Windows 10: Microsoft lost control over the Windows Tiles domain and someone took it

Microsoft introduced Tiles in the Windows Start Menu and Start page when it launched the Windows 8 operating system. Designed to add a dynamic note to the previously static program, service and website links by supporting options to load new tile content regularly, it was a feature that never saw broad adoption by users of Windows.

Many were only exposed to the default list of tiles that Microsoft added to Start profiles; this did not prevent Microsoft from adding support for Live Tiles to Windows 10 as well. Websites and services could support the feature as well so that users who pinned these to Start would receive updated tiles whenever new content became available. While tiles are on their way out, they are still supported in all recent versions of Windows.



A story on German computer site Golem (in English) describes how Golem got its hands on a domain responsible for Tile content delivery to Windows systems because Microsoft failed to protect properly against what is called a subdomain takeover attack.

The takeover gave Golem full control over the content that it delivered to user systems; Windows 8 and 10 users can pin supporting websites to Start to receive updates when new content is published.

Golem noted that sites like Engadget, Mail.ru, or the major German news sites Heise or Giga, supported tiles just like many others.

How the attack was carried out

The host responsible for delivering data to Windows devices was notifications.buildmypinnedsite.com; Microsoft appears to have abandoned the domain and while it redirected it to a subdomain of Azure, never registered it with Azure. Golem managed to register the subdomain using a regular Azure account and added corresponding host names to take full control over the Tiles service used to deliver content to user devices.

The magazine contacted Microsoft about the issue but did not receive a response according to the article. It noted that the host received a "decent amount of traffic" and that Golem would not keep the host registered permanently because of running costs.

Golem stopped the web app in the meantime, it returns a 403 this web app is stopped error now so that manipulated content cannot be delivered to user devices at the time.

Windows users may want to deactivate website live tiles (see this tutorial for Windows 8 Live Tiles) if they use any as a consequence, and website owners may want to drop support for the feature as well to protect against potential abuse.

Closing Words


I never thought much of Live Tiles on desktop versions of Windows. While some functionality was appreciated, e.g. getting an up to date weather report by opening Start, most of the functionality did not make much sense on the desktop in my opinion.

A scenario like this should never happen in my opinion, especially not if it has the potential to affect customers negatively.

Now You: What is your take on Live Tiles or dynamic tiles in general?

Ghacks needs you. You can find out how to support us here or support the site directly by becoming a Patreon. Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Microsoft lost control over the Windows Tiles domain and someone took it appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

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BOINC for Windows Domain Controllers

Long story short, BOINC stopped supporting domain controllers after version 5.10.45 and 5.10.45 broke because it's HTTPS security certificates are out of date. Requirements:

• Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition or newer (must be 64-bit)
• Must have domain controller role installed.

If neither of these requirements are met, just use the latest version from Berkeley.

The solution:

• Download this ZIP from TPU (thanks @Wizzard!)
• Extract everything from the ZIP to the desktop or some place you can easily access it.
• Run "boinc_5.10.45_windows_x86_64.exe" to install 5.10.45 as normal.
• After it is installed, make sure BOINC is not running. If it is running as a service, you can stop it via Services. If it is running in the tray, right click on the tray icon and click on Exit.
• Navigate to where BOINC is installed. This is usually C:\Program Files\BOINC. You should see a ca-bundle.crt file here (it'll have a different icon from the rest). If you do, you're in the right place.
• Extract the contents of the "certificates" folder to the folder where BOINC is installed. You should be prompted to replace existing files. Do it. If you do not, you're likely in the wrong directory or copied the "certificates" folder instead of its contents. It is very important that the files inside of "certificates" overwrite the installed BOINC files.
• Start BOINC again. If it is a service, go back into Services and start the BOINC service. If it is a tray application, run it from your start menu. You'll also need to start the BOINC Manager if you have it installed as a service for the next step.
• Double click on the tray icon to open the BOINC Manager if it isn't already open. Click on the "Messages" tab and verify it is able to download tasks. If it is, you're good to go. If you see "SSL connect" errors lets us know by replying to the thread.

The "certificates" are copied from 7.6.22.

 

Question:- How to add client to domain from domain controller side?

Hi Guys,

-I have domain called lab.com created on virtual machine Windows Server 2008
-I have added a client machine Linux machine rhel6 to domain lab.com in /etc/host file
-I am able to ping DC from linux machine by IP and hostname .
But from DC I can only ping Linux machine by IP address and not by its hostname "rhel61.lab.com"

I don't want to add linux machine entry to DC's hosts file as it is DC so it should resolve it

But I wish to know what step or doings I am missing from DC side that I am not able to ping linux machine by its hostname.

Please suggest.

Thanks.

 

Windows 'domain'?

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your concern in the Microsoft Community. Follow these steps to find the domain name:

• Press the Windows key + R then choose System.
• The name of your computer will be listed as the Full computer name.
• The domain your computer belongs to will be listed as the Domain. If, instead of Domain, you see Workgroup, your computer
  is not a member of any domain.

If you have any questions or things you'd like to clarify, feel free to ask.