It's completely ridiculous that Google "backs up" passwords in clear text without encrypting them. Mozilla does that properly in their Sync service. So why can't Google do that?
Maybe some men in black visited google and told them not to.
Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
281–290 of 312 posts
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#282The author must not realize that Google's "customers" are advertisers, not Web searchers or Android users. Why is the government having the data more scary than just Google having it, if we're going to be upset about it ...
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
"There is a difference between the people Google has employed to do the work and the corporate strategy behind the work. I have no doubt that the people you describe are truly passionate and dedicated." Of course there is difference, but you haven't explained what evidence you have that this it the corporate strategy. I actually know the corporate strategy, and i'm stating for a fact it's not as self-interested as yo…
I am very cynical about Google these days after the revelations about its cooperation with the NSA. Thanks for your work and I hope you don't take my remarks as any kind of criticism of the work you do. Put more cautiously, I think indirect corporate benefit is the main impetus for Google's philanthropy and lobbying programs. There is not necessarily a specific business outcome associated with the philanthropy... it'…
It is likely you have even less of an idea of what you're talking about when it comes to Google's interactions with NSA than you do about how their motivations w/r/t SOPA.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
- Until they link this post back to you, and argue that you knowingly weakened your security. - Until they argue that the default encryption level on routers now is WPA/WPA2, so by enabling WEP you were actively lowering the security level. - Until they argue that your technical background means that you should have known better that WEP is crackable.
That's all well and good, but I have still not given authorization for the use of my network to the malicious user. An open network invites legal dispute as to whether the lack of encryption constitutes implicit permission to use the network [1]. By having encryption, even if easily cracked, I have let the malicious user that they are not welcome on my network and have absolved myself of any responsibility for their…
> Following your reasoning, my background means that I should know that I shouldn't have a wireless network at all.
It would be argued that you should have taken 'reasonable' measures to prevent unauthorized access. It could then be argued that using WEP is not reasonable, especially it you know it is easily crackable.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#285And, anyone who does run across the setting can not hope to understand the privacy implication. I certainly did not.
Why not? I see 'back up my settings' and I assume it means everything. For a computer security reporter to clutch his pearls and say 'I certainly did not' makes me wonder why he think he's qualified to write a column on this subject. Strictly outrage bait.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#286Just forget about any internet privacy altogether. A new era has arrived.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's basically true, though. Google install arbitrary Android apps on nearly any Android phone without user interaction. Source: If you log in to https://play.google.com from a desktop computer, you can install apps on your phone. You get the permissions dialog on the website (on your desktop computer), not on your phone.
> Google install arbitrary Android apps on nearly any Android phone without user interaction. How they install them?
I like that, downvotes but not a single explanation about how the hell google can install arbitrary programs without user interaction.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah and those locks on your doors are a joke! Why are you pretending your home has an expectation of privacy? So dumb! Of COURSE anybody can just come into your house any time they want.
In general, home locks aren't to keep people out. They're to keep people honest. For everything else there's insurance.
Precisely. And much like burglars, people trying to access your WiFi fall broadly into two groups; those who want to access any of the WiFi in the area and those that want access to your specific WiFi. My guess is that in the vast majority of cases it's the former and as long as your 'locks' are better than your neighbours you'll be fine. However if it's the later, then just like burglary you've entered a whole new problem space.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually its from further away than that with a high gain directional antenna (I've hit WiFi hot spots about a mile distant using same) but the point is that they can do this from outside your property. You would probably know if someone was in your house but you'd be hard pressed to notice a Yagi antenna pointed at your window from across the street or down the block a bit. That said, I read the article more as 'yet…
>Actually its from further away than that with a high gain directional antenna The idea that the parent poster was trying to point out is that at the point the feds are within 100 ft of your house in a truck or 1000 yards but targeting your house with an antenna, they'll find a way. How secure your Wifi password is irrelevant. At that point they've probably tapped your phones.
Yes, my point was that if you are being specifically targeted there's really nothing you can do to stop it.
Re: Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aren't most wi-fi networks trivial to crack anyway?
wondered this as well. I've heard numerous time that there are super simple programs out there that give you the password within minutes. No idea if there is any truth in it though.
For WEP this is true, for WPA/WPA2 without WPS it is much harder. WPA2 uses PBKDF2 with 4096 iterations of HMAC-SHA1, this is a rather slow algorithm.
On (http://hashcat.net/oclhashcat-plus/) you can find some values on how slow it is. The same computer can crack 7 billion md5 hash per seconds, but it can barely do 181 thousand WPA2 password per second.
At this speed you would need more than 200 days just to crack a 7 letter password only using a-zA-Z0-9. And more than 38 years to crack an 8 letter password. If your password is a word or derivation of a word, you can obviously get it much faster with a dictionary attack.