Ask an IT Pro

[Kraftster]

If anyone bought a Lenovo computer in the last 3 or 4 months look out for the adware and root cert that they installed. This root cert compromises all https traffic:

The critical threat is present on Lenovo PCs that have adware from a company called Superfish installed. As unsavory as many people find software that injects ads into Web pages, there's something much more nefarious about the Superfish package. It installs a self-signed root HTTPS certificate that can intercept encrypted traffic for every website a user visits. When a user visits an HTTPS site, the site certificate is signed and controlled by Superfish and falsely represents itself as the official website certificate.

Even worse, the private encryption key accompanying the Superfish-signed Transport Layer Security certificate appears to be the same for every Lenovo machine. Attackers may be able to use the key to certify imposter HTTPS websites that masquerade as Bank of America, Google, or any other secure destination on the Internet. Under such a scenario, PCs that have the Superfish root certificate installed will fail to flag the sites as forgeries—a failure that completely undermines the reason HTTPS protections exist in the first place

.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02 ... nnections/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whoa. I just came on to complain because I am literally crippled right now on my new Lenovo laptop (2 months old). I don't know what those words all mean, though, so....awesome.

[Factorial]

If anyone bought a Lenovo computer in the last 3 or 4 months look out for the adware and root cert that they installed. This root cert compromises all https traffic:

The critical threat is present on Lenovo PCs that have adware from a company called Superfish installed. As unsavory as many people find software that injects ads into Web pages, there's something much more nefarious about the Superfish package. It installs a self-signed root HTTPS certificate that can intercept encrypted traffic for every website a user visits. When a user visits an HTTPS site, the site certificate is signed and controlled by Superfish and falsely represents itself as the official website certificate.

Even worse, the private encryption key accompanying the Superfish-signed Transport Layer Security certificate appears to be the same for every Lenovo machine. Attackers may be able to use the key to certify imposter HTTPS websites that masquerade as Bank of America, Google, or any other secure destination on the Internet. Under such a scenario, PCs that have the Superfish root certificate installed will fail to flag the sites as forgeries—a failure that completely undermines the reason HTTPS protections exist in the first place

.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02 ... nnections/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whoa. I just came on to complain because I am literally crippled right now on my new Lenovo laptop (2 months old). I don't know what those words all mean, though, so....awesome.

Try this:

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product ... _uninstall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not all models have it but this will get rid of it if you do.

[Kraftster]

Worked like a charm. Thank you!!

[meow]

Some times when I right click then select the feature I want, the bubble for that feature stays on my screen until I restart. Does that make any sense? How do I fix it?

[dodint]

I know what you're describing and I don't know. Let me poke around and see what's out there.

[mikey287]

So...thinking about this computer/multimedia thinger...I don't really need the TV tuner, eh? I don't watch TV...I just get Roku or something...

So maybe pull this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/331302214944?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ok, I bought this. With a 1TB hard drive and a new keyboard/mouse for $78 total on top. So it was $400. I got a 1GB video card for free as well.

So I'm on my way. I think I'm going to backburner the Tuner card/Antenna thing for now unless I somehow find it to be a need...

Might go for a Roku and just call it even...

I'm excited for this, I'll be able to watch Center Ice in HD by...ditching Center Ice...interesting how that works...

Thanks for the help, IT guys...

[dodint]

Yes, if you're going for the Roku then you won't need the tuner card. Cool that you pulled the trigger, eager to see the result.

[mikey287]

Me too. I hope I'm able to put together player video packages as easily as I think I can...

It was nice too, as I had a surprising amount of money just sitting in my Paypal account...so really it felt like the purchase was like half-off...not a bad investment at all I feel/hope...

[tifosi77]

Some times when I right click then select the feature I want, the bubble for that feature stays on my screen until I restart. Does that make any sense? How do I fix it?

Minimize or close all open programs so that you are on your desktop, hit F5. See if that works.

[dodint]

Any programmers here? I know MiMH does software dev but I don't know how much actual programming you might do.

I'm looking at starting a D.Sc. in Cyber Security next fall and a working knowledge of programming is a requirement. Being that my undergrad isn't in Computer Science I've never actually had to do any programming along the way. I can write HTML and PowerShell scripts, but that's not really the same thing and certainly won't meet the requirement.

Basically I'm trying to find out where to start. Is there a known great resource out there to get you started? Some really useful book or website? What language should I be looking at? I have access to stuff like MS Visual Basic (not that I know what it does) if that helps. Ideally I'd like to learn something that will enable me to write my own applications one day for oddball stuff I do now, maybe pretty up some things I do in Excel and make them dedicated programs. I have a really hard time learning something if I don't work with it and try to build something practical from it.

They ask specifically about:
Visual Basic
C++
COBOL
JAVA
HTML

I actually had a COBOL book but I think I sold it to Amazon. Java sucks out loud, right?

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Personally I think the best language to start (that you mentioned) on is Java. It's very well documented and it's usually the basic starting point for most people getting into development.

You didn't mention it but I would also suggest starting with Python. Python is extremely straightfoward and let's you develop really fast.

you could also start with C++ but I wouldn't suggest it just because it's like a more complex version of Java.

I've never touched VB or COBOL so can't really speak to them.


here's a list of java books that you can use, any will do really: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/qu ... ead-so-far" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dodint]

To be fair to Java I've heard the language is nice but it's the deployment that gives it a bad name. The only time I ever tried to learn any programming it was a Python course, I guess if you start there and it keeps you engaged you can build on that and move to more complex languages. That's what I'm pretty much trying to do.

Do you think starting with Java and then after 6-8 months I could segue into C++? Other than COBOL I'd like to be able to rate myself on all of those (you have to declare a 0-5 expert level for each) before May 2016.

Thanks for the input.

[shmenguin]

COBOL? ha...no one uses COBOL. it's a simple language that's been decommissioned for decades. they must have some legacy stuff - which you wouldn't want to work on.

VB is simple. maybe learn it as a stepping stone to C++/Java (a training ground to dealing with variables, loops, conditions, etc). html is barely even a language. you can learn it in a day...though extending it into CSS, JQuery, etc will take more time.

i work with SQL and Coldfusion all day every day. SQL is a vital skill for anyone. Coldfusion is a niche technology that I've unfortunately spent my whole career in, meaning i have very little transferable skills to a more typical .NET environment.

[Factorial]

I'll echo what MIMH said on Java although if you're looking to build a Windows app, .NET is the way to go. Eights months isn't a lot of time unless you pursue formal coursework or live it daily on your own.

[Factorial]

COBOL? ha...no one uses COBOL. it's a simple language that's been decommissioned for decades. they must have some legacy stuff - which you wouldn't want to work on.

VB is simple. maybe learn it as a stepping stone to C++/Java (a training ground to dealing with variables, loops, conditions, etc). html is barely even a language. you can learn it in a day...though extending it into CSS, JQuery, etc will take more time.

i work with SQL and Coldfusion all day every day. SQL is a vital skill for anyone. Coldfusion is a niche technology that I've unfortunately spent my whole career in, meaning i have very little transferable skills to a more typical .NET environment.

You can learn a lot with JavaScript these days. I've been playing around with Node.js and that is really cool. With it, you can program with JavaScript on the server (file I/O, db calls, etc) and it even runs as it's own WebServer:

http://nodejs.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[shmenguin]

what's the practical benefit of a new, JS-based server side language? is it just an option for people who know JS, but don't want to learn asp, php, etc?

[Factorial]

what's the practical benefit of a new, JS-based server side language? is it just an option for people who know JS, but don't want to learn asp, php, etc?

It's not a new language, it's OO JavaScript and very fast. You wouldn't write a financial app with it but it's great for high transaction websites.

[dodint]

For my situation I need to learn programming not so much to create new applications but to be able to intelligently analyze code to spot/close vulnerabilities. If I wanted to transfer from my current career track to Application Software I'd need a lot longer than 8 months. I would like for my interest to be held long enough for me to keep learning it for a while so I can legitimately program eventually though, specifically for Android, but that's a far off daydream right now.

I took COBOL at WCCC in 2002 or so, along with RPG IV for the AS/400 and I retained nothing. The COBOL book used was "COBOL in the 21st Century" and talked about how relevant it still is, but I didn't believe it then.

I used to know HTML/CSS very well but gave in to WordPress when I had no aspirations to be a web developer.

Thanks for the input.

[shmenguin]

what's the practical benefit of a new, JS-based server side language? is it just an option for people who know JS, but don't want to learn asp, php, etc?

It's not a new language, it's OO JavaScript and very fast. You wouldn't write a financial app with it but it's great for high transaction websites.

it's strange to hear a language described as fast. any time we've done capacity tests, the database server has always been the bottleneck. i think that would be the case with any language we would use - assuming the application is coded efficiently enough. especially when dealing with heavy transaction scenarios. seems like any of the common languages are sufficiently fast, as is.

[Factorial]

what's the practical benefit of a new, JS-based server side language? is it just an option for people who know JS, but don't want to learn asp, php, etc?

It's not a new language, it's OO JavaScript and very fast. You wouldn't write a financial app with it but it's great for high transaction websites.

it's strange to hear a language described as fast. any time we've done capacity tests, the database server has always been the bottleneck. i think that would be the case with any language we would use - assuming the application is coded efficiently enough. especially when dealing with heavy transaction scenarios. seems like any of the common languages are sufficiently fast, as is.

I'm not a salesman for them so I won't argue. Read the WIKI and check out the link I posted is you're so inclined.

[skullman80]

I know SQL. When I was in college(2001 or so) I learned VB, C++, COBOL etc. SQL I'm still proficient in only cause i use it almost every day. I used to be a very good programmer. I'm way out of practice now. I know HTML/CSS as well, but again don't use them on a day to day basis.

[columbia]

If you are starting from scratch in 2015, wouldn't you want to learn a mobile-relevant language?
So that's Java for Android and Objective C (has something supplanted it?) for iOS?

[Factorial]

what's the practical benefit of a new, JS-based server side language? is it just an option for people who know JS, but don't want to learn asp, php, etc?

It's not a new language, it's OO JavaScript and very fast. You wouldn't write a financial app with it but it's great for high transaction websites.

it's strange to hear a language described as fast. any time we've done capacity tests, the database server has always been the bottleneck. i think that would be the case with any language we would use - assuming the application is coded efficiently enough. especially when dealing with heavy transaction scenarios. seems like any of the common languages are sufficiently fast, as is.

For what it's worth, from their WIKI:

Node.js is gaining adoption as a server-side platform[4] and is used by Groupon,[5] SAP,[6] LinkedIn,[7][8] Microsoft,[9][10] Yahoo!,[11] Walmart,[12] Rakuten, PayPal,[13][14] Voxer.,[15] and GoDaddy.[16]

[Factorial]

For my situation I need to learn programming not so much to create new applications but to be able to intelligently analyze code to spot/close vulnerabilities. If I wanted to transfer from my current career track to Application Software I'd need a lot longer than 8 months. I would like for my interest to be held long enough for me to keep learning it for a while so I can legitimately program eventually though, specifically for Android, but that's a far off daydream right now.

I took COBOL at WCCC in 2002 or so, along with RPG IV for the AS/400 and I retained nothing. The COBOL book used was "COBOL in the 21st Century" and talked about how relevant it still is, but I didn't believe it then.

I used to know HTML/CSS very well but gave in to WordPress when I had no aspirations to be a web developer.

Thanks for the input.

All those COBOL programmers are dying off but the systems aren't going away.

[dodint]

Like Space Cowboys?