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China's New Mandatory Censorware Creates Big Security Flaws
Freedom to Tinker —
Today Scott Wolchok, Randy Yao, and Alex Halderman at the University of Michigan released a report analyzing Green Dam, the censorware program that the Chinese government just ordered installed on all new computers in China. The researchers found that Green Dam creates very serious security vulnerabilities on users' computers.
The report starts with a summary of its findings:
The Chinese government has mandated that all PCs sold in the country must soon include a censorship program called Green Dam. This software monitors web sites ...
Chinese censorware will expose every PC in the nation of malware, ID theft, botnetting
Boing Boing —
... code during the update process. We found these problems with less than 12 hours of testing, and we believe they may be only the tip of the iceberg. Green Dam makes frequent use of unsafe and outdated programming practices that likely introduce numerous other vulnerabilities. Correcting these problems will require extensive changes to the software and careful retesting. In the meantime, we recommend that users protect themselves by uninstalling Green Dam immediately.
Analysis of the Green Dam Censorware System
Freedom to Tinker: China's New Mandatory ...
Red flags raised over Green Dam
GMSV —
... that among others things could enable international criminals to conscript millions of Chinese PCs into a mammoth, malware-spewing botnet. According to an analysis by Scott Wolchok, Randy Yao and J. Alex Halderman of the University of Michigan: “We examined the Green Dam software and found that it contains serious security vulnerabilities due to programming errors. Once Green Dam is installed, any web site the user visits can exploit these problems to take control of the computer. This could allow malicious sites to steal private data, send spam, or enlist the computer in a ...
U of Michigan Finds Serious Security Flaws in China's Green Dam Software
AppScout —
... "If Green Dam is deployed in its current form," wrote the team, "it will significantly weaken China's computer security. While the flaws we discovered can be quickly patched, correcting all the problems in the Green Dam software will likely require extensive rewriting and thorough testing. This will be difficult to achieve before China's July 1 deadline for deploying Green Dam nationwide." ...
Security flaws galore: Researchers dissect China's Green Dam censorware
Between the Lines —
... A team of researchers at the University of Michigan has found a bevy of exploitable vulnerabilities in Green Dam, censorship software that the Chinese government wants to bundle on every PC. This week, ...
China, don’t install Green Dam! It’s full of bugs!
CrunchGear —
... Well this ought to be of some use to our Chinese readers. And by that I mean people who are actually in China who visit, for whatever reason, crunch gear dot com. There’s some sort of software called Green Dam that will be required on all Chinese PCs soon that blocks all sorts of fun content from being downloaded and/or viewed. Salty political talk? Banned. Pornography? Banned. (Well that’s 90 percent of the Internet right there, silly political arguments (NOBAMA, REVERSE RACISM, etc.) and porn.) Tips on how to grow marijuana? Banned. Violent video games? Banned. Fun ...
Up front: The price of cloud computing gets clearer
Betanews —
... that the software has already been hacked as documented in "Analysis of the Green Dam Censorware System," published last week by Alex Haldeman et al.), and that more than four out of five of Net users contacted say they plan to avoid using the software and will uninstall it if it turns up. ...
CyberSitter Code Found in China Censorship Software
Maximum PC all RSS Feed —
... Green Dam now appears to be taking steps to clean up its act. Version 3.174 of Green Dam has been modified from earlier versions, according to an updated report from the University of Michigan dated today (June 18th). The new version does not use blacklist files from CyberSitter and makes other changes to help improve security, although the researchers conclude the software is still vulnerable to attacks. Stay tuned to MaximumPC.com for more in the continuing saga of Green Dam. ...
China Attacks Itself
Fast Company - Technology —
... of a package of "Green Dam," a form of censorware. Green Dam has significant known flaws--not the least of which being gaping security holes allowing the easy seizure of control of the PC by a remote hacker. Security experts examining the code were able to swiftly assemble a ...
Sony Begins Shipping PCs With Green Dam Filter
TechWeb —
Facebook Traffic from China Drops by Half in the Last Month
Inside Facebook —
... would be installed on computers sold in China, as well as those imported into the country. The software, which serves as a web filter, is intended to keep China’s youth away from pornography and other illicit content, but the disturbing question is whether it will bring China’s political and religious censorship to new heights, not to mention introduce a host of new and dangerous security problems to Chinese Internet users. Furious web protesters were happy to hear that the ...
