Administrator DKT27 Posted August 24, 2012 Administrator Share Posted August 24, 2012 According to a known computer security researcher, Microsoft's SmartScreen feature implemented in Windows 8 reports information to Microsoft about every application installed, in an insecure manner Known computer security researcher Nadim Kobeissi has posted up some interesting information on the behavior of Windows 8 whenever you install an application. According to some quick researching he did, the Windows SmartScreen feature reports every application a user installs to Microsoft, and does so in a way that could be intercepted by malicious hackers. The Windows SmartScreen feature is enabled by default and is designed to tell end users whether the application they have downloaded from the internet is safe to install on their machine. It does this by gathering some info upon opening the installer, sending it to Microsoft and then waiting for a response to see if said installer has a valid certificate. As Kobeissi mentions, this means information about every single application downloaded and installed is sent to Microsoft. He dug further to discover the information sent could potentially be intercepted by a malicious hacker, as Microsoft uses an "outdated and insecure" method of HTTPS encrypted communications. If a hacker did manage to steal all the information on a user's application installation habits, they could make a profile of the user and use that to find other exploitable weaknesses. The issue with SmartScreen is currently only prevalent in Windows 8 as it's the first time Microsoft has integrated SmartScreen at an OS level (Windows 7 only features SmartScreen in applications like Internet Explorer). You can disable SmartScreen so you are no longer reporting your installation habits to Microsoft, but this is apparently not easy to do and results in periodic nags to re-enable it. Chances are Microsoft will not do anything about their implementation of SmartScreen, so as it stands now it could be a privacy and security risk. :view: View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganxxta Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Another reason to avoid Win 8, I lost my count :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demoneye Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 :wtf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0veR Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I don't see any good reason to install Windows 8.So far i'm staying with Windows 7 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manu Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 OMG :blink: :wtf: :thumbsdown:THIS IS :shit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiLmEgZ Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Probably one of the best reasons we all should stick to Windows 7 then :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marke68 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 The list of reasons to not use Windows 8 is growing on a daily basis.I see another Windows ME on the horizon and it aint pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKash Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudboy Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Don't XP, Vista, and 7 all have similar behavior with the "Application Experience" and "Program Compatability Assistant Service" services? It's nothing new and can be disabled anyway. If this is the only reason a person would not run Windows 8... they better not run XP, Vista, or 7 either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKash Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I keep reading about some peoples displeasure with the direction Microsoft is going with Windows 8,mostly coming from so called "power users", or people who use professional content creation software. Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, Windows 8 was not made for these people. Maybe Windows 9 will address their concerns. This segment makes up a small percentage of Windows users,that the focus right now is not on them. The focus is on the general consumer who uses their computer to consume content. The focus is on businesses who are migrating to tablet computers,and can use the same software seamlessly on their desktops and tablets without rewriting and porting code,and not having to actually upgrade their hardware. This is a big deal. The Ipad is proof that people like this direction computing is moving towards. What makes you think people are buying ipads? Businesses migrating to ipads? Is it not because they dont have to **** around with dlls,scattered files hell,inconsistent installers,rogue applications,toolbars,malware,memory hogs,incompatible software,sourcing software,computer slow downs? Yes, Winrt is not there yet in terms of having the ability to cater to all types of applications. But Windows 8 is not the final version of Windows 8, or the final version of windows period. Eventually it will evolve to incorporate all these shortcomings,but at the moment, the focus is meeting the needs of the general consumer which makes up a huge chunk of windows users. And if the consumer still needs some software that needs win32,well guess what, the desktop is still there for backwards compatibility. I've seen alot of bitching about the start menu,and in all the years ive repaired computers,i havent seen many people show a hint that they even know how the start menu even works. They mostly have their applications sitting on the desktop,with all their pictures and mp3s. Dont you think Microsoft did studies on how general computer users use their computers? Do you think one day a Microsoft executive said "hey,lets **** around with these guys and lets remove the start menu"? Yeah some people wont like windows 8,namely "power users" who like to have 3 or more apps open at the same time switching between them,big software developers who've been charging high prices for software with little competition, software developers with their own applications/games stores. People who will love Windows 8: The general computer consumer. Lots of software to choose from that can be downloaded from one central location without having to worry too much about malware. Files are organized. Music is in music,pictures are in pictures. Fast boot times. Beautiful interface. Consistent UI. No toolbars,or popups,or errors. Windows 8 is a paradigm shift in computing,and we are all watching history right before our eyes. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted August 24, 2012 Author Administrator Share Posted August 24, 2012 You can disable SmartScreen so you are no longer reporting your installation habits to Microsoft, but this is apparently not easy to do and results in periodic nags to re-enable it. I think it's easy to do. However, I'm not aware about the nags part. Consider this: Install Fraps retail. A installer with digital signature. The hashes etc. goes to M$. Fraps tells M$ that this is pirated. M$ not only blocks the file, it also knows who you are and what email address you use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety.Abd Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Another reason to avoid Win 8, I lost my count :D LOL! +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety.Abd Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 You can disable SmartScreen so you are no longer reporting your installation habits to Microsoft, but this is apparently not easy to do and results in periodic nags to re-enable it. I think it's easy to do. However, I'm not aware about the nags part. Consider this: Install Fraps retail. A installer with digital signature. The hashes etc. goes to M$. Fraps tells M$ that this is pirated. M$ not only blocks the file, it also knows who you are and what email address you use. This is really f***ed then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMANTICGUY50 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I don't see any good reason to install Windows 8. So far i'm staying with Windows 7 :) Same here I will keep Windows 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ande Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Consider this: Install Fraps retail. A installer with digital signature. The hashes etc. goes to M$. Fraps tells M$ that this is pirated. M$ not only blocks the file, it also knows who you are and what email address you use. You have option to use Local Account, that is what I use from the beginning. I selected this option during installation. If some of you need guide how to switch after installation : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65YlUiaCbR4 Edit: Just watched movie (HD) mp4 format using built in video player, pretty good. For those who don't like Windows 8 having to wait for Windows 8 SP1 or Windows 9 is not gonna be easy. Anyway use whatever makes you feel productive / good . :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marke68 Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 @DrKash: I really can't see where this OS is going to be popular with the general consumer as most will already have Win 7 installed and will see no reason to switch. It seems to me that MS have made an assumption that most people will have a touchscreen in the next year or so but i honestly cant see that happening,i remember MS making a similar assumption that everyone had a minimum of a dual core so they could run vista and as we know most people had single core cpu's and had trouble running it. I'd like to be wrong but i see this OS as a disater for MS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted August 25, 2012 Author Administrator Share Posted August 25, 2012 You have option to use Local Account, that is what I use from the beginning. I selected this option during installation. Of course. I'm well aware about the local account thing and even I'm doing the same myself. But, lots of people are using the online account, and as I remember, the MS store (660 apps?) doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chienjy Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 >Windows 8 tells Microsoft about everything you install Windows smartscreen Would Microsoft be God or Devil ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davmil Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Since the days of DOS, for some reason even number releases from MSFT always suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T4C Fantasy Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 You can disable SmartScreen so you are no longer reporting your installation habits to Microsoft, but this is apparently not easy to do and results in periodic nags to re-enable it. I think it's easy to do. However, I'm not aware about the nags part. Consider this: Install Fraps retail. A installer with digital signature. The hashes etc. goes to M$. Fraps tells M$ that this is pirated. M$ not only blocks the file, it also knows who you are and what email address you use. lol that wont happen, ive been using windows 8 since release and also goes against the privacy policy if they can do that law suits will be easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted August 26, 2012 Author Administrator Share Posted August 26, 2012 lol that wont happen, ive been using windows 8 since release and also goes against the privacy policy if they can do that law suits will be easy I don't think so. I'm not talking about data harvesting. I'm talking about control. A company running after pirates + having control of things is a very bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarre™ Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 If the US was able to touch Kim Dotcom who's located from another country, what's stopping them from touching a company that resides on their own turf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saigonman Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 i'm going to stick with Win7, anyway. never want somebody or something spying on your comp !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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