Shellshock survived, for now

Shellshock, maybe the most terrifying and old bug in the Linux history, recently (re-)discovered and badly exploited, got finally patched after almost 25 years of existence. The security flaw in bash (GNU Bourne Again SHell), the most used standard shell in Linux operating systems like elementary OS or Ubuntu, allowed attackers to use environmental variables on halfway open web servers (like for web apps) to get control of system features, steal data or download other malware to the server. (Very simple explained)

Update all your systems!

As this bug is still actively exploited on not-up-to-date systems and could have even slowed down or knocked out the internet partly, you have to update all your Linux based systems on all of your computers, if you have not done this already.

Not the only flaw in open software

Earlier this year we had already “Heartbleed“, another bad security flaw found and exploited in OpenSSL, which existed years. Now there are many voices about security in open software and we can say one thing for sure; there’s no entirely safe system in the world and the next, maybe much worse, bug in open software is going to be found in an undefinite period.

Tip of the week – Control Music

Most elementary OS users should know this trick, but it’s still great to talk about it, as there are many new users out there.

In Wingpanel there’s a good possibility offered to control your currently playing music simply without switching through the apps. Just click on the volume icon. Then you see a list with the volume slider and your installed music applications, such as Noise, Spotify or Rhythmbox, which you can handle now.

Enjoy using elementary OS and feel free to share!