111–120 of 206 posts
And yesterday over a dozen members of Congress barged into one of the Congressional versions of this site without authorization and while recording video, audio, and taking photos on their personal smartphones. Here is a Twitter thread about why that is such a problem: https://twitter.com/MiekeEoyang/status/1187032800572125191
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In reality a lot of iPhones now require authentication at the app level for apps that have sensitive data.
To each his own, but knowing how public you are and how many people would want your passcode, I think the best practice is to use something dumb like 6 of the same keys.
I wonder what AI tech is being developed around detecting pin code entry on phones using passive CCTV networks. If you process the feeds for public transit security cameras, I wouldn't be surprised if you can read the pin codes for a huge swath of the population. It would also reduce the need for law enforcement to try to get a suspect to tell them their passcode. Just look up that time they rode the subway 3 weeks a…
I often notice this at gas pumps. There are always cameras at gas pumps. If you pay at the pump, then you enter your pin. I shield mine very carefully, but I watch other people and they just punch in their pin without shielding. It's weird because people often shield their pin at a checkout counter because the clerk is right there (sort of) watching. Maybe these people feel at gas pumps, no one is watching... but the…
I always thought that Android's 3x3 dot pattern draw password thing was superior against these type of over the shoulder attack, as long as you turn off the tracing effect. Without tracing and if you do it quickly, it just looks like you’re dragging your thumb randomly all over the phone.
Is there a reason why the numbers aren't scrambled? This way you at least wouldn't be able to tell the password unless you saw the actual numbers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it is not. These sorts of "I'm annoyed that I'm being forced to put in a password so I'll put the easiest one to type" passwords are in even the most basic password dictionaries, and are therefore susceptible to dictionary attack.
Sure, but if your angle of attack is "someone swiped my phone off my desk and wants to unlock it within the next 30 minutes before I wipe it remotely" then 111111 is as good as literally any other 6-digit pin code, unless the attacker just tries 111111. In which case 999999 is probably a better choice.
Asking "How secure is this?" is essentially the same as "What angles of attack would this prevent?" So if your phone is susceptible to a very basic dictionary attack (which is just a codified way of saying "susceptible to educated guesses") then it is not "just as secure as any other code" because there are other passwords which aren't susceptible to this attack.
Note that my post was responding to the claim that it's "just as secure as any other code". It is not.
If you myopically only look at the most basic of attacks, then you can use crap security and it will work for those attacks. But a US Congressman could obviously be a target of sophisticated attackers. And you're literally proposing an attack which would break your proposed password, yet still defending the claim that it's just as secure.
I was just reading someone's comment saying they come to HN because the comments are so good, and I can't say I know what they're talking about. So much uneducated speculation about comments taken out of context is being presented as fact in these comments.
I tell this story a lot. But I think in the time of smartphones and such it also represents the only real secure site I thought was truly secure from what I knew of it. This was before smartphones were common, but I think it was ahead of its time in that way. I worked for a company that occasionally would service some of our hardware onsite. One customer was a company that did a lot of work for the military and they…
I'm hoping they've implemented some form of localized EMP that you have to pass through now to leave, because large storage is so incredibly small now that it would be impossible to discern it from articles of clothing. The "hard" part is really just getting the data off the computer in the first place, which is probably why they don't allow bringing in technology anymore. I wonder how much of a micro computer could…
If you want to destroy a piece of electronics quickly put it in a microwave oven and hit start (also don't expect to eat from that oven later - plastic residue etc if it heats up that much is probably not safe to eat). This will destroy usb keys and storage on them, SSDs, laptops, smartphones and data on them. The only kind of data safe is magnetic type hard drives, but they become less and less common these days.
You could even make a kind of "wand" similar to what guys at the airport have for pinpointing metal items on people. Wave it around someone suspected of having a listening or recording device - job done.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm hoping they've implemented some form of localized EMP that you have to pass through now to leave, because large storage is so incredibly small now that it would be impossible to discern it from articles of clothing. The "hard" part is really just getting the data off the computer in the first place, which is probably why they don't allow bringing in technology anymore. I wonder how much of a micro computer could…
The "localised EMP" you mention could simply be a low power microwave oven of same type we have in our kitchens you have to walk through. Waves of that frequency would not harm a person if they were fairly low power, but it would mess up every bit of non-metal-shielded electronics. If you want to destroy a piece of electronics quickly put it in a microwave oven and hit start (also don't expect to eat from that oven l…
I wish LineageOS and stock Android added that feature.
I always thought that Android's 3x3 dot pattern draw password thing was superior against these type of over the shoulder attack, as long as you turn off the tracing effect. Without tracing and if you do it quickly, it just looks like you’re dragging your thumb randomly all over the phone.
I prefer to use the draw password but honestly if you look at the finger smudges on my phone, you could probably still guess my pattern.
I tell this story a lot. But I think in the time of smartphones and such it also represents the only real secure site I thought was truly secure from what I knew of it. This was before smartphones were common, but I think it was ahead of its time in that way. I worked for a company that occasionally would service some of our hardware onsite. One customer was a company that did a lot of work for the military and they…
The boindfolds seem like extra work, I would just get a SUV and totally black out the rear, or well, put in some seats in the rear of a delivery van. But I guess the boindfolds also had a psychological effect of "we mean business".
I did a poor / vague job of describing that the blindfold was used inside buildings too. Folks walked with their hand on the shoulder of a guard in front of them from time to time.