Security and Usability
December 1st, 2009
I happened to go to (ISC)2’s web site and visit the member’s login page. I saw quite a few usability issues that escape the average security person. Read more…
Archive
Archive for the ‘Technical’ Category
T-Mobile USB Broadband for Mac: Worst Mac App Evar
October 20th, 2009
I’m in the UK for a couple weeks, so I got a T-Mobile GSM Broadband adapter. (This is the one from ZTE, by the way, apparently they offer several). Rather than hook into the OS in a nice, neat way, they include their own crapware that you have to install. Danger: If you install the software on Snow Leopard, it will ruin your OS and make your system unable to boot. Read on. Read more…
I HATE Security Questions
October 14th, 2009
There are tons of good reasons why so-called “security question” are terrible. As long ago as 2005, Bruce Schneier, for example, wrote about what a stupid idea they are. I’ve resisted setting them as much as I can, but sometimes the dumb site just won’t let you get by without setting them. Ironically, they say the questions make my account MORE secure. But if my password is “8ycAMKin34pNL253″ and my high school mascot was a “hornet,” which is easier to guess? If a would-be impersonator wants to hijack my account and they don’t know my password, they can just stroll over to Facebook and try to figure it out from either my own profile, or one of my friends’ profiles. Figure out which of my friends went to high school with me, and bang, you’ve got it. Figure out that I went to high school in Virginia Beach (by reading my blog, for example) at a time when there were about 12 high schools, and you’ve only got 12 things to try. That’s stupid. That’s the weakest link to taking over my account, not my very secure password. Read more…
The suckage that is Dell Tech Support
May 28th, 2009
As you may know, I bought a Dell Mini 9 to hackint0sh it. I got it running Mac OS X with only a little difficulty (mainly around trying to shoehorn OS X onto a tiny SSD). Then the Wi-Fi card went out. Now, I’m stuck in Tech Support Hell. Read more…
Entourage Rule to Filter Russian Spam
May 8th, 2009