random security geekery
I've been reading http://manybooks.net/titles/schroederkother07Ventus.html.
If you read the novel, there's this bit where communication happens and things are controlled via the equivalent of modern day encryption and password protection schemes. Basically all communication is signed - some sort of key is required to decrypt the message, each communicator (for lack of a better word) has its own key for communication signed by a higher authority, everyone involved trade all the constantly changing keys required in the background. Things can be password protected so only the person with the password can control the thing in question, overriding almost everything but the supreme authority (I suppose). The keys can be bruteforced but since they expire so quickly, one must figure out how they're generated which is entirely possible. The passwords can only be bruteforced.
Somewhere near the end of the novel, one of the characters uses a set of three passwords to gain control over a certain object. When reading the passwords, the first thing to come into mind is that he's a dumbass for using such easily guessed passwords for something so important.
Reminds me of people who use passwords like "password" and "secret" or whatever comes default. I mean, sure I'm guilty of that too, but I make sure it's not something seriously important when I do use a weak password. There's a difference between the importance of the password for your wifi network and the password for your bank account.
My OS X login password on the MacBook is 16 random alphanumeric characters...
If you read the novel, there's this bit where communication happens and things are controlled via the equivalent of modern day encryption and password protection schemes. Basically all communication is signed - some sort of key is required to decrypt the message, each communicator (for lack of a better word) has its own key for communication signed by a higher authority, everyone involved trade all the constantly changing keys required in the background. Things can be password protected so only the person with the password can control the thing in question, overriding almost everything but the supreme authority (I suppose). The keys can be bruteforced but since they expire so quickly, one must figure out how they're generated which is entirely possible. The passwords can only be bruteforced.
Somewhere near the end of the novel, one of the characters uses a set of three passwords to gain control over a certain object. When reading the passwords, the first thing to come into mind is that he's a dumbass for using such easily guessed passwords for something so important.
Reminds me of people who use passwords like "password" and "secret" or whatever comes default. I mean, sure I'm guilty of that too, but I make sure it's not something seriously important when I do use a weak password. There's a difference between the importance of the password for your wifi network and the password for your bank account.
My OS X login password on the MacBook is 16 random alphanumeric characters...