Articles related to computer security, physical security, and similar things.
There are three interesting things on this page: An “interactive brute force search space calculator” for passwords, which you can play with to get a good idea how easily a brute-force attack would find YOUR passwords. Some comments further down the page on mathematical entropy, and how it doesn’t affect password strength (despite common wisdom …
I’ve had this vision for years of a machine that identifies mosquitoes in a house or around people in a backyard area at dusk, targets them, and ruthlessly burns them down with a precision blast from a small, high-powered laser. I’m generally a peaceful person, but I have no mercy toward fleas, ticks, and blood-suckers …
Continue reading ‘“Bill Gates drops $1m on laser-based malaria fighter”’ »
A good and up-to-date overview of defensive measures you should be taking to preserve your privacy on the Internet. I use many of the add-ons mentioned there already, but at least one was new to me too. (Here’s part 2.)
I’ve been using GPG to sign my e-mail for years, and encrypt it when the recipient will accept such messages (which is very rarely). I find it ridiculous that essentially everyone out there is doing the equivalent of sending e-mail postcards that anyone and everyone with access to any system along their delivery path can …
It seems that our parents were — again — worried about absolutely nothing. Which makes sense… anyone contemplating such a move would quickly realize that if they did it on a mass scale they’d be tracked down in a day or two at most, and even targeting it at the one brat that has been …
I love it. Lounge around in your underwear all day and still keep an eye on those shiftless no-good employees of yours. 😉 I doubt it’ll catch on in the near future though. And I hope the robot has a good software security system… if it has arms (something I can’t determine from the two …
Continue reading ‘“Boss leaves robot in charge of office”’ »
In Michael Stackpole’s book I, Jedi, set in the Star Wars universe a few years after Return of the Jedi, the main character must develop his latent Jedi abilities in order to track down and rescue his kidnapped wife. Unfortunately, the late and unlamented Emperor has done a very thorough job of wiping out all …
That’s right: more than one out of every two hits on this blog recently are spam attempts. I say that because that was the percentage of the last 1,600 or so hits that were on a single post with very little content… not coincidentally, the exact same post that spammers have been pounding on without …
Sorry, conservative politicians. You can’t use cyberspace as an excuse to continue your campaign to involve the US in a major war every twenty years or so. But don’t be too disappointed, it wouldn’t kill enough young men to satisfy you, or be very lucrative for your weapon-manufacturing backers, anyway.
The Internet is good for a lot of things… not all of them good. (Via Schneier on Security)