Hot Potato - Windows: the most dangerous OS in the world

The unholy zero-day concoction, reported to Microsoft in September and still unpatched, is a reliable way of p0wning Windows for attackers that have managed to pop user machines.

Breen released exploit code for his attack dubbed Hot Potato following his talk at the Shmoocon conference in Washington over the weekend.  "Hot Potato takes advantage of known issues in Windows to gain local privilege escalation in default configurations, namely NTLM relay -\- specifically HTTP-SMB relay - and NBNS spoofing," Breen says.  

"Using this technique, we can elevate our privilege on a Windows workstation from the lowest levels to NT Authority/System – the highest level of privilege available on a Windows machine.  "This is important because many organisations unfortunately rely on Windows account privileges to protect their corporate network."

http://theregister.co.uk/2016/01/20/hot/

Tails 2 Is Out!

We are especially proud to present you Tails 2.0, the first version of Tails based on:

  * GNOME Shell, with lots of changes in the desktop environment.
  * Debian 8 (Jessie), which upgrades most included software and improves many things under the hood.

This release fixes [many security issues](https://tails.boum.org/security/Numerous_security_holes_in_1.8.2/index.en.html) and users should upgrade as soon as possible.

# Changes

## New features

  * Tails now uses the GNOME Shell desktop environment, in its Classic mode. GNOME Shell provides a modern, simple, and actively developed desktop environment. The Classic mode keeps the traditional Applications, Places menu, and windows list. Accessibility and non-Latin input sources are also better integrated.

To find your way around, [read our introduction to GNOME and the Tails desktop.](https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/introduction_to_gnome_and_the_tails_desktop/index.en.html)

The desktop and Applications menu


The activities overview


## Upgrades and changes

  * Debian 8 upgrades most included software, for example:

    * Many core GNOME utilities from 3.4 to 3.14: Files, Disks, Videos, etc.
    * LibreOffice from 3.5 to 4.3
    * PiTiVi from 0.15 to 0.93
    * Git from 1.7.10 to 2.1.4
    * Poedit from 1.5.4 to 1.6.10
    * Liferea from 1.8.6 to 1.10
  * Update Tor Browser to 5.5 (based on Firefox 38.6.0 ESR):

    * Add Japanese support.
  * Remove the Windows camouflage which is currently broken in GNOME Shell. We started working on [adding it back](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/10830) but [your help is needed](https://tails.boum.org/news/windows_camouflage_jessie/index.en.html)!

  * Change to `systemd` as init system and use it to:

    * Sandbox many services using Linux namespaces and make them harder to exploit.
    * Make the launching of Tor and the memory wipe on shutdown more robust.
    * Sanitize our code base by replacing many custom scripts.
  * Update most firmware packages which might improve hardware compatibility.

  * Notify the user if Tails is running from a non-free virtualization software.

  * Remove Claws Mail, replaced by [Icedove](https://tails.boum.org/doc/anonymous_internet/icedove/index.en.html), a rebranded version of Mozilla Thunderbird.

## Fixed problems

  * HiDPI displays are better supported. ([#8659](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/8659))

  * Remove the option to open a download with an external application in Tor Browser as this is usually impossible due to the AppArmor confinement. ([#9285](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/9285))

  * Close Vidalia before restarting Tor.

  * Allow Videos to access the DVD drive. ([#10455](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/10455), [#9990](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/9990))

  * Allow configuring printers without administration password. ([#8443](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/8443))

# Known issues

  * Tor Browser 5.5 introduces [protection against fingerprinting](https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/13313) but due to an [oversight](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/11000) it is not enabled in Tails 2.0. However, this is not so bad for Tails users since each Tails system has the same fonts installed, and hence will look identical, so this only means that it's easy to distinguish whether a user of Tor Browser 5.5 uses Tails or not. That is already easy given that Tails has the AdBlock Plus extension enabled, unlike the normal Tor Browser.

See the current list of [known issues](https://tails.boum.org/support/known_issues/index.en.html).

# Installing

We also redesigned completely our download and installation instructions to make it easier to get started with Tails.

For example, you can now verify the ISO image automatically from Firefox using a special add-on.

You can also install or upgrade Tails directly from Debian or Ubuntu using the `tails-installer` package.

[Try our new installation assistant.](https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html)


# Upgrading

Tails changed so much since version 1.8.2 that it is impossible to provide an automatic upgrade. We recommend you [follow our new manual upgrade instructions](https://tails.boum.org/upgrade/index.en.html) instead.

# What's coming up?

The next Tails release is [scheduled](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/calendar/) for March 6.

Have a look at our [roadmap](https://labs.riseup.net/code/projects/tails/roadmap) to see where we are heading to.

We need your help and there are many ways to [contribute to Tails](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/index.en.html) ([donating](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/how/donate/index.en.html) is only one of them). Come [talk to us](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/talk/)!

URL: https://tails.boum.org/news/version_2.0/index.en.html
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Microsoft Has The Encryption Keys To Your New Windows 10

The Intercept has written that if you have bought a Windows PC recently then Microsoft probably has your encryption key. This is a reference to Windows' device encryption feature. We wrote about this feature when it was new, back when Microsoft introduced it in Windows 8.1 in 2013 (and before that, in Windows RT).

Read the full article...

Plain old espionage and corporate spying

Did you know the NSA (National Security Agency) has built a map of the entire world via the communication links of all email, chat, and  financial transactions? This map tells a story to them about all of us.  It knows who we know. It knows who our activist allies and relationships  are.

And, as if that wasn’t crappy enough, the NSA is trying to undermine the  security of the internet as a whole by putting in back-doors and  weakening encryption standards so that they can spy better. They spend  $250,000,000 USD per year on this. This makes the entire internet less  secure, and makes it easier for people, governments, and corporations to  exploit, scam, and spy on each other.

While the NSA claims they are targeting terrorism, they have been  targeting foreign politicians and companies, with evidence that this is  happening particularly in Brazil and Mexico. This is plain old espionage  and corporate spying. Terrorism is merely the justification for  astounding encroachments on our civil liberties.

Last, we have to assume this is all the tip of an iceberg. We have to  assume there are other spy agencies across the globe doing similar spy  work that we don’t know about (yet).

Tails 1.7 Is Out

This release fixes [?](https://tails.boum.org/ikiwiki.cgi?do=create&from=news%2Fversion_1.7&page=security%2FNumerous_security_holes_in_1.7.1)numerous security issues. All users must upgrade as soon as possible.

# Changes

## New features

  * You can now start Tails in [offline mode](https://tails.boum.org/news/../doc/first_steps/startup_options/offline_mode/index.en.html) to disable all networking for additional security. Doing so can be useful when working on sensitive documents.

  * We added [Icedove](https://tails.boum.org/news/../doc/anonymous_internet/icedove/index.en.html), a rebranded version of the Mozilla Thunderbird email client.

Icedove is currently a technology preview. It is safe to use in the context of Tails but it will be better integrated in future versions until we remove [?](https://tails.boum.org/ikiwiki.cgi?do=create&from=inc%2Frelease_notes%2F1.7&page=claws_mail)Claws Mail. Users of Claws Mail should refer to our instructions to [migrate their data from Claws Mail to Icedove](https://tails.boum.org/news/../doc/anonymous_internet/claws_mail_to_icedove/index.en.html).

## Upgrades and changes

  * Improve the wording of the first screen of Tails Installer.

  * Restart Tor automatically if connecting to the Tor network takes too long. ([#9516](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/9516))

  * Update several firmware packages which might improve hardware compatibility.

  * Update the Tails signing key which is now valid until 2017.

  * Update Tor Browser to 5.0.4.

  * Update Tor to 0.2.7.4.

## Fixed problems

  * Prevent wget from leaking the IP address when using the FTP protocol. ([#10364](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/10364))

  * Prevent symlink attack on ~/.xsession-errors via tails-debugging-info which could be used by the amnesia user to bypass read permissions on any file. ([#10333](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/10333))

  * Force synchronization of data on the USB stick at the end of automatic upgrades. This might fix some reliability bugs in automatic upgrades.

  * Make the "I2P is ready" notification more reliable.

# Known issues

See the current list of [known issues](https://tails.boum.org/news/../support/known_issues/index.en.html).

# Download or upgrade

Go to the [download](https://tails.boum.org/news/../download/index.en.html) or [upgrade](https://tails.boum.org/news/../doc/first_steps/upgrade/index.en.html) page.

If you have been updating automatically for a while and your Tails does not boot after an automatic upgrade, you can [update your Tails manually](https://tails.boum.org/news/../doc/first_steps/upgrade/index.en.html#manual).

# What's coming up?

The next Tails release is [scheduled](https://tails.boum.org/news/../contribute/calendar/) for December 15.

Have a look at our [roadmap](https://labs.riseup.net/code/projects/tails/roadmap) to see where we are heading to.

We need your help and there are many ways to [contribute to Tails](https://tails.boum.org/news/../contribute/index.en.html) ([donating](https://tails.boum.org/news/../contribute/how/donate/index.en.html) is only one of them). Come [talk to us](https://tails.boum.org/news/../contribute/talk/)!

URL: https://tails.boum.org/news/version_1.7/index.en.html