IT Security Stack Exchange
IT Security Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
66
votes
10 answers

Bad practice to have a "god" password?

Is it bad security practice to have a password that will allow you to access any user account on a website for support purposes? The password would be stored in a secure manner and would be super complex. Huge mistake?
Abe Miessler
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66
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3 answers

Are the sticks of RAM in my desktop computer volatile? Is it safe to sell them?

I have two sticks of RAM in my computer that I would like to sell or donate. From what I understand some RAM is volatile, losing all its contents when power is gone for a few minutes, and some is non-volatile, retaining that information after power…
user250432
66
votes
3 answers

Why does Windows store Wi-Fi passwords in a reversible format?

Running netsh wlan export profile key=clear in PowerShell will dump your current stored Wi-Fi settings, including the password, into xml files inside of whatever directory you are currently in. Why is it that Windows would store credentials in a…
Wazanator
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66
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4 answers

Is an up-to-date browser secure on an out-of-date OS?

Windows 7 support will end on January 14, 2020. Assuming that after that day I still use an updated browser, is it true that I'm still safe? Can it "patch" the OS-based security holes? Minor question: typically, how long would the browsers stop…
Ooker
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66
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7 answers

Why would a school need to install certificates on student laptops?

This question indicates parents are to buy laptops for a school to install software and certificates. I am seeking to understand reasons for site certificates installation: Why would site certificates be installed? What is the potential for…
gatorback
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66
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6 answers

Why should we care about Adobe Flash?

I was under the impression that Adobe Flash was dead, and that browsers were no longer natively supporting Flash? Why therefore, is there a large amount of hype online about a new remote code execution vulnerability in flash?
KingJohnno
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66
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7 answers

Is it safe/wise to store a salt in the same field as the hashed password?

In using Argon2 for hashing passwords in my application, I've noticed it generates a string like this (e.g. for password "rabbit"): $argon2i$v=19$m=65536,t=3,p=1$YOtX2//7NoD/owm8RZ8llw==$fPn4sPgkFAuBJo3M3UzcGss3dJysxLJdPdvojRF20ZE= My understanding…
PenumbraBrah
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66
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3 answers

Why is Firefox (and only Firefox) reporting that my connection is insecure on multiple sites?

After installing Firefox 54.0.1 on my work laptop, the first page I see warns me that "Your connection is not secure" when opening https://www.mozilla.org/. "The owner of Firefox has configured their website improperly" After browsing a bit more, I…
Stevoisiak
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66
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1 answer

What are the implications of a SHA-1 collision being found?

Google have announced the discovery of a SHA-1 collision between two PDF files with distinct content. While SHA-1 hashes are no longer permitted for SSL/TLS certificate fingerprints, and other measures would prevent certificate fingerprints from…
Matthew
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1 answer

What's the risk if I accidently type my password into a username field (Windows logon)?

I'm used to logging into my personal Mac which is a password-only field (like waking from sleep mode). Sometimes I have to use a Windows network on which I have an account, but of course I have to type my username first. Still, going right into my…
Matt
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66
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9 answers

Proving creation time/date of a screenshot

I have to produce a screenshot of a web page, and want to make sure others will know without any doubt that this screenshot has been produced today. That is, I would like to embed today's date in the screenshot as irrefutable proof the screenshot…
User
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66
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4 answers

What is the point of gibberish spam

I fairly often happen across forums spammed with messages such as: Arugula (Eruca sativa) is an quarterly green, pretended or roquette. It's been Traditional times, overclever 20 flat has be useful to "foodie" movement.Before impediment 1990s,…
Hot Licks
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5 answers

HTTPS web service switched to HTTP. What can go wrong?

I recently visited a website which used to have an HTTPS connection. Now it has just a plain HTTP connection, and the authentication method has changed from user+password to "authenticate with Google account". I contacted them and asked them why…
Peque
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66
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4 answers

Why should servers be placed outside of the corporate network?

In an answer to How do you deal with massive port scans?, user tylerl said: ... And you, like a wise IT admin, run all your servers elsewhere on the internet, not inside your corp network, for a whole raft of reasons I won't go into here As a…
topher
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66
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3 answers

Why do email programs block xml files?

A colleague sent a .xml file to me earlier today, which was blocked by Outlook. As we were discussing the workaround (put it in a .zip), we got to wondering why .xml files are blocked. My colleague reckons it's because the browser is the default…
KidneyChris
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