Hasta La Gadget!

Smoke goes up. Lights fade. The crowd roars. It’s 2003, and the Dave Matthews Band is about to perform what would go on to become the theme song for security processes the world over a decade later. Weird visualizations aside, it sure seems as if two-step authentication has become all the rage these days. With Google implementing the process in 2011, both Apple and Dropbox have followed, and Evernote has made clear that it’s going to join the fray as soon as feasible. Now, leaked imagery is demonstrating that Microsoft might not be far behind, with a two-step verification process evidently planned for its online services.

As you’d expect, the process should work pretty simply once it’s instituted — you’ll need to enable two-step on your account, and then use an app on your mobile device to retrieve randomized keys when logging into a computer that’s not on your trusted device list. Notably, the process isn’t expected to work with linked accounts, and while a Windows Phone app appears to already be floating about, there’s no word on whether Android, BlackBerry or iOS users will receive the same courtesy. Till then, keep your passwords guarded. And, of course, watch the video embedded after the break.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

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Source: LiveSide, Windows Phone Store

If you think that having so many passwords to remember is a bane to your mind these days, how about choosing one that has some obscene words thrown into the mix? That ought to make life easier for those brain cells of yours, no? Apparently, the folks over at AT&T do not think so, as the company has already stepped forward to ban what they deem as “obscene language” from proliferating their database of user passwords. Of course, it remains to be seen just what falls under the category of “obscene language” for the folks over at AT&T, but I think we can pretty much warrant a few surefire guesses without being too far off the mark, no?

There is the question of why should such a policy exist in the first place? Considering how no one should know of your AT&T password, why should not a few naughty words get slipped in along the way? After, it sure beats regular password fillers such as your family name, your birthday, your anniversary, or heck, the good old standby, “password’. What do you think of this new policy from AT&T?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: DDoS Attackers Using iMessage With No Relief In Sight, Sony Xperia Walkman And Xperia Cybershot Rumored For Q3 Launch,

It’s better to be safe than be sorry when it comes to choosing a password. The problem isn’t whether you can come up with a challenging enough password, though. Rather, it’s whether or not you’ll be able to remember it, given you probably already have a number of other accounts and passwords to remember, and the more complex the password becomes, the more difficult it becomes to recall. But now you don’t have to do it alone, because myIDkey can help you.

myIDkey is a handy device that stores all your passwords and other sensitive account information, so you can access it whenever you need to. The cool thing is that it’s fitted with a biometric scanner, so the info can only be accessed after you press your thumb (or any other finger of your choice, actually) onto the scanner, preventing others from accessing your sensitive information – unless they manage to get their hands on your hands, that is. All of your data is encrypted with military grade AES256 encryption, and offers fail-safe automatic deletion after multiple failed attempts to access the data. Accessing your passwords is as easy as placing your finger on the sensor and speaking the password you need access to. It’s really quite brilliant.

The pocket-sized gadget doubles as a flash drive so you can use it to store and secure your files as well. myIDkey is currently up for funding on Kickstarter, where a minimum pledge of $99(USD) will get you a myIDkey of your very own. As it stands, the device will ship with 8GB of storage, but if the Kickstarter project exceeds its next stretch goal of $400,000, all of them will ship with 16GB.

Now would be a good time to refresh your Twitter password. The social network has revealed that there was at least one attack on its servers this week that may have collected email addresses, passwords (thankfully encrypted) and session tokens for about 250,000 users. The real risk to users is unknown, but Twitter raises our eyebrows when it suggests that this was more than just a casual scripting hack: it claims the intrusion attempt was “extremely sophisticated,” and that other firms might have been subject to a similar breach. You’ll know that you were immediately affected only if you see Twitter send a notice of a forced password reset, like what you see pictured above. We’d be cautious, all the same — when such attempts seemingly increase in frequency by the day, it’s not a bad idea to stay on guard.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Twitter

I am not quite sure just how the law allows employers to know an employee’s Facebook password in the first place, but I am glad that the courts have ruled that employers in California and Illinois no longer have the authority or rule of power to request for Facebook passwords from their employees. This particular law took effect as the clock struck 12:01 am in both the states of California and Illinois. Basically, employers can no longer request for social networking passwords as well as non-public account information from current or potential employees, and that would mean your social network shenanigans are safe, at least for the time being.

Just for context, Michigan passed a similar law last month. Employees should bear in mind that employers are still able to view any public posts, tweets or photos on the social networks, so make sure you have all of your privacy settings set right unless you want to run into trouble with a wayward comment or an awkward photo.

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