Although it is widely known that authentication via ‘secret’ questions is not secure, now we finally have statistical evidence to prove it. Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University have conducted a study that measures how guessable answers to ‘secret’ questions are. The researchers looked at the questions used by AOL, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! in order to authenticate users who need to reset their forgotten passwords. The ability of users to memorize their answers was also questioned. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’
No, it’s no a typo :). COFEE means Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, actually. Never heard about it? Then read Microsoft supplies Interpol with DIY forensics tool. Just don’t ask where to get it. We have not seen it either.
The Encrypting File System (EFS) was first introduced in Windows 2000 and, as Microsoft claims, is an excellent encryption system with no back door.
However, the most secure encryption can be ambiguous. It would efficiently prevent hackers and other illegal intruders from breaking into your system and getting access to your well-encrypted data. The other side of the coin is that both a regular user and a seasoned administrator can lose important data due to unforeseen circumstances. It is also the case with EFS.
Check out the success story on how EFS-encrypted data can be recovered (the PDF is 81 Kbyte) with Advanced EFS Data Recovery.