PaulDesmond, what is this backup you talk about? I thought you were talking about flies. Please don't hit them. Please reread my message.
No, it's not supposed to be easy. The server isn't configured right. People from outside are not supposed to be able to reach that .edu server. Somebody in the IT dept. @ Columbia has some serious answering to do Exactly. This particular loophole I assume is gonna be plugged sooner than later. But this cat & mouse game is gonna continue. There have been other .edu server(s) in the past that have been misconfigured as well as the (very first?) Belgian customs one among myriad others
haha, I thought you were talking about flies wondering that nobody else has this kind of problem ... lol
Especially when it's Columbia University of Information Technology. If they can't properly secure their own perimeter, what does that say about their educational programs. Or, they are intentionally blatant about exposing their KMS to the public, and thumb their noses at M$...but I can't imagine that's the case. More likely that their firewall guys are nincompoops.
Exactly. With Columbia, it does not appear to be a "loophole" in the sense that it is some misconfiguration that they are unaware of. If you look at the instructions provided, it is very clear that the server is meant (setup) to be accessible from outside of their network. It seems as though they did not want to bother with off-site computers having to connect through VPN. Is it technically "wrong" for corporations/organizations/institutions that use KMS servers to have them internet-facing? I completely understand the security side of things and why you wouldn't want it public - but can Microsoft legally contact them and mandate that the server be taken offline? Clearly Columbia has been doing things this way for years without problem.
MS will surely contact to the Columbia server... but I don't think it will ask the institution to take the server down...
I didn't mean take the server down permanently. What I keep looking at is that if it has been Columbia's policy to have this server run and not require "Columbia affiliated" computers from outside their network to authenticate on VPN in order to activate, then changing that policy at this point in the game seems like it would be quite a bit of work from an IT administrative standpoint and could cause some potential problems passing along the change to affected machines.
This is seriously major league LOL! or WTF! (or both ) depending on your POV I didn't believe for one moment that it was a mistake. It's one thing with the customs guys/Govt. employees in Benelux, but something totally different with the Tech dept. in one of the best Universities on the planet I actually thought some kid was playing a prank or something. But if indeed the above assertion is true, this really blows my mind tbh! @ Aditya - If Jessica Alba's assertion is indeed true, then don't think that's gonna help 'em much Having said that, since with W7, offline activation was available that passed genuine validation, maybe MS didn't bother as much. Now that online seems to be the only method thus far, maybe MS will be a little more forceful?
If "one of the best universities on the planet" decides to publicly expose their KMS, then IMO they are creating an appearance of incompetence, extreme laziness, or defiance...none of which puts them in a good light. I picture a bank with an unlocked door on the sidewalk, with a sign that says "small bills behind this door...take one...customers only please!" Like you, it really blows my mind.
Yes they are available to activate windows... but there are better options of activation available on these forums than using public kms
There is nothing to worry about m8. Consider that Windows 8 is already cracked. We do have our personal KMS servers? Edit: ninja'd by Whazzup.