On 11/14/2022 10:27 AM, Harlan@simulated_addy.com wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 14:15:55 +0000, mechanic <mechanic@example.net>
> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 08:32:16 +0100 (CET), Nomen Nescio wrote:
>>
>>> For these idiots to keep saying that computers are infected within
>>> an hour, or days, is total fabrication. To get infected the user
>>> has to 'do' something to cause it.
>>
>> No.
>> https://twitter.com/hackerfantastic/status/863463492090818561
>
> More total bullshit which doesn't explain a thing about the real cause
> of the problem. Twitter is now source of reliable info? Ha!
>

That's the kind of thing that happens if you connect

modem --- computer

without a NAT router.

That's also why you should back up the drives on your
entire computer room. For when something spreads as
a worm , over your LAN.

There was a guy in another group, who got "icarus" on his
machine, and all the machines at his place were wiped out.
Took about three months for him to tip the room upright again.

The attack arrived as a phishing email from "fake GoDaddy". He
has his own website. The registration was not cloaked. The
Black Hat took the email address from the registration,
constructed a phishing email, sent an "attachment" invoice.
(I think the whole thing was automated, so the Black Hat
sent thousands of those emails to GoDaddy customers.)
Which he double clicked. He then came over to the USENET
group and asked "why do all my files end in .icarus". I had
to look that up. And eventually the red screens showed up
and he was then completely cooked. His backups were
"poor to nonexistent". And like me, he didn't have good
records of which Windows license, belonged with which machine.

And while everyone would chide the guy for double-clicking
an attachment like that, the thing is, you don't really
know how clever you are, until *you* get phished. I learned
this in Psych 100 in University, where students have to
volunteer to be guinea pigs for 6 hours of experiments.
And I fell for one of their setups, hook line and sinker.
I actually believed a story they told me, on the way over
to the Psych building. It's because I would never have
suspected a mere security guard of "being a stooge".
And I was escorted by the security guard, over to the lab.
That's how I know that I am susceptible, to a "good story",
and can never make any assumptions about getting phished.
It's always something you "trust" that gets you.

Paul

Harlan@simulated_addy.com wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 10:12:32 -0800, Lyle <Lylei@Lyle.com> wrote:
>
> >So what protection brands do you have installed ?
>
> Who are you responding to?

To the poster of the parent article?

On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 12:26:47 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

>On 11/13/2022 9:55 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
>
>> Good catch, so PPP was last seen in 1994 and PPPOE was last seen in 2002
>> on the mobile data network where I worked at the time, not visible to
>> the end user. I guess I've never seen PPPOE in a residential setting, so
>> I'm back to my original question. Do you guys (still) use it?
>
>The service that was offered here, was definitely PPPOE.
>
>Because I had to hunt for a solution to connect my Mac.
>As you'd expect, the tech support response was "whots a Mac?".
>They were prepared to help PC users, but not Apple users.
>Once my service was hooked up (it took *three weeks* for the
>idiots to turn it on), I had to fend for myself.
>
>There was a third party package to convert incoming PPPOE
>into plain Ethernet. It was a bit much to run that on
>a cooperative multitasking OS, on a piss-weak processor,
>and have an enjoyable session. That's why I rapidly moved
>to the cheesy $300 four port router box (BEFSR41?). As it
>did PPPOE like it was nothing. But it also crashed twice
>an evening (that's where the word "cheesium" comes from).

Probably not the BEFSR41, since that was popular back around 2000 or so
and shouldn't have cost anywhere near $300. I get your point, though,
that terminating PPPOE on a gateway device is far superior to trying to
do it on a LAN host.

FTR, my first router was the BEFSR11, the 1-port version of the 41. That
was an excellent router for its time, IMHO.

On 11/14/2022 10:01 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 12:26:47 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 11/13/2022 9:55 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
>>
>>> Good catch, so PPP was last seen in 1994 and PPPOE was last seen in 2002
>>> on the mobile data network where I worked at the time, not visible to
>>> the end user. I guess I've never seen PPPOE in a residential setting, so
>>> I'm back to my original question. Do you guys (still) use it?
>>
>> The service that was offered here, was definitely PPPOE.
>>
>> Because I had to hunt for a solution to connect my Mac.
>> As you'd expect, the tech support response was "whots a Mac?".
>> They were prepared to help PC users, but not Apple users.
>> Once my service was hooked up (it took *three weeks* for the
>> idiots to turn it on), I had to fend for myself.
>>
>> There was a third party package to convert incoming PPPOE
>> into plain Ethernet. It was a bit much to run that on
>> a cooperative multitasking OS, on a piss-weak processor,
>> and have an enjoyable session. That's why I rapidly moved
>> to the cheesy $300 four port router box (BEFSR41?). As it
>> did PPPOE like it was nothing. But it also crashed twice
>> an evening (that's where the word "cheesium" comes from).
>
> Probably not the BEFSR41, since that was popular back around 2000 or so
> and shouldn't have cost anywhere near $300. I get your point, though,
> that terminating PPPOE on a gateway device is far superior to trying to
> do it on a LAN host.
>
> FTR, my first router was the BEFSR11, the 1-port version of the 41. That
> was an excellent router for its time, IMHO.
>

I think the receipt is in the box.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/7Pgxjq8y/befsr41-receipt.jpg

Our currency (the Canadian peso), wasn't worth very much :-)

It was $300, with tax on top of that. Inside the router,
are two boards (joined by ethernet signals). That is why,
when the router bricked, it wasn't possible to reflash it,
because the thing becomes "partitioned" and cannot be
reached any more via an Ethernet port. (And besides, I was
sick of the crashing. I need an excuse not to revive it.
I have a pretty good idea why it crashes too, something
I learned as an engineer long ago. I could have actually
fixed it so it wouldn't crash. But again, when you work
ten hour days at work, you're in no mood to be
soldering shit at home.)

The cash register receipt from Futureshop, was unique
in that it wasn't on thermal paper. Twenty two years later,
the receipt can still be read. I have thermal paper receipts
that have faded after only six months (and not sitting in direct
sunlight either, even inside a box they can fade). I am lucky
in this case, that I can share a picture of that with you.

The DLink that came after it, was $39.95 (again, in our peso).
The evening I bought the DLink, I realized I didn't have cables,
and drove over to the "surplus" place, and they wanted
$10 for each of the four Ethernet cables I bought. Which
meant the cabling cost as much as the router. Even though
I'm not using the DLink today, those "Monster-priced"
Ethernet cables are still in use (one is used on this machine).
So at least some of my purchases, have lasted.

At least the DLink didn't brick, and is fully function if
I ever need it again. The DLink also does not crash. That's
what was so relaxing about the thing, is not having to worry
about another download being ruined.

Paul

On Tue, 15 Nov 2022 01:12:43 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

>On 11/14/2022 10:01 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
>> FTR, my first router was the BEFSR11, the 1-port version of the 41. That
>> was an excellent router for its time, IMHO.
>>
>
>I think the receipt is in the box.
>
> [Picture]
>
> https://i.postimg.cc/7Pgxjq8y/befsr41-receipt.jpg
>
>Our currency (the Canadian peso), wasn't worth very much :-)

Understatement. I may not be remembering correctly, but that looks like
8 times what it sold for down here.

>The DLink that came after it, was $39.95 (again, in our peso).

That's much more in line with what I'd expect to pay.