Topic: Computing/Computer Security (Page 3)
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🔗 2024 CrowdStrike incident: The largest IT outage in history
On 19 July 2024, a faulty update to security software produced by CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity company, caused innumerable computers and virtual machines running Microsoft Windows to crash. Businesses and governments around the globe were affected by what one expert called the "largest IT outage in history".
Among the industries that were disrupted were airlines, airports, banks, hotels, hospitals, stock markets, and broadcasting; governmental services such as emergency numbers and websites were also affected. The error was discovered and a fix was made on the same day, but the outage continued to delay airline flights, cause problems in processing electronic payments, and disrupt emergency services.
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- "2024 CrowdStrike incident: The largest IT outage in history" | 2024-07-19 | 24 Upvotes 4 Comments
🔗 Christmas Tree Exec
Christmas Tree EXEC was the first widely disruptive computer worm, which paralyzed several international computer networks in December 1987. The malware ran on the IBM VM/CMS operating system.
Written by a student at the Clausthal University of Technology in the REXX scripting language, it drew a crude Christmas tree as text graphics, then sent itself to each entry in the target's email contacts file. In this way it spread onto the European Academic Research Network (EARN), BITNET, and IBM's worldwide VNET. On all of these systems it caused massive disruption.
The core mechanism of the ILOVEYOU worm of 2000 was essentially the same as Christmas Tree, although it ran on PCs rather than mainframes, was spread over a different network, and was scripted using VBScript rather than REXX.
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- "Christmas Tree Exec" | 2025-12-06 | 22 Upvotes 2 Comments
🔗 Download Valley
Download Valley is a cluster of software companies in Israel, producing and delivering adware to be installed alongside downloads of other software. The primary purpose is to monetize shareware and downloads. These software items are commonly browser toolbars, adware, browser hijackers, spyware, and malware. Another group of products are download managers, possibly designed to induce or trick the user to install adware, when downloading a piece of desired software or mobile app from a certain source.
Although the term references Silicon Valley, it does not refer to a specific valley or any geographical area. Many of the companies are located in Tel Aviv and the surrounding region. It has been used by Israeli media as well as in other reports related to IT business.
Download managers from Download Valley companies have been used by major download portals and software hosts, including Download.com by CNET, Softonic.com and SourceForge.
🔗 Bitcoin Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin (â‚¿) is a cryptocurrency. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.
Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto and started in 2009 when its source code was released as open-source software. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. Research produced by University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin.
Bitcoin has been criticized for its use in illegal transactions, its high electricity consumption, price volatility, and thefts from exchanges. Some economists, including several Nobel laureates, have characterized it as a speculative bubble. Bitcoin has also been used as an investment, although several regulatory agencies have issued investor alerts about bitcoin.
🔗 .XIP
An .XIP file is a XAR archive which can be digitally signed for integrity. The .XIP file format was introduced in OS X 10.9, along with Apple's release of Swift. .XIP allows for a digital signature to be applied and verified on the receiving system before the archive is expanded. When a XIP file is opened (by double-clicking), Archive Utility will automatically expand it (but only if the digital signature is intact).
Apple has reserved the right to use the .XIP file format exclusively, removing it from public use since release. Starting with macOS Sierra, only .XIP archives signed by Apple will be expanded. Developers who had been using .XIP archives were required to move to using signed installer packages or disk images.