Windows 10 - Set Time Automatically (from the internet)

The trend in Windows 10 of the Metro design is the simplification of user interfaces design, whose goal is universal access to non-technologist. However, too many times the balance between simple and loss of information to make decisions is lost. Let's take for classic example, the need to set time on your computer accurately. 

Windows 10 has a nice slide button that says to Set Time Automatically. Well that's vague, right. The first question now is set time automatically according to what?

Just adding "Set Time Automatically from internet" might be clearer or hover over with the additional information could have saved me from writing this post. 

Let's drill in, this setting auto-magically allows you to synchronize your Windows 10 time from a centralized time server.  All time server use Network Time Protocol (NTP). The default NTP server set by Microsoft is times.windows.com, which does a great job.

However, for privacy and accuracy you may want to change that to your own country.

How to change Windows to get time from your country

Choose Region & language and scroll to bottom then; 

1. Choose Additionally date, time & region settings
2. Click Set the time and date
3. Indicates current time server.

Choose "Change settings..." button. 
Now you can change the value in Server with your new NTP Time Server URL. 

Remember, to click Update now.

Each respectable nation in the world, has their own NTP Servers, and here's a brief list; 

1. USA - time.nist.gov
2. Canada -  time.nrc.ca
3. UK - ntp2c.mcc.ac.uk  University of Manchester
   (UK Nation Physics Lab  NTP Server is no longer funded) 

How to test NTP Timer Server in the command line (cmd.exe); 

w32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:"time.nrc.ca"
w32tm /query /peers

More NTP Servers listed here for more country selection 
http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/StratumOneTimeServers

Windows 10 is spying on you - opt out ads using privacy settings

Windows 10 has an unprecedented level of privacy controls. Unlike other companies, you can opt out of many of privacy settings. If you want to go the extra mile, check the last two URLs.

In Windows 10 - goto ‘Settings’ -> ‘Privacy’. It may seem like allot of options, but all 13 different sections you have a choice to control your privacy setting. 

Turning everything of your concern to ‘off’.

One last thing you can turn of adds in your browser by opt out of personalized ads from Microsoft here

https://choice.microsoft.com/en-US/opt-out

What is Windows telemetry?

Windows telemetry is vital technical data from Windows devices about the device and how Windows and related software are performing. It's used in the following ways:

• Keep Windows up to date
• Keep Windows secure, reliable, and perform and Improve Windows  through the aggregate analysis of the use of Windows
• Personalize Windows engagement surfaces

Here are some specific examples of Windows telemetry data:

• Type of hardware being used
• Applications installed and usage details
• Reliability information on device drivers

What is NOT telemetry?

Telemetry can sometimes be confused with functional data. Some Windows components and apps connect to Microsoft services directly, but the data they exchange is not telemetry. For example, exchanging a users location for local weather or news is not an example of telemetry it is functional data that the app or service requires to satisfy the users request.

There are subtle differences between telemetry and functional data. Windows collects and sends telemetry in the background automatically. You can control how much information is gathered by setting the telemetry level. Microsoft tries to avoid collecting personal information wherever possible (for example, if a crash dump is collected and a document was in memory at the time of the crash). On the other hand, functional data can contain personal information. However, a user action, such as requesting news or asking Cortana a question, usually triggers collection and transmission of functional data.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/configure-windows-telemetry-in-your-organization#security-level

To go the extra level you can turn all of these off; 

http://lifehacker.com/what-windows-10s-privacy-nightmare-settings-actually-1722267229

https://prof77.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/windows-10-is-spyware-that-you-cannot-turn-off-uploading-your-activities-to-various-servers-without-your-knowledge-and-without-your-permission/

Update Nov 3, 2016

From
https://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/23/microsoft-gives-third-parties-access-to-windows-10-telemetry-data/?PageSpeed=noscript

but the article seems to contradict itself.

Microsoft struck a deal with security company FireEye recently according to a report on Australian news magazin Arn which gives FireEye access to all Windows 10 Telemetry data.

but the article seems to contradict itself.

Update: Microsoft told Betanews that it is not sharing Windows 10 Telemetry data with the company.

The nature of the deal between Microsoft and FireEye is to license threat intelligence content from FireEye iSIGHT Intelligence. This additional layer of intelligence includes indicators and reports of past attacks collected and edited by FireEye and enhances detection capabilities of Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP). The deal does not include the sharing of Microsoft telemetry.

The report states that FireEye in return will provide Microsoft with the company's iSIGHT Intelligence software for Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection on Windows 10 devices.

FireEye iSIGHT Intelligence is a proactive, forward-looking means of qualifying threats poised to disrupt business based on the intents, tools and tactics of the attacker.

Windows Defender is built-in to Windows 10 and enabled by default unless other security software is recognized by the operating system.

Pro and Enterprise customers may upgrade to Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection featuring endpoint behavioral sensors, cloud security analysis and threat intelligence.

The news article suggests that the partnership benefits Microsoft, and specifically the reputation and credibility of the commercial version of Windows Defender.

A press release by FireEye on November 3, 2016 provides additional details on the deal. The company's iSIGHT Intelligence software is available through Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP) but not the free version of Windows Defender.

Windows 10 is spying on you - opt out ads using privacy settings

Windows 10 has an unprecedented level of privacy controls. Unlike other companies, you can opt out of many of privacy settings. If you want to go the extra mile, check the last two URLs.

In Windows 10 - goto ‘Settings’ -> ‘Privacy’. It may seem like allot of options, but all 13 different sections you have a choice to control your privacy setting. 

Turning everything of your concern to ‘off’.

One last thing you can turn of adds in your browser by opt out of personalized ads from Microsoft here

https://choice.microsoft.com/en-US/opt-out

http://lifehacker.com/what-windows-10s-privacy-nightmare-settings-actually-1722267229

https://prof77.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/windows-10-is-spyware-that-you-cannot-turn-off-uploading-your-activities-to-various-servers-without-your-knowledge-and-without-your-permission/

To go the extra level you can turn all of these off;

All text typed on the keyboard is stored in temporary files, and sent (once per 30 mins) to:

• oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
  pre.footprintpredict.com
  reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com

This will allow Microsoft and the greater Jewish community to have a way to steal every joke, every poem, every intellectual endeavor you ever create and have it copyrighted before you even stop typing.

Telemetry is sent once per 5 minutes, to:

• vortex.data.microsoft.com
  vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
  telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
  telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
  oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
  oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
  sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
  sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net

This allows them to track you very accurately.

Typing the name of any popular movie into your local file search starts a telemetry process that indexes all media files on your computer and transmits them to:

• df.telemetry.microsoft.com
  reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
  cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
  vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
  pre.footprintpredict.com

This allows them to index any “unauthorized” content, and build a dossier on you that can be used in conjunction with their tracking data to stuff almost anyone in jail when needed.

When a webcam is first enabled, ~35mb of data gets immediately transmitted to:

• oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
  oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
  vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
  i1.services.social.microsoft.com
  i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net

This allows them to get a good layout of your home and surroundings, and a good look at YOU PERSONALLY so they know exactly who to go get and how to stage the attack when something you typed pissed them off.

Everything that is said into an enabled microphone is immediately transmitted to:

• oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
  oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
  vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
  pre.footprintpredict.com
  i1.services.social.microsoft.com
  i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
  telemetry.appex.bing.net
  telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
  cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
  statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com

If this weren’t bad enough, this behavior still happens when Cortana (microsoft’s version of SIRI) is not installed.

Add these entries to your hosts file to block these addresses.

127.0.0.1 df.telemetry.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net 127.0.0.1 vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 pre.footprintpredict.com 127.0.0.1 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 127.0.0.1 vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 pre.footprintpredict.com 127.0.0.1 i1.services.social.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 127.0.0.1 telemetry.appex.bing.net 127.0.0.1 telemetry.urs.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net 127.0.0.1 statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 vortex.data.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 vortex-win.data.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 127.0.0.1 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net 127.0.0.1 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com 127.0.0.1 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net

Update Nov 3, 2016

From
https://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/23/microsoft-gives-third-parties-access-to-windows-10-telemetry-data/?PageSpeed=noscript

but the article seems to contradict itself.

Microsoft struck a deal with security company FireEye recently according to a report on Australian news magazin Arn which gives FireEye access to all Windows 10 Telemetry data.

Update: Microsoft told Betanews that it is not sharing Windows 10 Telemetry data with the company.

The nature of the deal between Microsoft and FireEye is to license threat intelligence content from FireEye iSIGHT Intelligence. This additional layer of intelligence includes indicators and reports of past attacks collected and edited by FireEye and enhances detection capabilities of Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP). The deal does not include the sharing of Microsoft telemetry.

The report states that FireEye in return will provide Microsoft with the company's iSIGHT Intelligence software for Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection on Windows 10 devices.

FireEye iSIGHT Intelligence is a proactive, forward-looking means of qualifying threats poised to disrupt business based on the intents, tools and tactics of the attacker.

Windows Defender is built-in to Windows 10 and enabled by default unless other security software is recognized by the operating system.

Pro and Enterprise customers may upgrade to Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection featuring endpoint behavioral sensors, cloud security analysis and threat intelligence.

The news article suggests that the partnership benefits Microsoft, and specifically the reputation and credibility of the commercial version of Windows Defender.

A press release by FireEye on November 3, 2016 provides additional details on the deal. The company's iSIGHT Intelligence software is available through Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP) but not the free version of Windows Defender.