Flame virus can hijack PCs by spoofing Windows Update

Via Survival

Using rogue security certificates, the virus is able to exploit Microsoft's Windows Update service to infect unsuspecting computers.

The infamous Flame virus can infect even secure PCs by tricking them into believing its malicious payload is actually an update from Microsoft.

As we already know, Flame has gained traction by tapping into security certificates for Microsoft's Terminal Server. Though they appear to be digitally signed by Microsoft, the certificates are actually cooked up by the people behind Flame, thereby tricking PCs into accepting them as legitimate.

Microsoft and Symantec revealed yesterday that the virus can up the ante by using the fake certificates to spoof Microsoft's own Windows Update service. As such, Windows PCs could receive an update that claims to be from Microsoft but is in fact a launcher for the malware.

Symantec described the method behind Flame's madness: The virus, also known as Flamer, uses three applications to infect PCs -- Snack, Munch, and Gadget. Collectively, this trio can trick PCs into redirecting Internet traffic to an infected computer with a fake Web server,. Once infected, a PC thinks the file that loads Flame is actually a Windows Update from Microsoft.

And as Symantec explained in its blog, spoofing Windows Update is not a trivial matter.

More @ Cyberwarzone

Occupado (This is good)

Tarheel Ron Gragg, author of 26th NC & Confederate Goliath, on Morning Joe

Via Old Virginia Blog

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Rod Gragg: National History as Family History

My personal attraction to Civil War history occurred when I was a small boy. My grandfather on my mother’s side owned a home on a Civil War battlefield—Fort Fisher, in North Carolina—and I was lured into the inescapable landscape of Civil War history by an older brother and two older cousins who talked about the soldiers and commanders of that battle as if they were local neighbors. Prowling over the battlefield as a child exposed me to a few critters of minor importance—sand fleas and an occasional black snake—but mainly to a much more formidable critter: the Civil War bug—and its bite was irreversible. And even deeper, stronger tug of the heart came, however, from my grandparents on my father’s side. They lived deep in the mountains of western North Carolina—under the shadow of Grandfather Mountain—in a wonderful rural community that was known locally as The Globe.

His whole story @ Civil War 150

Issa: Holder contempt vote to move forward, for now

Sukhoi Pilot Shouted Just Moments before Accident

The pieces of the puzzle shrouding the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash are finally emerging and it appears human error is to blame.

A Tempo Magazine report on the Sukhoi accident published Monday, June 18, included an interview between Tempo and a Russian investigator. The interview revealed that the pilot shouted something just moments before the plane hit the cliff.

A Russian investigator who has knowledge of the initial analysis results from the black box said that Yablontsev was about to conduct a maneuver after his request to descend was approved by the Cengkareng tower. “He wanted to fly between two mountain peaks,” said the investigator. Mt. Salak has three peaks with deep valleys.

Aleksandr Yablontsev, 57, was a senior pilot who had flown more than 221 types of aircraft and clocked 14,000 flight hours. The former fighter pilot had also been involved in the manufacturing of Sukhoi aircraft since 2004. With such skill and experience, the investigator added that Yablontsev wanted to show off the sophisticated technology of the Sukhoi superjet to the passengers.

Without knowledge of the contour of the flight path to Pelabuhan Ratu, the pilot was surprised when he turned the aircraft right and headed into a cliff on Mt. Salak. The black box recording, according to the Russian investigator, revealed that the pilot shouted something in Russian that meant, “Oh my God, what is this?” in English. The marks on the cliff left by the collision showed that Yablontsev tried to dive upwards but the distance and timing was insufficient to avoid the cliff.

More @ tempointeractive

Quick! Get the token black kid front and center!

Via A Trainwreck In Maxwell

Hilarious!

The Stainless Banner May 2012

May, 2012

Defense – Obstacles Part III: Placement And Man-Improved Obstacles

In the last entry we covered what natural obstacles were and why they work. In this entry we’re going to begin to address man-improved obstacles and their placement. Remember a man-improved obstacle is one that implies a natural obstacle has been improved or an obstacle created through human effort. In military doctrine these are normally referred to manmade however I want to draw a distinction between man-improved and manmade (an obstacle human placed that consumes resources like wire, posts, etc.). Normally man-improved obstacles take less effort than manmade ones and what I refer to as man-improved obstacles normally don’t require significant external resources.

During this entry I’ll be using the phrase “cut a/the trail” This implies actually severing a trail and not creating one like we would normally use the term. Why would you cut a trail? If you have multiple routes in your AO or on your land you may want to eliminate some of them to vehicle traffic (remember a guy on foot is going to be damn hard to stop) which could decrease the numbers of avenues of approach the threat could take while mounted (in a vehicle). And with cutting a trail the old adage applies – “Any obstacle that’s going to make it hard for the threat to get in is going to make it hard for you to get out“. Use these examples only by weighing that along with all of the pros and cons that putting them in brings.

One of the basic tenants of obstacles I presented in the introduction was the fact that it’s much easier to halt or delay a vehicle than a person on foot with an obstacle. We’re going to focus on delaying vehicles in this entry because it’s a given that a determined threat on foot is going to find a way in. So for our purposes we’ll look at trails on flat land, uphill/downhill, and side slopes. IMHO these types of vehicular obstacles are best placed a good distance away from your homestead. Why? It they do stop a vehicle completely and the threat dismounts to continue on it’s going to cost him time and energy humping it. Once he gets to your homestead he still has to assault. And in the middle of summer with a 100 degrees outside he’s probably going to already be beat. Since we’re looking at vehicles let’s take another look at the performance stats I presented in the natural vehicle entry.

More @ The Lizard Farmer

"I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK"

Via Conservative Heritage Times

"Mr. Copens kindly sent us this video. It’s good stuff. I assume, although I don’t know for sure, that Mr. Copens is a Ron Paul supporter."

Don't miss this: Aerial Chivalry -The Story of Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler

Roundabout via Bill

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Stigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.

When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.
More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

Links:
Article: http://www.robertswindholz.com/docs/charleybrown.pdf

Charlie Brown's Obituary:
http://tinyurl.com/ycrcpgy

Franz Stigler's Obituary:
http://tinyurl.com/ybsvlv3

To Contact Robert Windholz:
http://www.robertswindholz.com
email: rswindholz@lawyerserve.com

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