Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do?

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musher0
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#16 Post by musher0 »

Hello again.

I'm in dpup 4.85 right now, so not searching for the Ubuntu spyware bug per se.

Just done a little procedure in console :

Code: Select all

lsof -i -nP
this will list the open ports. Basically, the only ports open on your machine should be the one for cups and the ones for your browser.

(I won't list mine for obvious reasons.)

You can check the number of each port manually at
(Sorry for not highlighting the url properly, this function of the forum is not responding tonight.)

http://www.speedguide.net/scan.php[/url]

Again, no pic for obvious reasons, but you'll see pretty clearly an entry rectangle to test your ports towards the bottom of the page.

The ports you want to check are those in the lsof list. They are indicated after the the URL number, after the colon.

lsof does not come in Puppy by default, so... here's mine. It's compatible with dpup-4.85, so probably with all Puppy's > v. 4.31.

If you do this on a lupu, the ubuntu spyware bug should show up in the lsof list if your Puppy has it.

You can start learning about lsof here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof[/url]. The French wikipedia about it has an even better illustration of what it does. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof_(Unix)[/url]

You can download the lsof source code from the author's site and build your own if you like. http://people.freebsd.org/~abe/[/url]

Hoping to be of help.

musher0
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musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#17 Post by musher0 »

Sorry to bother you again!

Please see attached picture of lsof-i result in my lupu 5.25-retro from a few minutes ago.

As expected, the only open connections on this lucid Puppy are cups and opera's weather widget. This Puppy does NOT have the ubuntu spyware bug.

Puppy's are very probably the most secure linuxes around, you know... :)

BFN.

musher0
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musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#18 Post by musher0 »

And if you do find some spyware on your Puppy, here's a lead as to how to block its port.

http://www.info.com/searchw?qkw=blockin ... &qhqn=&KW=
musher0
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"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#19 Post by musher0 »

Sorry for being all over this thread...

Aren't we overreacting? Playing a psychological game of "Ain't it awful?"

(The ethics of Ubuntu's gesture should certainly be debated, but I'm trying here to stay focused on "keeping the paranoia practical", as one IT title goes. Let's save the nagging and finger-pointing for when everybody is safe and feeling safe.)

I just read that the the offending spyware is only activated when the user uses a particular search feature of Ubuntu's Unity desktop. A comment by "SMed79", on http://www.tux-planet.fr/comment-desact ... ns-ubuntu/.

If the Ubuntu user replaces Unity with another Desktop Environment, such as gnome, the problem disappears. Puppy has Ubuntu-inspired versions, but I believe that even jejy69's Precise puplets DO NOT use the Unity Desktop Environment. We have lots of wm's, but NOT Unity.

Problem solved, I'd say. Except for glaring and explicit evidence to the contrary, we can say, out of logic reasoning, that the Ubuntu Spyware bug is NOT in Ubuntu-inspired Puppy's.

Besides, if it's ever imported in Puppy country, whoever is reading this thread is now forewarned and has a couple of tools to ferret it out.

BFN.

musher0
musher0
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amigo
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Joined: Mon 02 Apr 2007, 06:52

#20 Post by amigo »

The Ubuntu 'spayware' is part of their 'dash' environment -otherwise it does not work.

musher0
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#21 Post by musher0 »

amigo wrote:The Ubuntu 'spayware' is part of their 'dash' environment -otherwise it does not work.
Many thanks for the clarification, amigo.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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