I would like to propose a “I think I got hacked” sub-category of “User Support”.
Why?
So all the confused and the ones who want to engage with them are in one place I can mute.
4 Likes
I would like to propose a “I think I got hacked” sub-category of “User Support”.
Why?
So all the confused and the ones who want to engage with them are in one place I can mute.
4 Likes
Perhaps there could also be an item in the FAQ about it, explaining how to collect necessary information and how to tell apart if it’s just a bug (mentioning that a good attacker doesn’t want you to find it out at all).
4 Likes
It’s actually not a personal issue for me as with mailing list mode and the respective tools my email client gives me (ignore thread, ignore author etc.) I have plenty of ways to not see what I perceive as noise.
However I am concerned about:
- the overall post quality in the forum sinking even lower than it already is
- these threads spreading lots of paranoia and ignorance that may both spread and attract more of the same kind
- all of the above distracting from what Qubes OS and this forum are supposed to be about
I also start thinking it was a grave mistake to host the forum at the same domain as the project. The fact that the URL reads forum.qubes-os.org gives the whole thing an official kind of look and as such encourages the casual observer to draw conclusions from the forum content onto the project.
Or maybe I am just wrong. 
2 Likes
I think the forum should have a place for these discussions. There are some real at-risk users using Qubes and they may not be that technical. We should support them. A certain level of paranoia is to be expected as they are still learning to navigate the threats landscape and can’t really tell apart a bug from a hack.
As a matter of fact, I’ve been waiting for the wave of newcomers. Windows-native users like this recent case which don’t know a lot about Qubes or how it protects them. The quality will go down, but we (more experienced members) should counter it with good-quality:
- answers (like the one I made)
- boilerplate answers pointing to resources (like this one)
- resources and guides (like What's Needed to Report Your System Getting Hacked? or one as you suggest about finding the system information to tell an attack apart)
Advantages of a “Was I hacked?” category
Allow us to have:
- structured template (like the one one github issues)
- allows us to point to resources
- allows us to add warnings about the risks of publishing information (leaking usernames, etc.) - allow muting category
- allow tracking category - concentrating response efforts - people who like helping on this can now follow this category with a higher priority / being notified of new posts
Risks / disadvantages
- attracting even more loonies
4 Likes
Thank you @deeplow and @fsflover, excellent points. To add to the list of advantages: having a category to move a thread to in case in lands in ‘General Discussion’ or ‘User Support’ proper. Just like the Whonix forum for Whonix questions and “All around Qubes” for general Linux/Admin questions.
I fear the general state of the world will continue to produce varying levels of anxiety and paranoia in all of us. Having this confined to a category allows engaging with it to be a choice depending on ones own state of mind and available energy.
5 Likes
Sorry for shitposting in original topic, but the topic goes in that direction anyway. What I can say as a new (not so inexperienced in linux but still transitioned from Windows user) that I can see more and more not technical but rather paranoid topics on this forum since my arrival. So I think that creating such subcategory with pined posts about how to report “Was I’m been hacked?” scenario, FAQ with security features of Qubes, and some general advises like “APT not targeting random people”, “every software have bug and glitches” etc. is good idea.
1 Like
Whoops. Messed up a bit topic splitting and had to move things around quite a bit. Apologies to email users who’ll see my mistake more visually than anyone else 