password

Wed
09
Aug
John Lister's picture

Report: Widely Adopted 'Password Rules' May Actually Backfire

The man behind some of the most commonly held advice on creating passwords says he was wrong on several points. Bill Burr says the real problem with his tips were that they led to predictable behavior. Burr's advice came in a short 2003 document ... produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Because of the institute's prestige, the advice was widely adopted and cited, with both employers and sites often insisting that passwords meet the guidelines. (Source: wsj.com ) Mix of Characters Hard to Remember One part of the advice was to use a mix of capital letters, lower ... (view more)

Fri
21
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Windows 10 Disable Password Expiration

Infopackets Reader Sean S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own three Windows 10 PC's at home - my own PC, my wife's laptop and my son's laptop. Each laptop is set up to access my main PC using network shared folders (I have the same user names and ... passwords also set up on my main machine to create a password protected share). Recently my wife tried to access a shared folder on my PC but now receives an error 'the password of this user has expired'. The same day I also received an error message on my Windows 10 login screen that 'the password for this account has expired' and I need to reset it. Is ... (view more)

Thu
25
May
John Lister's picture

Eye and Voice Logins Compromised

Two biometric security measures have come into question after reporters and researchers claimed to have overcome them. A phone's iris recognition and a bank's voice log-in both appear to be less than perfectly secure. The Samsung Galaxy S8 - ... arguably the most high-profile and hyped phone currently running the Android system - includes an option to unlock the phone by simply looking at the camera. In a similar way to fingerprint recognition, it works on the idea that the patterns in the eye's iris are unique. Samsung described these patterns as "virtually impossible to ... (view more)

Mon
24
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: 'Your Yahoo account settings are out of date' Error

Infopackets Reader Marion L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been using my Yahoo email with Windows Mail for quite a while, but now it keeps telling me 'Your Yahoo account settings are out of date' near the top of the screen. The options 'Fix Account' ... or 'Dismiss' don't work. If I click 'Fix Account' it says 'Something went wrong. We're sorry but we weren't able to do that. Error code: 80070422'. I cannot send or receive emails using my Yahoo account. Can you please help? " My response: As I mentioned in last week's post, the ' Your account settings are out of date ' is a very generic error ... (view more)

Fri
21
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Windows Mail: 'Your Outlook account settings are out of date' Error

Infopackets Reader Marion L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am using Windows Mail with Windows 10, and all the sudden I have been getting an error that says 'Your Outlook account settings are out of date' near the top of the screen. I have the option to ... 'Fix Account' or 'Dismiss'. If I click the 'Dismiss' option, I can't receive any emails, then within a few minutes I'll receive the same error that 'Your Outlook account settings are out of date'. If I click 'Fix Account' it tells me 'Something went wrong. We're sorry, but we weren't able to do that', and it gives me an error code 0x80070003. I have ... (view more)

Wed
22
Mar
John Lister's picture

Man Jailed Over a Year for Not Disclosing Password

A US court says a man must provide the password to unlock two hard drives that prosecutors say contain unlawful images. The court rejected his appeal that to do so would breach his fifth amendment rights, which roughly translate to: "No person shall ... be held to answer for a ... [crime], unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury." The case is an unusual twist on the more common disputes about how the fourth amendment -- which deals with searches and seizures -- applies to technology. In this case the man claims that handing over the password could incriminate him. The ... (view more)

Wed
01
Mar
John Lister's picture

'Smart' Toy Database Exposes Child Voice Recordings

Voice messages from parents to children through a 'smart' cuddly toy could be compromised. The security risk is a combination of a flaw by the designers and poor security practices by users. The issue involves CloudPets, a range of $40 toys designed ... to help working parents stay in touch with their kids. The parent can leave a voice message via a phone app at any time and it will then be sent over the Internet and Bluetooth and played back through a speaker in the toy. The child can then press the toy's paw to record and send a reply. The problem is that while delivering messages ... (view more)

Tue
20
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Disable Windows 10 Password Reminder

Infopackets Reader Dan A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I upgraded to Windows 10 last year and now all the sudden I keep receiving popup notifications from the Windows 10 Action Centre that my Windows 10 password is about to expire. I have never received ... this password expire notification before. How can I disable these notifications? " My response: I also started receiving these notifications some time in the last two weeks and I'm not sure why. Perhaps there was an update to Windows 10 that caused these notifications to appear. How to Fix: Disable Windows 10 Password Reminder There are a few ways ... (view more)

Tue
30
Aug
John Lister's picture

Browser Sync Tool Hacking Raises Security Fears

Users of the Opera browser's sync tools have been warned to change their passwords for every website. The organization behind Opera says the warning is with "an abundance of caution." The warning only covers people who use Opera's system for ... synchronizing bookmarks, passwords and other information so that they can access the feature on any computer. This covers around 1.7 million people among the 350 million who use the browser. Writing on a company blog, Opera's Tarquin Wilton-Jones said an attack on the system had been detected and, although quickly blocked, was ... (view more)

Thu
28
Jul
John Lister's picture

Smart Devices Could Expose WiFi Passwords, or Worse

Are smart devices a security risk? Security firm Rapid 7 seems to think so. According to the researchers, a range of Internet-connected light bulbs had at least nine security flaws. While the potential consequences are hardly life or death, it could ... be a blow to the concept of smart devices in the home. Osram's Lightify range of light bulbs lets users control lighting via a smartphone or tablet app. The idea is partly to allow more precise controls, such as dimming a bulb or even changing its color, and partly to allow users to remotely access the lights. For example, if a home owner is ... (view more)

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