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Online Security & Hacking


jross

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As a software engineer trained in security, I advise you to do the following:

  • Sign up for a password manager like https://www.lastpass.com/ or https://1password.com/
  • Commit all of your passwords to the password management tool
  • Have a unique account password to social media, finance, and other meaningful websites.
  • Never use the same password twice, and use the password manager's suggested passwords.
  • It's okay!  You only need to remember your master password, and your pw tool will handle the rest on your mobile devices and your browser.
    • This password must be very secure - think of three words with symbols and numbers (e.g. wrestle74@cyber!_chuckles OR harder... qaXSSXw*XgEe5re*kn24n)

The odds are that every person that reads this post will have used the same password for multiple accounts.  For example, your intermat pw will be the same pw you use for your bank or facebook.  Further, the odds are that you've used an email account for at least one site that has been compromised, and both your email and password have been compromised.  You can check your email at https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and passwords at https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords.  I checked some of my generic passwords today, and they've been pawned.  You are at risk if one account is exposed and you use the same credentials elsewhere.

A baseball teammate discovered last week that someone in Brooklyn, New York spent $4K on TVs, dinner, Uber, and $300 on OnlyFans.  He's a construction worker and has no idea about this stuff.  Learn from him.  

Tin Foil GIF
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Now to the juice. Are elections hacked?  Who knows?  I know the techniques in this HBO document are real, and they work.  I've had to refactor my websites to guard against security risks, and I've run the tools that report security risks across my company's assets.  
 

Edited by jross
add complex pw advice for master pw
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2FA is good to enable, but don't go the SMS route (https://securityboulevard.com/2021/12/why-using-sms-authentication-for-2fa-is-not-secure/https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/09/the-limits-of-sms-for-2-factor-authentication/), try to use a tool such as the Google Authenticator (1Pass has the ability be to used a 2FA, https://support.1password.com/one-time-passwords/

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I'm going to add a little bit of "old guy" advice to this.  Don't expose yourself as much. Simplify your life. Don't use a card or your phone to buy a bag of potato chips.  I go to the bank every so often and they have this machine that dispenses this green stuff that works great (so far) for buying stuff in person.   On line...another story. 

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7 minutes ago, headshuck said:

Ok, I’m still curious if it’s considered safe to use the Face ID option so many sites offer to login. Yes I know a lot of people here hate Apple.

You are fine to use Face ID.  You cannot defeat face recognition with a printed photo.

The practical risk is from family.  My elder daughter can unlock mom’s phone because of their resemblance.

Mostly someone would need to get you incapacitated and have possession of your phone.

There are other risks of facial modelling that you do not need to worry about.

I use facial recognition for convenience and it provides enough security for my needs.

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On 12/10/2022 at 5:17 PM, jross said:

You are fine to use Face ID.  You cannot defeat face recognition with a printed photo.

The practical risk is from family.  My elder daughter can unlock mom’s phone because of their resemblance.

Mostly someone would need to get you incapacitated and have possession of your phone.

There are other risks of facial modelling that you do not need to worry about.

I use facial recognition for convenience and it provides enough security for my needs.

No - you are not necessarily fine to use Face ID.

If you are travelling abroad, it is important to realize that you may be legally forced to use your face to open your phone at the border so the contents can be examined in detail.

At very least, consider turning off face recognition before travelling if you have privacy concerns.

In this day and age, I'd recommend everybody become serious about personal privacy concerns.

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29 minutes ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

No - you are not necessarily fine to use Face ID.

If you are travelling abroad, it is important to realize that you may be legally forced to use your face to open your phone at the border so the contents can be examined in detail.

At very least, consider turning off face recognition before travelling if you have privacy concerns.

In this day and age, I'd recommend everybody become serious about personal privacy concerns.

I whole heartedly agree.

I don't run social media on my phone.
I don't bank on my phone.

When I travel for wrestling, my phone is effectively a web browser with a few games and some pictures on it.
When I used to travel for work, I'd bring a different clean phone with almost nothing on it.

Assume your devices are 'made' and you'll be a lot less unhappy.

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What's up with the Google and Microsoft email spam blockers these days, especially Microsoft?  My spam is up 10 fold over the past week.  I've won every contest imaginable.  I wish I could cash in on everything I've won from Home Depot, Lowes, Kohls, Target, Wal Mart, and all of those Asian women.

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3 hours ago, RYou said:

What's up with the Google and Microsoft email spam blockers these days, especially Microsoft?  My spam is up 10 fold over the past week.  I've won every contest imaginable.  I wish I could cash in on everything I've won from Home Depot, Lowes, Kohls, Target, Wal Mart, and all of those Asian women.

Scammers know this is the time to spend money and likely your guard is down a little.

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This is a joke!  

Cool Feature.  If you type pw: <password> or password: <password> in a post, the intermat forum will automatically replace your password with asterisks when you select Submit Reply.

See?  UN: jross PW: ********

Cool right?

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1 minute ago, jross said:

This is a joke!  

Cool Feature.  If you type pw: <password> or password: <password> in a post, the intermat forum will automatically replace your password with asterisks when you select Submit Reply.

See?  UN: jross PW: ********

Cool right?

Huh...

UN:mike_parrish PW:ChristianPylesIsATwat

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