Windows 10 is a Keylogger?
Looks like Windows 10 has been allegedly caught logging every piece of keystroke you push on your keyboard. I wonder how will this affect Steemit users having 20,000-50,000$ worth accounts that they can only access by entering a password on their keyboard?
Even mainstream trendy Youtubers are claiming this, and saying that it's horrible for Privacy:
Also there are more reputable sources alleging this as well:
- http://www.pcworld.com/article/2834875/the-windows-10-technical-preview-keylogging-and-you.html
- https://thehackernews.com/2014/10/download-Windows-10-keylogger.html
- http://www.alphr.com/news/391114/microsoft-admits-windows-10-preview-has-a-keylogger
- http://boingboing.net/2015/08/03/windows-10-defaults-to-keylogg.html
- http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/603524/Windows-10-Microsoft-Key-Logger-Record-Privacy
- http://thehackernews.com/2015/09/windows10-keylogger-security.html
So who is so stupid enough, as a Steemit user, to use Windows 10, with a + 20,000$ account, given these potential risks? I know I am not....
Holy crap, that is disturbing news. Not only are accounts like here on Steemit a risk, but that high level of surveillance is going to get ugly really fast if the wrong people get their hands on the information. Imagine all the secrets that are found in these files!
I'm not using Windows since pretty much the 2013 leaks. It's just mindboggling how slow are people to catch onto things, when it has been out in public for so long, all these surveillance operations....
Ok your average hedonist gamer doesn't have anything valuable on his PC. I get that.
But here on Steemit you literally have 220,000,000$ at risk, and possibly 63 billion$ in all cryptocurrencies.
Nodes that run Windows for example, should be ashamed of themselves. Since they not just expose themselves to danger, but others as well.
Tks a lot! Good to know! Sooo important not lose the control of our own data!
It is, I mean you already have this big Ransomware cyberattack happening.
Ok that happened on outdated Windows.
But I really wonder how long until they figure out a way to attack up to date Windows as well?
(Especially if their incentives are 50,000$ worth Steemit accounts.)
People need to be more vigilant!
Well, not everyone is tech pro. That's also the psychological barrier for most ordinary people to step into the cyber world.
Don't have to be. I'm not a tech pro either, I just spent quite some hours reading up on potential risks, like normal rational people would do, and I assessed the risks and decided to throw away Windows. Even though I had a licensed original Windows 7 DVD, i haven't pirated it. However I've thrown my DVD into the trash can, symbolizing that I'm done with it.
Software nowadays is pretty easy to use. Linux is not command line-only as it was once, you have a beautiful desktop environment, and it's pretty easy to use.
I just can't figure out why would anyone pay 120$ for that crap, when they can just get a decent and more secure OS for literally free.
I guess most people just pirate their Windows, which is even worse, from a security standpoint.
What you can't understand can be covered by just one word "inertia". Sadly I'm sucked into it now.
The problem is that evolution tells us that only the fittest survives, this means that humans constantly have to adapt to the environment and take the necessary precautions if new threats arise.
Hmm, adaptation... to stay stationery means extinction. Good point!
Yes but in this example I was referring to adaptation to security practices. For example not being aware of more secure software or not updating a system is essentially this. It might lead to financial loss usually.
So what do you recommend to do?
Depends what your goals are.
Transitioning to Linux Mint is one way, Linux Mint looks very similar to Windows, with a few small caveats like some proprietary windows-specific software will probably not work there. But it has a lot of free software, that are either as good, but are actually more secure since they are open source.
With Linux Mint you sacrifice some convenience for better security.
If you wan't more security, Use Debian, it has less properietary blobs, so it's even more secure.
If you want ultimate security, use Qubes, it's the same as Debian, but it has software compartimentalization and virtualization by default, where you can separate sensitive workspaces from casual workspaces.
https://www.linuxmint.com
https://www.debian.org
https://www.qubes-os.org
My goal is to secure my steem account as much as possible, but I'm not very familiar with technical side.
I can understand that, looking at your balance though.
However there is nothing technical about this. Linux is not really that hard to understand, I mean if you are already doing most of your work in a browser, then it's really no different from Windows from that aspect.
The only seeming difficulty might be with installing software, since Linux is different in that aspect. However everything else, is just much easier. For instance a Linux filesystem is much more organized.
I think Linux Mint is the best to start for beginners.
Also I hope you only login with your posting key, and not with your owner key do you?
I was planing to buy a new laptop just and use it only for steeming. It looks like with qubes-os it would be safe enough. I'm logged in with posting key by your advice in one of your previous post (I actually read them all, even if I vote with steemvoter). If you don't mind, I would like to ask you another think: When I registered my account last year there was no option for account recovery with additional e-mail or person. Is it possible to do it now?
Thanks for answer.
I have no idea about the recovery system here.
However Qubes is tricky, it doesn't support most hardwares out there. For example I tried installing it on my fiances laptop, but her laptop's network card wasn't recognized by it, so I could not connect to the internet from there. And my current PC is just too weak for it, so Qubes requires a small certain set of hardwares, and not all of them work on it.
I would also not buy a Laptop if I were you:
If I were you I would just buy an ARM processor based full computer. Laptops are trendy and all, but it seems to me that their security is crap:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture
It's not perfect but the alternatives are all probably compromized already.
Thank you very much for answer. I will look around in that direction.
The problem is that it's very hard to have security in this day and age, since they are literally coming for everything. I just wrote an article about this, how they are cracking down on private property. They literally want everyone to be a slave:
That's why I run Windows 7 (hope it's safe"
I won't not trust any closed source OS now. Open source is not necessarily a silver bullet, but it makes the code transparent and many people can verify it instead of relying on others to do so.
I just try to make a point not to post anything I wouldn't want the whole world to know. It would suck to have my steemit wallet filched though... I worked hard for what little I have!
Well first of all you should only login with your posting key, while keeping the master key in a safe, offline place.
That should eliminate about 95% of the threat. Then you plug the remaining 4.9999% with a safe operating system and safe browsing practices (like not downloading unknown files ,etc..). The remaining 0.0001% will probably be left to luck.
Sound advice!
Very much shocked ...
Shouldn't be, this is pretty much 4 years of news, regurgitated.
I think it's clear from windows vulnerabilities to shadow hackers leaking NSA spying tools and our own mobile devices being pretty much spy devices...security is a big concern. As for steemit - hopefully the dev's are looking into better security measures to thwart this so our accounts aren't also at risk.
Personally that does not surprise me, not to mention the possible backdoors for agencies to the OS.
Due to work nature I have to work on a M$ OS, but home desktop is Linux.
Windows is not safe. Did you see all those ransonware attacks? All computers running windows. Hackers love microsoft. It's like their mothers.