riQQ's recent activity

  1. Comment on Keenadu – a multifaceted Android malware that can come preinstalled on new devices in ~tech

    riQQ
    Link

    Kaspersky has detected a new malware for Android devices that it dubbed Keenadu. This malware is distributed in multiple forms – it can be preinstalled directly into devices’ firmware, embedded within system apps, or even downloaded from official app stores such as Google Play. Currently Keenadu is used for ad fraud, with attackers using infected devices as bots to deliver link clicks on ads, but it can also be used for malicious purposes, with some variants even allowing full control of the victim’s device.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on MEP raises questions over US biometric talks for EU visa deal in ~society

    riQQ
    (edited )
    Link

    As the EU is preparing to negotiate expanded data access terms with the US to maintain visa-free travel, a Renew Europe lawmaker is raising concerns about these talks taking place amid rising transatlantic tensions.

    Renew Europe MEP Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle sent written questions to the Commission and EU capitals, seen by Euractiv, demanding to know why EU institutions agreed to open talks with the US about granting access to Europeans’ sensitive data.

    The Parliament’s civil liberties committee is set to hold a closed-door meeting to discuss the data access talks on 24 February, according to a recent committee agenda.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on archive.today is directing a DDOS attack against my blog in ~tech

    riQQ
    Link Parent
    This sent my down a rabbit hole. Here's the Stack Overflow question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15445285/how-can-i-connect-to-a-tor-hidden-service-using-curl-in-php Found via...

    This sent my down a rabbit hole. Here's the Stack Overflow question:
    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15445285/how-can-i-connect-to-a-tor-hidden-service-using-curl-in-php

    Found via https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1nln17/the_stackoverflow_question_that_busted_the_silk/. The Reddit post's title is exaggerated, the Stack Overflow post was just a piece of the puzzle.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Telegram CEO vows to fight for app amid Russia pressure in ~tech

    riQQ
    Link

    Russia's state communications watchdog said earlier in the day that the popular messaging app would face further restrictions from authorities because it failed to correct previous violations.

    Then on Wednesday, a Russian court fined the ‌messaging ⁠app ⁠around 11 million rubles (€119,500, $142,400) for refusing to remove banned content authorities regard as extremist, according to ‌the state-run RIA ‌Novosti.

    Users reported slow traffic and lagging downloads throughout Tuesday as Russia moved to tighten controls on the key channel for both public and private communication in the country.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored hackers in ~tech

    riQQ
    Link

    Following the security disclosure published in the v8.8.9 announcement
    https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v889-released/
    the investigation has continued in collaboration with external experts and with the full involvement of my (now former) shared hosting provider.

    According to the analysis provided by the security experts, the attack involved infrastructure-level compromise that allowed malicious actors to intercept and redirect update traffic destined for notepad-plus-plus.org. The exact technical mechanism remains under investigation, though the compromise occured at the hosting provider level rather than through vulnerabilities in Notepad++ code itself. Traffic from certain targeted users was selectively redirected to attacker-controlled served malicious update manifests.

    TL;DR
    According to the former hosting provider, the shared hosting server was compromised until September 2, 2025. Even after losing server access, attackers maintained credentials to internal services until December 2, 2025, which allowed them to continue redirecting Notepad++ update traffic to malicious servers. The attackers specifically targeted Notepad++ domain with the goal of exploiting insufficient update verification controls that existed in older versions of Notepad++. All remediation and security hardening were completed by the provider by December 2, 2025, successfully blocking further attacker activity.

    20 votes

  10. Comment on Theme reset? in ~tildes

    riQQ
    Link
    Are you using the Account default theme setting? It's in your user settings.

    Are you using the Account default theme setting? It's in your user settings.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Europe loves night trains - so why are many routes disappearing across the continent? in ~transport

    riQQ
    Link

    New night trains are launching across Europe, but funding gaps and ageing infrastructure still threaten their revival.

  13. Comment on Microsoft quietly kills Windows 11/10 activation via phone in ~tech

    riQQ
    Link
    And previously: https://tildes.net/~tech/1ql4/microsoft_is_plugging_more_holes_that_let_you_use_windows_11_without_an_online_account

    If you are wondering about official ways, offline Windows activation has been possible to do using the phone. However, it looks like Microsoft has quietly killed off that method as users online have found that they are no longer able to activate the OS using it.

    And previously:
    https://tildes.net/~tech/1ql4/microsoft_is_plugging_more_holes_that_let_you_use_windows_11_without_an_online_account

    7 votes

  15. Comment on BYD overtakes Tesla as China reshapes the global electric vehicle race in ~transport

    riQQ
    Link

    The battle of the electric vehicles seems to be comfortably leaning in favour of Chinese producer BYD as Elon Musk's Tesla cars continue to underperform sales-wise, with the Chinese producer posting a nearly 28% increase in year-to-date sales for December.

    8 votes

  17. Comment on How a 20 year old bug in GTA San Andreas surfaced in Windows 11 24H2 in ~comp

    riQQ
    Link
    Interesting in-depth story of hunting down a game bug that only surfaces in one of the latest Windows 11 versions.

    Interesting in-depth story of hunting down a game bug that only surfaces in one of the latest Windows 11 versions.

    10 votes

  18. Comment on How a 20 year old bug in GTA San Andreas surfaced in Windows 11 24H2 in ~comp

    riQQ
    Link

    Skimmer airplane doesn’t exist in Windows 11 24H2

    When I upgraded my windows to version 24H2, the Skimmer plane disappear completely from the game. It can’t be spawn using trainer nor it can’t be found anywhere on it’s normal spawn points. I’m using both my modded copy (which is before the update, is completely fine) and vanilla copy with only silentpatch (I tried the 2018, 2020 and the most recent version of silentpatch) and the plane still won’t exist.

    If this was the first time I had heard about it, I’d likely consider it dubious and suspect there are more things at play, and it’s not specifically Windows 11 24H2. However, on GTAForums, I’ve been receiving comments about this exact issue since November last year. Some of them said SilentPatch causes this issue, others however stated the same happens on a completely unmodded game:

    13 votes

  20. Comment on Leaving Apple behind after eighteen years in ~tech

    riQQ
    Link
    CoMaps has worked without any problems for foot navigation for me so far. This might have been a GPS or fused location provider issue. It could theoretically also be an issue with the map data (it...

    I've tried my best to set up something workable with CoMaps. I tried to use it recently for the first time for walking directions (which is my favorite and most-used mode of travel), and it seemed to think I was several blocks away from where I was. I tried to trust it and turned around before realizing I actually hadn't gone far enough. I frequently walk places I've never been to before, so navigation is pretty important to me. I could use Google Maps, but that's counterproductive.

    CoMaps has worked without any problems for foot navigation for me so far. This might have been a GPS or fused location provider issue.

    It could theoretically also be an issue with the map data (it uses OpenStreetMap data). But that is pretty unlikely.

    6 votes