syphrix dôt net

Today’s the day! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know changing your password for any site or service seems like drudgery. But let’s face it, for most of us our passwords just plain suck. If a bad guy gets the password for your Facebook or Gmail accounts, they likely have access to half the services online that you subscribe to. The thought is a bit unsettling to me too, so the following steps below are some great tools and methods for securing your massive password collection.

*CAUTION* It is not advised to implement any of the example passwords below as they are now public and likely to show up in password dictionaries.

1. Use LastPass – LastPass is the way to manage your passwords. LastPass can install as a simple browser plugin which randomly generates secure passwords, remembers them across all of your devices and browsers, and automagically fills in the login form for you when you arrive at your favorite social networking site. And the best part? LastPass is completely secure.

    

2. Implement “Haystacking” – Password “haystacking” is a term coined by security researcher Steve Gibson of Gibson Research Corporation. Steve had the revelation that a long, secure password doesn’t have to be unmemorable. By adding characters before or after your password, it greatly increases the amount of time it takes to crack the password. He uses the example of the password “d0g…………………”. It’s certainly a long password, but much easier to remember than a randomly generated 24 character password. In this way you can make your password more secure by surrounding it in a “haystack”.

    

3. Create Haystack Algorithms – Don’t let the language scare you, this is a really simple concept. Let’s say you like to use the password “H@ir” (I hope you don’t!), and you want to put it in a haystack of smiley faces like this: “:)H@ir:)”. Well, you don’t want to use the same password haystack for every password, so let’s find a simple way to modify it for every site you want to use. A simple thing you can do is take something constant about the website, like the number of characters in its name, and use that value to generate the haystack. The possibilities are endless, but it could work like so (Again, do not use this example as it is now public):
1. You need a password for Facebook
2. Facebook has 8 characters in its name
3. So you add 8 smiley faces to your haystack (4 to the front, 4 to the end)
4. The final result is: “:):):):)H@ir:):):):)”

I hope this helps. Happy passwording!

More Information:

• http://lifehacker.com/5881113/today-is-change-your-password-day-celebrate-by-upgrading-your-password-system
• http://lifehacker.com/5505400/how-id-hack-your-weak-passwords
• http://blog.lastpass.com/2012/02/help-us-celebrate-national-change-your.html
• https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm
• https://www.grc.com/ppp.htm
• http://twit.tv/sn256
• http://twit.tv/sn257

In doing my part with the SOPA/PIPA protest day, here’s my update to show my disdain for these bills and all they stand for. Below are some educational links regarding what’s going on right now.

http://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-video/internet-censorship-is-wrong-answer-online-piracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Sign the petition here: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Conversing on Rampart Ridge

The Rampart Ridge Back Door Route is an excellent little day hike close to Seattle that features multiple lakes, waterfalls, beautiful forestry, stunning peaks, large valleys, and brilliant fall colors this time of year (mid-October).

The trail is an out and back around 6 miles round trip with some pretty steep climbing up to the ridge. If you can handle the physical activity the back door route to Rampart Ridge is a very pleasant hike.

Getting to the trail head was a bit janky, but we managed without any real problems following the directions from a fresh trip report on WTA.org.

Here are the directions from the trip report:

“Take the Hyak-Gold Creek exit off I-90, go under the freeway and take the next right after the on ramp. As the road switchbacks up to Mt. Margaret, a small, unmarked, and brush crowded road takes off to the left. This is road 136. Stay right at a junction and continue to the trailhead, which is nothing but a wide dead end.”

I’ll add that road 136 (the small, unmarked, and brush crowded road that takes off to the left) is about 1.3 miles after the pavement ends on the road you exited I-90 onto.

Again, this is a pretty steep trail climbing up to Rampart Ridge, but the scenery is so well worth it. Take a look at our pictures!

Reading through my Feedly subscriptions today I found this little gem.

Restoring your old raggedy sneakers can be just as easy as brushing your teeth in the morning. Apparently all it takes is some Colgate, steel wool, and a little vigor.

I imagine this fresh & clean routine probably works best with light colored soles. Not sure what the whitening power of these chemicals will do to a darker shoe.

Read the full Instructables article here.