Is security that complicated
I recently had to set up an account with a US Government web site. I had a dickens of a time picking a password. They had amazing rules: The first character needed to be a number. The password had to have at least 7 characters, but no more than 12. Only lower-case letters could be [...]
Twitter needs a radical change of security NOW
I wrote a post a while back titled Your Twitter security is an egg, not an onion, explaining how Twitter only has one front door, like your house, and if you let people in, you let them in – after which they have access to everything, including your Direct Messages. A few months after that, [...]
The LastNews (!) You Want to Hear is LastPass Hacked. Now What?
Password management service LastPass notified users their servers may have been hacked. I take a minute break, let it sink in. Yes, this is the one (Last) uber-super secure system you trust with ALL your passwords. Ouch. But despite the hacking, LastPass says users who had a strong master password in the first place are [...]
Atlassian Security Breach and Warning >>> Update: Apology and Disclosure
Well, well, hours after telling you not to change passwords, now I am telling you to change it… but this time with good reason. Minutes ago I’ve received a email from Atlassian: We are sending you this message because we experienced a security breach and suspect that your Atlassian customer account password details (only) may [...]
The Password Conundrum
I’m not a security expert and don’t pretend to be one, but half-cooked advice on fundamental security issues p***es me off big time. Today it’s a lengthy article at the Boston Globe: Please do not change your password. It’s based on a study by a Microsoft researcher, who concludes that regularly changing passwords is a [...]
LastPass – So Good I’ll Dismiss Any Concerns
I spend a significant amount of time online – and do so using a myriad of online services – from accounting to banking, from email to my various blogs, from e-commerce sites to airline services – I live in a world of usernames and passwords. Like others I tend to have a few variations on [...]
There’s a Reason We’re Called Early Adopters – That Don't Mean We Should Act Like Fools
The latest five minute maelstrom on the blogosphere was the widespread hacking of Twitter accounts. According to experts, some 700 or so Twitter accounts were hacked such that they appeared to be the property of a 23 year old female “adult entertainer” *ahem*. To their credit twitter fronted up and posted details of the breach. [...]
