March 2020 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

root "login" xterm to increase security?
by Zenaan Harkness 20 Mar '20

20 Mar '20

So someone cracking into one's local user account via browser sploit, one of the first acts would likely be to plant a password capture script, e.g. wrapping sudo or something otherwise requiring password entry. Once a password is obtained, via brute force or trojan, sudo gives the entire system away. A convenience is some do "useradd me disk" - but again, any crack of local account (even without password), now gives away all disks. Convenience vs security. So what to do? 1) delgroup me disk "Important" data such as keyfiles ought be stored with no "primary user account access", so group "disk" ought not be part of "primary user"'s groups. Are there any other groups that "really ought" be removed from the local primary user account? 2) Disable sudo and disable su su (as well as sudo) again has the problem of password capture if su or sudo is run from the primary user account after a sploit + trojan planted. So, obviously, we need "clean" root logins, i.e.: - separate root account for admin/disk tasks - clean login, i.e. not via primary user account but using a clean "login" process outside any user account And so logically, the immediate test is as follows (does not work for me, gives me a .profile/.bashrc shell, not a login prompt): xterm -ls Note man xterm: -ls This option indicates that the shell that is started in the xterm window will be a login shell (i.e., the first character of argv[0] will be a dash, indicating to the shell that it should read the user's .login or .profile). The -ls flag and the loginShell resource are ignored if -e is also given, because xterm does not know how to make the shell start the given command after whatever it does when it is a login shell - the user's shell of choice need not be a Bourne shell after all. Also, xterm -e is supposed to provide a consistent functionality for other applications that need to start text-mode programs in a window, and if loginShell were not ignored, the result of ~/.profile might interfere with that. If you do want the effect of -ls and -e simultaneously, you may get away with something like xterm -e /bin/bash -l -c "my command here" Finally, -ls is not completely ignored, because xterm -ls -e does write a /var/log/wtmp entry (if configured to do so), whereas xterm -e does not. QUESTIONS: a) anyone know how to make xterm -ls give a 'clean' login prompt? b) is any presumption of a "clean" login prompt inside xterm, when launched from a primary account xterm session, a folly? c) is there any other option for root in X, which could be considered "resonably secure" in the face of a cracked local X using account? 3) Qubes. Isolate each activity into its own VM. Notwithstanding hardware/CPU level firetruckery (another problem which as grarpamp reminds us requires OpenFabs, OpenHW, OpenCPU etc), isolating each activity, especially public facing activity such as web browsing, appears to be a very reasonable proposition - this way a browser crack means root access in the browser's VM, and not automatically into the rest of the system (VM sploits notwithstanding).

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Phys.org: Researchers demonstrate first terahertz quantum sensing
by jim bell 20 Mar '20

20 Mar '20

Phys.org: Researchers demonstrate first terahertz quantum sensing. https://phys.org/news/2020-03-terahertz-quantum.html

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[OT] Gordon Cook passed away yesterday...
by Cecilia Tanaka 19 Mar '20

19 Mar '20

And I am deeply sad. He was a sweet person and a passionate music lover. I am just telling the sad news here because I know there are people on this list who also appreciated him. I used to talk with him only in private and don't know how if I should to say that I am crying or just being silent on his own list. I hope he sings opera in the Heaven... And if there is no Heaven, hope he rest in peace. </3

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Cryptocurrency: Quant Easing Truth, Russo's Tax Documentary, New Podcast
by grarpamp 19 Mar '20

19 Mar '20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2AvU2cfXRk Avery Largenumber, Economist explains QE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ1fQlevgkM Bernanke Admits Same https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ES-8ofjUwAEXyPG.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ETYOUvYUUAAfnR8.jpg https://gunsnbitcoin.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKeaw7HPG04 Documentary: Freedom to Fascism by Aaron Russo https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query="aaron+russo" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Russo Russo's films have been nominated for six Academy Awards, as well as seven Golden Globes. His films have won three Golden Globes and the Image Award. His latest film is a documentary entitled, "America: Freedom To Fascism." The film begins with a critical review of two monumental events that happened in 1913: the adoption of the 16th Amendment, which has been interpreted to authorize the forced taxation of individual income and the creation of the Federal Reserve, which turned the governance of America's financial system over to a centralized private banking interest. The film intelligently and convincingly makes a strong case for the opinion that both the 16th Amendment and the Federal Reserve System are flatly unconstitutional and may not even have been legally adopted.

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Murder Video shows AU SAS Killing Unarmed Afghani
by grarpamp 19 Mar '20

19 Mar '20

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-16/video-shows-afghan-man-shot-at-close… https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/news/video/202003/field_incident.mp4 Four Corners has obtained video which shows a Special Air Service (SAS) operator shooting an unarmed Afghan man three times in the head and chest while he cowers on the ground. A former member of the same SAS squadron, who was on the 2012 deployment to Afghanistan and has been shown the video, described the killing to Four Corners as a "straight-up execution". The ADF investigators concluded that the Afghan was lawfully killed because he posed a direct threat to the Australians. Anyone thinking that video... of various Government forces doing obvious murder, torture, rape... doesn't exist, hasn't been on the fileshares, forums, and darknets the last 15+ years.

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Joshua Schulte Trial Huge Collection
by John Young 18 Mar '20

18 Mar '20

<https://t.co/RHWEU0AYmI?amp=1>https://hunter.ddosecrets.com/datasets/86 https://data.ddosecrets.com/file/Joshua%20Schulte.7z (813MB)

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Checks from the government
by John Young 18 Mar '20

18 Mar '20

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/03/checks-government?utm_source=govd…

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Cryptocurrency: In times of recession, Coronavirus
by grarpamp 18 Mar '20

18 Mar '20

On 3/18/20, Georgi Guninski <guninski(a)guninski.com> wrote: > Cryptocurrency exchange rate at times of recession? > > Dow Jones dropped and according to some we are at or near > recession/financial crisis. > > How are cryptocurrencies going at times of recession/crisis? > > Browsed some rate charts on xe.com and bitcoin appears to > have dropped in the beginning of March. Electric + Internet = Crypto keeps on going. Down 25-50++%, relative shifts, normal. Crypto not yet a top shelf adoption usage, thus can get sold before other assets, for need, or bets in other markets. Halvenings offering attractive inflation rates. Required Privacy and DEX starting to be taken seriously. No currently leading coins expected to handle credit card tx rates, too busy bloating selves by needing chain history and layering on stupid apps, tokens, features, weight, centralized, politics, compute, and metoos... instead of being simple lean high tx distributed cash. Need new coin for that. Central of ASIC manufacture and mining a bit iffy model over more distributed CPU. Regulation and centralized fiat shitcoins are still biggest risks, that's pointless old world, stop supporting either of them if expect to have anything new and free. Mining cycles being temporarily diverted to coronavirus crunching. Crypto coronavirus charity efforts, etc. Crypto hist: ... ~= $1275/$200 2013-2015 ~= ... ~= $20k/$4k 2017-2020 ~= ... ~= ??? Early days, have fun.

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cryptocurrencies in times of recession
by Georgi Guninski 18 Mar '20

18 Mar '20

Cryptocurrency exchange rate at times of recession? Dow Jones dropped and according to some we are at or near recession/financial crisis. How are cryptocurrencies going at times of recession/crisis? Browsed some rate charts on xe.com and bitcoin appears to have dropped in the beginning of March.

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How to Spread Coronavirus on National Media
by John Young 18 Mar '20

18 Mar '20

Fauci Touches Face with Hand on National Media, Trump Touches Mic Emulated by Fauci and Several Attendees, No Recommended Distance Between Any of Them, Trump Handshakes, One Elbow Bump, What Can Go Wrong? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ETEtcxzWAAECPfW?format=jpg&name=small

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