Security/Privacy

Why I don't become a fan of pages for generic things and concepts on Facebook

Posted Sun, 2009-05-31 20:02 by geekwisdom

The "page" feature of Facebook is designed to provide a way for people to become fans of people, organizations, bands, etc. These fan pages are available to people who do not have Facebook accounts and administrators of fan pages have the ability to send updates to fans. Anyone with a Facebook account can create a fan page about anything, even things for which they are not the authority.

Personal Password Management

Posted Fri, 2009-05-15 14:02 by geekwisdom

In this video Software Architect, Steve Moitozo, addresses the issue of personal password management. For links to resources mentioned and a previous blog on this topic refer to Password Management. See the post Personal Password Management Survey to see the questions and the response numbers.

Personal Password Management Survey

Posted Thu, 2009-03-19 14:49 by geekwisdom

My next computer security video will cover personal password management. In anticipation of that I decided to do an anonymous survey to see how folks manage their passwords. I don't claim that it's statistically accurate or that it reveals anything conclusive. It's a sampling of people from Facebook, Twitter, and work.

49 people from all over the place took the survey.

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When asked to rate themselves on their management of passwords:
6% said less than OK
49% said OK
45% said better than OK

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When asked about their approach to using passwords:
57% said they use a different password for each class of service (one for commerce, one for banking, one for social services, etc.).
24% said they use a unique password for each service.
19% said they use the same password for everything.

The problem with security questions

Posted Mon, 2009-02-16 23:56 by geekwisdom

In this video Software Architect, Steve Moitozo, addresses the problem of providing secure answers to "security questions" on Web sites? He's written about this issue in the past in Death to the Secret Question and thought it would be helpful if I addressed it here in video form.

Gaming Social Networks

Posted Fri, 2008-12-19 12:30 by geekwisdom
Brad Ward's post shows how easy it can be to game a social network. I suspect this kind of gaming is already going on in various other types of groups within social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

Checkwashing Countermeasure... A Pen!

Posted Wed, 2008-12-03 12:01 by geekwisdom

I less than four minutes a crook can steal your check, selectively erase your writing, and make the check out to himself for any amount. That's checkwashing and it's preventable.

Most pens use dye, not pigmented ink. The uni-ball® 207™ uses ink with certain color pigments that bond with the paper fibers in checks making it very hard to "wash" the ink off. This pen, and others like it, could be a simple defense against the threat of checkwashing, which is simple and fast to do. The use of a pen like this, combined with the habit of properly filling in all the blanks on each check, and routine audits of bank statements will help you defend against checkwashing.

E-petitions Don't Work

Posted Fri, 2008-11-21 12:01 by geekwisdom
Imagine being frustrated about a new tax and going into the basement to scream. Great, you've had a little therapeutic outlet but unless the people who levied the tax are in your basement it will not change anything.

I'm just as irritated as the next guy when it looks like an injustice might be perpetrated through the passage of a new bill or some court ruling. I want to do something and I want to be efficient when I do it.

At first blush the e-petition seems like a great way to influence the powers that be. Get thousands of people who agree with you and have them all sign it, but there are a number of problems with it.