computing world solely because it has used every dirty trick in the book to kill off the competition.

There is zero reason why any company couldn't use free software. The only reason is that so many are dumb enough to be tricked by Microsoft into paying for a product that can be had for free.

Sometimes it's worth to pay for a product if it gives you considerable time savings or comfort. With MS Office this doesn't hold true.

Listen to you.

You are wrong because you believe that all companies are in the same boat with your experiences. Imagine that you work for a company that supports the largest Enterprise in the world. That your deployed systems base is so large that MS actually told you that trying to run it all under a single Enterprise was impossible. That is the US Army's Enterprise. The US Army is, I believe, the largest single MS customer, if not, then the DoD and US Government as a whole certainly must be.

How is this relevant you ask?

Such large Enterprises require stable software, not stable as in, doesn't crash etc although that is also really important, but stable as in a stable development cycle, stable interoperability. The products need to work together and be synergistic. Really large customers like these also need people who attain a level of skill with their software tools, educational programs to train personnel, etc. There is so much more to the equation then just how much something costs or if the developer is fair to the competition.

These massive customers have built entire ecosystems around managing the products MS produces, just license tracking is a really big deal for them. These huge outfits are not going to constantly chase a rapidly changing landscape of office tools and such. It changes too fast for them as it is just keeping up with Microsoft.

Base Operating Systems and Office Productivity isn't actually the real core of the computing world anyway. Compute, Networking and Storage, IA, infrastructure as a whole, this is the core of the computing world. Applications and tools float on the surface of the pond in comparison. Of course, I'm an infrastructure guy so of course I'm the center of all. I am the one with the credentials and the rights after all

 

[lcpiper]

However, when saving a file in the .docx ISO standard under MS Office, a standard that is supposed to completely eliminate cross compatibility issues,...............

There are no cross compatibility issues when your entire work force and all associated entities use MS. The US Government, the DoD, all DoD Contractor companies, they all know this.

 

[B00nie]

I'm not talking about consumers. Businesses want and pay for support. And yes they get it from MS too. No, the desktop user isn't calling MS, but support does.

I wasn't talking about consumers either. When, exactly, was the last time you got support from Microsoft? I haven't heard of even a single case and I've been working on the business for decades.

What they do is send you bills. That is guaranteed. But support? Do you know of any documented case? Especially for a reason that's not caused by Microsoft themselves?

 

[B00nie]

There are no cross compatibility issues when your entire work force and all associated entities use MS. The US Government, the DoD, all DoD Contractor companies, they all know this.

<censored due to moderation issues> I can't believe you just wrote this.

So you are saying it's all well if the ENTIRE GOVERNMENT is forced behind a paywall for compatibility issues that shouldn't exist. Boy you must love your tax dollars go down the drain.

 

[B00nie]

Listen to you.

You are wrong because you believe that all companies are in the same boat with your experiences. Imagine that you work for a company that supports the largest Enterprise in the world. That your deployed systems base is so large that MS actually told you that trying to run it all under a single Enterprise was impossible. That is the US Army's Enterprise. The US Army is, I believe, the largest single MS customer, if not, then the DoD and US Government as a whole certainly must be.

How is this relevant you ask?

Such large Enterprises require stable software, not stable as in, doesn't crash etc although that is also really important, but stable as in a stable development cycle, stable interoperability. The products need to work together and be synergistic. Really large customers like these also need people who attain a level of skill with their software tools, educational programs to train personnel, etc. There is so much more to the equation then just how much something costs or if the developer is fair to the competition.

These massive customers have built entire ecosystems around managing the products MS produces, just license tracking is a really big deal for them. These huge outfits are not going to constantly chase a rapidly changing landscape of office tools and such. It changes too fast for them as it is just keeping up with Microsoft.

Base Operating Systems and Office Productivity isn't actually the real core of the computing world anyway. Compute, Networking and Storage, IA, infrastructure as a whole, this is the core of the computing world. Applications and tools float on the surface of the pond in comparison. Of course, I'm an infrastructure guy so of course I'm the center of all. I am the one with the credentials and the rights after all

And you probably lose your sleep daily due to the issues with dealing with their stuff. I wouldn't want to be you.

 

[lcpiper]

I wasn't talking about consumers either. When, exactly, was the last time you got support from Microsoft? I haven't heard of even a single case and I've been working on the business for decades.

What they do is send you bills. That is guaranteed. But support? Do you know of any documented case? Especially for a reason that's not caused by Microsoft themselves?

You don't use technet ?

 

[lcpiper]

<censored due to moderation issues> I can't believe you just wrote this.

So you are saying it's all well if the ENTIRE GOVERNMENT is forced behind a paywall for compatibility issues that shouldn't exist. Boy you must love your tax dollars go down the drain.

You can call it a paywall or whatever other bullshit you want to. The ENTIRE Government and those that work with or for the Government use MS exactly because they want to.

You think it's MS forcing themselves on the government? Don't be a fool. The US Government can afford to buy whatever the hell they want and for decades, it's been MS products. If you don't think MS jumps when the US Government says they want something then you don't know which dog's tail does the wagging.

I'll give you another example, CISCO. The US Government is such a huge CISCO fan that CISCO offers them a special maintenance and warranty contract. This contract is called a JELA contract and this link will give you some insight into how the Government is using JELA Contracts to simplify their warrant and license tracking nightmares. I don't remember off the top of my head but the one with CISCO is also well over $1 Billion.

Here is the brief on the very first JELA awarded to .... drum roll please .....

The first JELA was awarded to Microsoft in January 2013. The $617 million agreement was designed to support Army, Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency IT needs, including data center consolidation, collaboration, cybersecurity, mobility and cloud computing. The three-year agreement, covering nearly 75 percent of DoD personnel, included Windows 8 Enterprise, Office Professional Plus 2013 and SharePoint Enterprise CAL 2013. At the time the award was announced, DoD said the deal would result in $100 million in cost savings over the life of the contract.

http://www.c4isrnet.com/story/milit...looks-jelas-streamline-acquisitions/78069680/

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/soluti...-funding-vehicles/federal-contracts/jela.html
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/soluti...-funding-vehicles/federal-contracts/jela.html
The government does this so they don't have compatibility issues, and for many other reasons.

 

[lcpiper]

And you probably lose your sleep daily due to the issues with dealing with their stuff. I wouldn't want to be you.

No, I am a storage admin. I manage NetApp storage systems mostly. They have a Linux kernel

 

[Biznatch]

No, I am a storage admin. I manage NetApp storage systems mostly. They have a Linux kernel

Don't feed the trolls.... His opinion is abundantly clear/set in stone, no matter how misinformed, so it's a useless effort trying to argue. If we all just use the mute list to avoid, all the windows threads will clear up quick and hopefully remain on topic/relevant to the thread instead of just baseless MS hate currently filling them.

 

[B00nie]

You can call it a paywall or whatever other bullshit you want to. The ENTIRE Government and those that work with or for the Government use MS exactly because they want to.

You think it's MS forcing themselves on the government? Don't be a fool. The US Government can afford to buy whatever the hell they want and for decades, it's been MS products. If you don't think MS jumps when the US Government says they want something then you don't know which dog's tail does the wagging.

I'll give you another example, CISCO. The US Government is such a huge CISCO fan that CISCO offers them a special maintenance and warranty contract. This contract is called a JELA contract and this link will give you some insight into how the Government is using JELA Contracts to simplify their warrant and license tracking nightmares. I don't remember off the top of my head but the one with CISCO is also well over $1 Billion.

Here is the brief on the very first JELA awarded to .... drum roll please .....



http://www.c4isrnet.com/story/milit...looks-jelas-streamline-acquisitions/78069680/

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/soluti...-funding-vehicles/federal-contracts/jela.html
The government does this so they don't have compatibility issues, and for many other reasons.

Oh you're so narrow minded. Microsoft is paying a gazillion lobbyist to send a gazillion payolas to government officials to get these contracts. It's call corrupted.

 

[B00nie]

Don't feed the trolls.... His opinion is abundantly clear/set in stone, no matter how misinformed, so it's a useless effort trying to argue. If we all just use the mute list to avoid, all the windows threads will clear up quick and hopefully remain on topic/relevant to the thread instead of just baseless MS hate currently filling them.

Sent from Microsoft (tm)

 

[Biznatch]

Sent from Microsoft (tm)

Sent from someone who wants to read actual informed posts with actual content related to the thread, not just spewing hate/exaggerated(fake) facts in every thread that includes and M and an S.....

You can save time responding, I won't see it thanks to the helpful forum tools

 

[B00nie]

Sent from someone who wants to read actual informed posts with actual content related to the thread, not just spewing hate/exaggerated(fake) facts in every thread that includes and M and an S.....

You can save time responding, I won't see it thanks to the helpful forum tools

Nothing exaggerated or fake in my posts. But do close your eyes of the truth like you have before, even without the help of the forum tools lol.

 

[BulletDust]

I'm not talking about consumers. Businesses want and pay for support. And yes they get it from MS too. No, the desktop user isn't calling MS, but support does.

I've used their Technet support, it's garbage, I get better answers from Spiceworks.

sfc /scannow fixes everything according to Technet support. Like Apple with their SMD and NVram resets....