Windows 10 Privacy Issues – Fact or Fiction?

This guest post is contributed by my Aussie mate, Jim Hillier. Jim is the resident freeware aficionado at Dave’s Computer Tips. A computer veteran with 30+ years experience who first started writing about computers and tech back in the days when freeware was actually free. His first computer was a TRS-80 in the 1980s, he progressed through the Commodore series of computers before moving to PCs in the 1990s. Now retired (aka an old geezer), Jim retains his passion for all things tech and still enjoys building and repairing computers for a select clientele… as well as writing for DCT, of course.

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The release of Windows 10 together with news of its heightened telemetry certainly brought out the conspiracy theorists and paranoid. Publish an article about Windows 10 and, regardless of the actual subject matter, you’re pretty much guaranteed to receive a slew of comments slamming Microsoft and its new operating system for introducing these so-called privacy issues, so much so that it has gotten to the point of becoming tiresome.

The data collection in Windows 10 may be at a new level for a desktop operating system but it is pretty standard fare for mobile devices. Both Google (Android) and Apple (iOS) have been collecting this type of data for years with nary a whimper from the using public.

One has to bear in mind that Windows 10 is, after all, a hybrid operating system, designed to cater for both desktop and mobile users. Mobile by its very nature requires a lot more information than a stationary desktop in order to deliver full functionality. If you ask Cortana to find the nearest pizza shop, for example, how can the digital assistant provide that information if it has no idea where you are located?

With the increasing trend toward mobile device usage, Microsoft is merely following the age-old law of supply and demand. With Windows 10, Microsoft has produced an operating system which is suitable for both desktop and mobile users – depending on how it is configured.

That’s the whole point with Windows 10, a point which, apparently, many people have failed to grasp – the choice lies squarely in the hands of the end user. Windows 10 can quite easily be set up purely as a desktop operating system, in which case the level of data collection is substantially diminished. Sure, it may take a little time and effort to go through all the settings, but it is definitely not difficult.

Don’t want to use Cortana? Simple… just turn it off. And so on, and so on. It’s easy to disable unwanted apps/features, nobody is being forced to utilize them or the services they provide. They are simply available for those who do want to use them.

If you go through Windows 10’s Privacy settings and disable everything you don’t want or need, including setting Feedback to minimum, the level of telemetry is no more than one would expect for a desktop PC, no more than [say] in Windows 7 or 8.1.

I’m not suggesting for one minute that Microsoft hasn’t made bad decisions regarding Windows 10, just that, in my opinion, the telemetry isn’t numbered among them – more a matter of simply keeping up with the times. In fact, I’m far more concerned over the enforced updates in Windows 10 where there simply is no choice. Not to mention the constant upgrade nags and unsolicited upgrades – but that, as they say, is another story for another time.

Bottom Line:

To suggest that Windows 10 is ‘spying’ on consumers is a pretty far stretch. I, for one, don’t really care if Microsoft knows that some anonymous old geezer in Queensland, Australia regularly visits Bill Mullins Tech Thoughts blog.

Do I like Windows 10? Sure I do. Would I recommend upgrading to Windows 10 for free? In a heartbeat.

*BTW: Microsoft recently announced that the Windows 10 free upgrade offer will definitely end on 29th July as originally stated.

Nader, The Once And Former Raider – Needs to Stay “Former”

Ralph Nader, was identified as a “former presidential candidate” by CNET several days ago – hardly his claim to fame – old guys like me, remember him more for his 1965 expose – Unsafe at Any Speed – which took a powerful swing at the North American auto industry.

His evisceration of the Chevrolet Corvair (my first car incidentally), established Nader as a rogue consumer advocate. It is fair to say however, that all consumer advocates were viewed as suspicious by the establishment at that time.

So, was Nader correct in his condemnation of the Corvair as a “death trap.” Not exactly. At least, not according to a 1972 study (completed well after the fact, you’ll notice), conducted by Texas A&M University on behalf of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Their conclusion – “the 1960–1963 Corvair possessed no greater potential for loss of control than its contemporaries in extreme situations.” In other words, Nader’s “study” was bullshit.

Taking advantage of the truism that “bullshit baffles brains” – not a detriment it seems, to a media created legend – in the following years, Nader stayed in the public eye pontificating on issues as diverse as –

Ralph Nader on Abortion, Ralph Nader on Budget & Economy, Ralph Nader on Civil Rights, Ralph Nader on Corporations, Ralph Nader on Crime, Ralph Nader on Drugs, Ralph Nader on Education, Ralph Nader on Energy & Oil, Ralph Nader on Environment, Ralph Nader on Families & Children, Ralph Nader on Foreign Policy, Ralph Nader on Free Trade, Ralph Nader on Government Reform, Ralph Nader on Gun Control, Ralph Nader on Homeland Security, Ralph Nader on Technology, Ralph Nader on War & Peace.

Believe it or not, this is an incomplete list. The full list is available at On The Issues.

It’s clear to me, that this man is a studious expert on EVERYTHING. So his observation, that “Video game firms are ‘electronic child molesters’”, recently spewed out during an interview at Politico, must have value. It must be an astute and educated observation – one that’s denied to the average person.

We just don’t have the background I suppose, to be able to digest a complex set of issues like video games –  gun violence – and, the existence (or not), of a link between them – readily identified by Nader.

We just don’t understand as Nader puts it – that video games producers “odious fare is becoming more coarse, more violent, and more interactive to seduce these youngsters into an addiction of direct video game involvement in the mayhem.”

It’s extraordinary that none of this has anything to do of course, with the ready availability of sophisticated weapons, a culture of gun insanity, a heritage of violence as a method of settling grievances, in the United States – a set of circumstances shared virtually nowhere else in the developed world.

Nader would have us set all that aside (along with our common sense), and have us instead, be guided through the forest of his misconceptions, distorted studies, and outright lies (most particularly on this issue) – by an expert at everything – Ralph Nader.

Just thinking about this moron makes my head hurt. Why, for the love of all we hold sacred, does the media give this idiot a forum in which to push forward his nonsense – his facts – his simple solutions to complex issues. Poorly identified issues at that. But, then it’s the media – isn’t it?

The media and the “facts” – an oxymoron if there ever was one!

As regular reader and occasional guest author Mark Schneider remarked here yesterday – “Ralph Nader – desperate for attention and relevance. I’ll continue to ignore him as I have for 40 years.”

I Love Email, But….

I love email – I do – really. I have to love it – I certainly get enough, and send enough; so I have to kind of, sort of – love it. There are some issues with personal email though, that tone down the love quotient – “unlovely” issues.

Number one on my “unlovely” list – the “forward to everyone you know” email. Too often, this type of email turns out to be plain old B.S – otherwise known as a myth. I do wish that my connections who forward this type of aggravating nonsense would drop by Snopes.com (the definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation), before hitting the send button.

I wish I’d written the following rant regarding forwarded emails – it sums up my perspective, nicely –

If you’re going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing. I’ve seen all the “send this to 10 of your closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a human being will somehow receive a nickel from some omniscient being”.

Show a little intelligence and think about what you’re actually contributing to by sending out these forwards. Chances are it’s our own unpopularity.

The point being? If you get some chain letter that’s threatening to
leave you shagless or luckless for the rest of your life, delete
it.

Don’t piss people off by making them feel guilty about a leper in Botswana with no teeth who has been tied to the ass of a dead elephant for 27 years and whose only salvation is the 5 cents per letter he’ll receive if you forward this email.

Now forward this to everyone you know.

Otherwise, tomorrow morning your underwear will turn carnivorous and will consume your genitals.

Number two on my list – the “hang my email address out there for everyone to see” email – or, the famous “I’ve never heard of the Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) option in email.”

Here’s an example of this type of email I received just yesterday, in my private email inbox, from a friend. There are more than three times as many exposed email addresses as I’ve shown in this screen capture.

So what’s the big deal? Well, here’s the big deal –

This email has taken away my control of who has access to my private email address. I have no way of controlling how often my email address gets forwarded or, to whom.

Experience has taught me – there is now a good chance that this address will end up on a spammers list. Spammers comb the Web specifically seeking out email address which have been published in the clear. Since I have lost control over this address it’s now fair game for spammers. Drat!

Contrast this with the following forwarded email (again, from a friend), who has had the courtesy to use Bcc in order not to expose the recipients email addresses.

My good buddy Rick Robinette, over at What’s On My PC, has written an excellent piece on Bcc – Tip: Bcc Protects Private Email Addresses – which is definitely worth a read.

Here’s a sample from that article –

The benefits of using the Bcc field is simply this. You are protecting the privacy of other people. Currently I have approximately (5)-five email accounts that I use for specific purposes, from a variety of email services, with one of those accounts being my primary email account. I am very protective of that primary email account address and do not want it thrown about for the spammers to get hold of or for strangers to see.

For example, I have found people’s email addresses in forwarded emails that I know and have not seen for years. They are very surprised when I contact them; and, will often ask, “How did you get my email?”. I explain that I simply pulled it from a forwarded email.

Number three on my list – the “religious and political commentary” email. This type of email (usually a forwarded email), often tends to lean, more than slightly, to a rightwing extremist point of view – an unbalanced opinion, decidedly unsupported by facts.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate political commentary or discourse but, I can’t help wondering if any consideration is ever given (by the sender), to my personal point of view. It seems – not. Annoying as hell.

There you have it – my rant for the month of September.  

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OPSWAT’s Latest Quarterly Report Breaks Down Antivirus Market Share, Windows Usage By Version, And More

If you’re a techie then you’re very likely familiar with AppRemover, a free powerful anti-malware, antivirus application remover from OPSWAT. Beyond this direct connection however, you might not be familiar with OPSWAT.

So, who are OPSWAT, and what do they do?

From the site:

OPSWAT offers software manageability solutions to streamline technology partnerships between leading technology solutions and software vendors. By enabling seamless compatibility and easy management capabilities, we make connecting your solutions with other software applications effortless.

As a Blogger, information gatherer, and distributor, there is an additional area of OPSWAT’s expertise that I find invaluable, and that is – the regular reports which the company releases on vendor market share for antivirus, hard disk encryption, backup clients, and peer to peer applications.

In its latest quarterly report, (to be released later today), OPSWAT has focused on Worldwide and North American Antivirus vendors market share, with additional data breaking down Windows usage by version and, bonus data on Peer to Peer application usage.

Here’s a few teasers from this report:

The avast! Antivirus product line has helped AVAST Soware maintain its position as the top antivirus vendor worldwide for the last two quarters, despite a slight drop to 16.19% global market share in this report.

Avira GmbH and AVG Technologies are second and third in global market share with 13.22% and 11.47% respectively. In comparison to the worldwide data from our December 2010 report, Avira GmbH shows a considerable increase of 4.96%, which could result from a higher percentage of the current data originating from countries where they have a stronger hold on the market.

The only other worldwide market share increases were by AVG, with a 1.76% gain from the December report, Lavaso, with a 0.82% rise, and Comodo, with a minimal increase of 0.06%.

Worldwide Antivirus Market Share

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

North American Antivirus Market Share

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

The following graphic might hold some surprises for those who insist that Windows XP is dead. If you were to Google “Windows XP is dead”, for example, you might be surprised to see 25 Million search results.

I’m continuously amazed at the gullibility of consumers, particularly here in North America, who are so easily convinced to discard workable solutions in favor of “the latest and greatest”.

As one who continues to happily run Windows XP on an older machine, I must admit to a certain sense of satisfaction when more than half of Worldwide users continue to resist Microsoft’s planned obsolescence cycle.

And yes, I’m quite familiar with the so called “security issues” inherent in running XP. What I find curious is – on the one hand we (those of us involved in system security), extoll users to develop situational awareness while on the Internet, while on the other hand, there’s a tendency to lay the blame for system intrusion based, in large part, on older operating system deficiencies. Marketing gone mad, anyone?

Windows OS Usage – by Version

Click on the graphic to expand to original.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

P2P Application Market Share

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Are Mischievous Kids Responsible For Most DoS Attacks And Bots?

I frequently read the comments posted to other blogs, and tech forums. It’s an elementary way for me to keep in the loop on what others are thinking, relative to their computing experiences.

Often, I’ll find a bit of helpful wisdom in a comment – but, from time to time, I’ll come across a comment that just rubs me the wrong way.

For example – what’s wrong with the following point of view?

“Most of the Denial of Service attacks and other similar “bots” are written by 10 to 14 year old kids that are just being mischievous or looking for some acknowledgement from their peers”.

Other than the fact that’s it’s fanciful thinking (which is statistically unsupportable), it underplays, or ignores, more than a few basic realities:

Cyber crime has evolved dramatically from the days when it took little effort to be a hacker. The days when antimalware applications were either non-existent, or crude.

Organized crime is  the major player in the cyber criminal field. Money is the motivation – economic gain is the driver.

Cyber crime is a multi-billion dollar industry that encompasses identity theft, monetary theft, social and personal scams, extortion, industrial espionage, state-sponsored espionage, and more.

Today’s malware is sophisticated, extremely dangerous, difficult to identify and remove – and coded by experts who are as talented, if not more so in some cases, as any who are employed in legitimate enterprise.

On the face of it, you may think that this point of view is harmless – but that’s questionable. At the very least, this type of statement helps to perpetuate the myth that hacking, and cyber crime, is essentially an activity engaged in by “kids that are just being mischievous”.

The unassailable reality is – highly organized cyber criminal gangs ransack computers, and computer networks, for data that can be used for criminal purposes – not ten to fourteen year children, or older teenagers, seeking a badge of honor.

Surprisingly, it has been my experience that a lower level computer user is more likely to believe this myth, than not. Little wonder that cyber crime ( carried out by committed professional criminals), is rampant on the Internet, when the real perpetrators are seen by some computer users as little more than wispy netherworld figures that may – or may not – exist.

Something to think about – Do teenage hackers exist in any significant number? More to the point – do they constitute a threat to your security on the Internet?

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