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Fri, Jul 20 2012 16:39

Immutable Security Laws and Windows Sidebar Gadgets

Immutable Security Law number 1 : If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore I love the Immutable Security Laws – they strike a chord deep within me, and they’re a “go to” resource every time...
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Sun, Apr 10 2011 14:55

The power of stupidity

I just spent a couple of days trying to figure out why logon-related code that worked in Windows XP failed in Windows Vista and Windows 7. hToken = NULL; if ( LogonUser( g_sUser, bIsUPN ? NULL : g_sDomain, g_sPass, LOGON32_LOGON_INTERACTIVE, LOGON32_PROVIDER_DEFAULT...
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Mon, Feb 21 2011 20:45

Starting to build your own Credential Provider

If you’re starting to work on a Credential Provider (CredProv or CP, for short) for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7, there are a few steps I would strongly recommend you take, because it will make life easier for...
Posted by Alun Jones | 1 comment(s)
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Sun, Feb 6 2011 20:43

Weird virus / anti-virus behaviour

My wife and I pent a while this weekend trying to figure out how to rescue a Media Center that seemed to be going a little loopy. The Windows Media Center application itself worked fine, as did Windows Media Player, Calc, etc. Only Internet Explorer was...
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Sat, Mar 20 2010 17:33

Comcast aims for the future

I’m visiting the in-laws in Texas this weekend, and I use the SSTP VPN in Windows Server 2008 R2 to connect home (my client is Windows 7 , but it works just as well with Vista). Never had many problems with it up until this weekend. Apparently, on Friday...
Posted by Alun Jones | 2 comment(s)
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Tue, Feb 9 2010 21:10

TLS Renegotiation attack – Microsoft workaround/patch

Hidden by the smoke and noise of thirteen ( 13! count them! ) security bulletins, with updates for 26 vulnerabilities and a further 4 third-party ActiveX Killbits (software that other companies have asked Microsoft to kill because of security flaws),...
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Sat, Nov 7 2009 15:24

Why .NET apps keep crashing on your Tablet PC

I’ve been struggling with this issue for some time. I have a small, simple .NET application I wrote in Visual C# a few months ago – I’ve tentatively titled it “ iFetch ”, because it fetches radio shows from the BBC iPlayer . It really is very little more...
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Thu, Dec 25 2008 13:52

Running out of disk space? How’s your logs?

I ran out of disk space today. This is not entirely a new issue for me, because I like to listen to BBC Radio from back home, and my only way to do that is to download the shows overnight so I can listen to them the next day. [I’m not allowed that sort...
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Tue, Dec 9 2008 20:52

Redmond Report says “Vista Kernel Flawed”

This is just some lovely reporting: Vista Kernel Ready To Pop? Vista, due largely to its lockdown of user rights, is far more secure than XP. But it's not 100 percent safe. In fact, the kernel itself has an issue that could lead to buffer overflow...
Posted by Alun Jones | 2 comment(s)
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Tue, Oct 14 2008 10:41

Windows 7 officially has a name

So, what’s the scoop? It’s going to be called “ Windows 7 ”, according to Mike Nash posting at the Windows Vista Blog . [Is it just me, or does Mike Nash look a little like the chef who got into trouble for inflating his resume in the opening credits...
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Sun, Oct 12 2008 21:36

HTML Help in MFC

I recently got around to converting an old MFC project from WinHelp format to HTML Help. Mostly this was to satisfy customers who are using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, but who don’t want to install WinHlp32 from Microsoft. (If you do want to...
Posted by Alun Jones | 1 comment(s)
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Sat, Oct 11 2008 17:49

Weak point against Vista

First rule of demonstrative writing – lead off with an undeniable example of the point you’re trying to make. Case in point – Dan Lyons’ article in NewsWeek on “ A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft ”, meant to be a piece defining how bad Vista is. “Last year...
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Mon, Aug 25 2008 23:22

My MP3 player demands to administer my system

Thanks to the excellent http://www.woot.com , I upgraded to a new MP3 player - this one, the Sansa e250 from SanDisk , has a little screen and shows video at an almost completely unacceptably small resolution. But I don't mind that, I didn't really...
Posted by Alun Jones | 5 comment(s)
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Fri, Jul 25 2008 2:03

Kaminsky Black-Hat Webcast: "By Any Other Name: DNS has doomed us all."

Okay, so the talk’s official title was “ Dan Kaminsky’s DNS Discovery: The Massive, Multi-Vendor Issue and the Massive, Multi-Vendor Fix ”. Arcane details of TCP are something of a hobby of mine, so I attended the webcast to see...
Posted by Alun Jones | 3 comment(s)
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Mon, Jul 21 2008 22:09

Whoops - Information Wanted to be Free Again.

Picture the scene at Security Blogs R Us: "We're so freakin' clever, we've figured out Dan Kaminsky's DNS vulnerability" "Yeah, but what if someone else figures it out - won't we look stupid if we post second to them...
Posted by Alun Jones | 2 comment(s)
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Sat, Jul 19 2008 0:02

DNS Server Reserves 2500 Ports.

After applying the patch for MS08-037 - KB 953230 (the multi-OS DNS flaw found by Dan Kaminski ), you may notice your Windows Server 2003 machine gets a little greedy. At least, mine sucks up 2500 - yes, that's two thousand five hundred - UDP sockets...
Posted by Alun Jones | 14 comment(s)
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Thu, Jul 10 2008 22:07

Vistafy Me.

I have a little time over the next couple of weeks to devote to developing WFTPD a little further. This is a good thing, as it's way past time that I brought it into Vista's world. I've been very proud that over the last several years, I have...
Posted by Alun Jones | 6 comment(s)
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Tue, Jun 10 2008 21:17

The difference between liking and hating UAC?

Totally unscientifically, I have carried out a poll of people who like UAC (okay, a few security geeks like myself), and those who hate UAC - mostly my wife. Something struck me as both a surprising common factor, and also a rather obvious explanation...
Posted by Alun Jones | 5 comment(s)
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Thu, Apr 24 2008 16:47

UAC - The Emperor's New Clothes

I heard a complaint the other day about UAC - User Account Control - that was new to me. Let's face it, as a Security MVP, I hear a lot of complaints about UAC - not least from my wife, who isn't happy with the idea that she can be logged on as...
Posted by Alun Jones | 6 comment(s)
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Tue, Feb 26 2008 11:55

CS-RCS Pro on Vista

I've been trying back and forth to get CS-RCS Pro , a version control suite, to work on Windows Vista. I like CS-RCS Pro for a number of reasons: Files stored in CS-RCS Pro are kept in a simple format, open and well-documented. As a result, if I ever...
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