Computer Shopper 2019-11-01

LETTERS

ISSUE 381|COMPUTERSHOPPER|NOVEMBER 2019 7

Ienjoy your magazine,and
especially theFree Software
edition, which is very worthwhile.
JamesFitzmaurice

We try to use group tests to look
at the newest products possible,and
sometimes that
means leaving
out ones that
might still be great
but aren’t as recent. We use the
same testing methodology forboth group
tests and reviews, however,soall laptops will
be held to the same standards even if they’re
not covered in the same feature.

Chromewasn’t builtinaday
Iread your article on installing Chrome
OS on an old PC. I’ve done it myself on
alaptop and aPC(both HP). It was easy to
do (I’m 71) and it worked OK.
One thing that might have been worth
mentioning is that if you intend to use the
USB stick again, you’ll need apartition

editor (I use GParted)

to remove the 28 or

so partitions and make

one large one.

Overall it was an

interesting read, and

ComputerShopperhas

plenty of variety in it.

Raymond Mallard

Tracking device

Since 2016 KasperskyAntivirus, and

all its various flavours, has been

injecting aJavaScript intoevery websitea

user visits. Originally the script had

aUniversally Unique Identifier (UUID),

which was unique to aparticular user.

Hence from this, the browsing habits of a

user were beingtracked.

When this situationwaspointedout to

KasperskybyGerman computer magazine

C’treporter Ronald Eikenberg, Kaspersky

replied: “Such an attack is toocomplex and

not profitable forcybercriminals, and

therefore unlikely to happen.”

However,Kasperskyissued apatch. The

software still smuggles ascript with an ID

intoeach web page,but the ID is now

identical forall users of aspecific Kaspersky

edition: FD126C42-EBFA-4E12-B309-

BB3FDD723AC1. Awebsitecan no longer

recognise individual users. However,that

means it’s still possible to find out if avisitor

has installed Kasperskysoftware on their

system and how old that software is, and

whether it’s been patched.

Apparently,according to Kaspersky, one

of the purposes of this JavaScript is to check

that the siteissafeand, if so,itputs the

green shield against the Google search

results. How easy would it to be forahacker

to manipulatethis code and insert agreen

shield against arogue site?

There is away to prevent Kaspersky

inserting the code if you are concerned.

Go to Settings, then the cog wheel,

Additional, Network, and untick the box

marked ‘traffic processing’.

DaveSheppard

Frequent flyer

If Iwere the editor of amonthly

magazine covering computer-

related issues, I’d reserve at least half

apage,and maybe even afull page,

in every issue fordetails of the latest,

almost guaranteed, computer-related

British Airways disaster.

SteveWebb

Inthenextissue

COMPUTERSHOPPERISSUE382ONSALEINNEWSAGENTSFROM10thOCTOBER

❱❱Arewe

alone?

Howthe Search for

Extra Terrestrial

Intelligence (SETI)

is using technology

to discover other

lifeforms in the

universe,from

radio telescopes to

the Drake Equation

❱❱Cool

customer

We take you

through how to

measure,assess

and upgrade

your PC’s cooling

to prevent

overheating and

temperature-

based slowdown

❰❰Paper trail

We put the latest

and best printers

to the test to find

out which best

suit your needs

and wallet

❰❰Build your

perfect PC

Ourstep-by-step

guide to building

your own computer

from scratch, with

expert tweaks for

specific uses,

from multimedia

editing to keeping

to abudget