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Izaak
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The only thing that bothers me about lastpass.com is that it is sort of the same problem as E-mail, except instead of all your accounts registered with one E-mail address, now you have all your passwords stored in one database (at lastpass). According to Jeff's previous posts, if you're using a very strong password at lastpass, then perhaps you don't have much to worry about (since if their DB was stolen, it would supposedly take years to hack a strong password). Unless someone's installed a keystroke sniffer on your PC. Or someone discovers a vulnerability in lastpass.com's encryption.
Make Your Email Hacker Proof
It's only a matter of time until your email gets hacked. Don't believe me? Just read this harrowing cautionary tale. When [my wife] came back to her desk, half an hour later, she couldn’t log into Gmail at all. By that time, I was up and looking at e‑mail, and we both quickly saw what the re...
Our company uses slotted metal diffusers fitted on every fluorescent fixture in our work areas, that direct the light mostly straight-downward. The result is zero reflections on our LCD screens, and plenty of lighting.
Bias Lighting
I've talked about computer workstation ergonomics before, but one topic I didn't address is lighting. We computer geeks like it dark. Really dark. Ideally, we'd be in a cave. A cave … with an internet connection. The one thing that we can't abide is direct overhead lighting. Every time the ...
Unfortunately, there are 2 words that can bust this dream, just like any other "secure" password mechanism: keylogger malware. You either have to intially sign into your browser, or the "cloud" identity store at some point (think public terminal browsing), and then you're still vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks for stealing your online identity, which has suddenly become much more dangerous because your bank account, 401K login, etc. are all tied into the cloud identity store, so once that's cracked, you're toast. At least with separate passwords, you might be smart enough to protect your bank password more vigilantly (i.e.: don't access your bank account from a public terminal).
That said, I agree with the initial premise: password proliferation on the internet is totally busted and in need of urgent help.
Cutting the Gordian Knot of Web Identity
Perhaps you've seen this recent XKCD about password choice? It prompted a spirited debate – even on our very own Security Stack Exchange – about the merits of the argument presented there. Now, to be clear, I'm completely on Randall's side here; I'm all for passphrases over passwords, and I...
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Apr 21, 2010
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