Why passwords have never been weaker—and crackers have never been stronger | Ars Technica

Dan Goodin of Ars Technica wrote an eye-opening piece on the astonishing state of password cracking. Passwords once thought a few years ago to be safe enough to outlast a century of cracking attempts can now be broken in a matter of days (or even hours) – with a $1000 computer, no less.

The ancient art of password cracking has advanced further in the past five years than it did in the previous several decades combined. At the same time, the dangerous practice of password reuse has surged. The result: security provided by the average password in 2012 has never been weaker.

A PC running a single AMD Radeon HD7970 GPU, for instance, can try on average an astounding 8.2 billion password combinations each second, depending on the algorithm used to scramble them. Only a decade ago, such speeds were possible only when using pricey supercomputers.

via Why passwords have never been weaker—and crackers have never been stronger | Ars Technica.

Pussy Riot case shows Russia’s dark path

Last week, Russian authorities handed down a harsh sentance to the three members of the female punk band Pussy Riot, after the band staged an anti-Putin “punk prayer” in a Russian Orthodox Church. It shows the increasingly autocratic ways of Russian prime minister Vladmir Putin, who is apparently leading the country away from its experiments as an open society (while lining his own pockets at the same time).

Below is a statement from one of the band members which was posted to one of the band’s support groups on Facebook. She is absolutely correct when she writes that the country’s heavy-handed response to their stunt shows the Russian leadership’s fear of opposition.

I hope their case will wake other Russians to Putin’s looting of their country and their rights.
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Google Image search is creepy powerful

Google Image Search can read T-shirts

When I want to see if a particular photo on the web is of a real person or just a stock photograph (also of a real person but a model, of course), I like to plug that photo into Google Image Search (GIS). Google can now search the web for similar images and often if several duplicates of an image show up there’s a good chance that image is a stock photo.

In an effort to see if he is who he says he is, today I searched on an image of a man wearing a T-shirt. Google did not find any matching images to the one I provided, which was somewhat expected. What was not expected was that the Goog was able to identify the man’s T-shirt and provide links to stores selling that same T-shirt! Google’s search actually read the wording on this shirt and matched it up with others!

This capability is quite astonishing, and also quite worrisome. Google’s motto is “don’t be evil.” If the company chose, it could become the best friend of any repressive government.

How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did – Forbes

Here’s an eye-opening look at how closely (and eerily) Target tracks its customers’ purchases.

This isn’t the half of what stores can do, though. Before I got my current gig, I did a telephone interview with a company which made recognition software for in-store video systems. Supposedly this software could track customers as they made their way around the store, including how long a customer lingered on a particular aisle. It was Big Brother to the extreme and while I needed the work, I’m glad I didn’t have to get into that spooky stuff.

Confused 911 caller outs NYPD spying in NJ

This is quite alarming. The NYPD was caught spying … in New Jersey! Be sure to listen to the 911 call for yourself.

A building superintendent at an apartment complex just off the Rutgers University campus called the New Brunswick Police 911 line in June 2009. He said his staff had been conducting a routine inspection and came across something suspicious.

“What’s suspicious?” the dispatcher asked.

“Suspicious in the sense that the apartment has about — has no furniture except two beds, has no clothing, has New York City Police Department radios.”

“Really?” the dispatcher asked, her voice rising with surprise.

The caller, Salil Sheth, had stumbled upon one of the NYPD’s biggest secrets: a safe house, a place where undercover officers working well outside the department’s jurisdiction could lie low and coordinate surveillance. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the NYPD, with training and guidance from the CIA, has monitored the activities of Muslims in New York and far beyond. Detectives infiltrated mosques, eavesdropped in cafes and kept tabs on Muslim student groups, including at Rutgers.

via “What?” Confused 911 caller outs NYPD spying in NJ :: WRAL.com.

Malware may knock thousands off Internet on Monday

Looks like malware has been found to change a computer’s DNS settings. This could pose a problem for thousands of computer users when the FBI shuts down their “safety net” systems on Monday morning.

Folks in the US can go to this site to check whether their computer is infected or not. It takes just a seconds to test your PC. More info below from the AP.

WASHINGTON — The warnings about the Internet problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google. Internet service providers have sent notices, and the FBI set up a special website.

But tens of thousands of Americans may still lose their Internet service Monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago.

Despite repeated alerts, the number of computers that probably are infected is more than 277,000 worldwide, down from about 360,000 in April. Of those still infected, the FBI believes that about 64,000 are in the United States.

Users whose computers are still infected Monday will lose their ability to go online, and they will have to call their service providers for help deleting the malware and reconnecting to the Internet.

via Malware may knock thousands off Internet on Monday :: WRAL.com.

Progress CEO is out as Duke, Progress complete merger

Wow, I didn’t see this coming. Progress CEO Bill Johnson takes whatever golden parachute he was offered and bails. Feels like a bait and switch. If I didn’t have reason to suspect this deal wasn’t a good one for the public, now my suspicions are on high alert.

It makes me all the more curious as to why the public wasn’t privy to the backroom deals that were made to ram this merger through. I sure hope the N&O and other news organizations are successful in dragging these private deals into the light. There’s smoke: now go find the fire.

Duke Chairman and CEO Jim Rogers had been scheduled to serve as chairman and [Bill] Johnson as president and CEO when the two utilities merged to create the nation’s largest electric utility.

However, in the announcement early Tuesday of the formal merger closing and the formation of a new board of directors, the new Duke Energy said Rogers was staying and Johnson was out.

Johnson “resigned” through “mutual agreement” Duke said. He had been a strong advocate for the merger.

via Progress CEO is out as Duke, Progress complete merger :: WRAL.com.

The need for probation reform

After digging up some info on the two suspects in my neighbor’s burglary, I found out even more distressing information. Edwards had been arrested March 30th for the very same charge, Breaking and Entering, skipped bail and missed court date, which apparently resulted in his Failure To Appear charge. This is of course all after he was convicted in December of multiple property crimes. I haven’t found out yet what Enyinnaya’s story is but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a similar one.

Where was his probation officer? Who knows? Edwards got a suspended sentence and probation for his December thefts but felt confident enough that he wouldn’t get caught to bust into more homes three months later.
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Weatherford Drive burglary suspects identified

Bango Eninnaya

I heard back from Raleigh Police on the Weatherford burglary suspects. The two suspects are Bango Benjamin Enyinnaya, age 16, of 2334 Keith Drive in Raleigh; and Tyler Gregory Edwards, age 19, of 1317 Hazelnut Drive in Raleigh. Enyinnaya was charged with Felony Breaking and/or Entering, Larceny After Breaking/Entering, and Felony Probation Violation. Edwards was charged with Felony Breaking and/or Entering and Larceny After Breaking/Entering.

Tyler Edwards

Both Enyinnaya and Edwards have criminal records for breaking-and-entering. It seems around Thanksgiving of last year the two decided to go on a burglary spree. Edwards has a longer rap sheet, including an arrest in Charlotte for marijuana possession in August of 2010. He was arrested most recently on April 25th on a Failure to Appear charge.

No word on how many other burglaries these two are tied to. Raleigh Police tell me the vehicle did not belong to either suspect but was one that they had access to. That might explain the parade of strangers through our neighborhood following the break-in, returning to find the car.

Burglars busted!

Friday evening, I learned from my neighbor that two suspects who allegedly broke into my neighbor’s house have been arrested. I knew it wouldn’t take long, since the hapless burglars had fled on foot and left their getaway car in the driveway. Rumor has it that at least one of the kids was arrested when he was caught when he was breaking into another home.

Friday afternoon, I took note of a strange car making a loop down Weatherford Drive. There was a young kid in the middle of the back seat and it looked as if he were being chauffeured around. I remember from our own break-in a few years ago that police detectives will drive burglary suspects around to the homes the suspect might have burglarized, giving the suspect the opportunity to own up to each break-in. I don’t know if this is what was taking place with this kid but it made me wonder.

I haven’t heard back from my police contacts about the details of the arrests. If I get those details I’ll post them here.

Update 1:15 PM: Info on burglary suspects is here, courtesy of the Raleigh Police Department.