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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
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| | | The Risks I Have Entered Myself Into | |
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< | According to Chrome's latest extension in the respect of passwords, Passwords Checkup, my password manager stores information of 68 different sites: 53 of these passwords are reused, 23 of these accounts are using weak passwords and there are no compromised passwords. It is pretty shameful. However, people assume that provided with this information a user can be reassured of his safety. I argue the opposite. | >
> | According to Chrome's latest extension in the respect of passwords, Passwords Checkup, my password manager stores information of 68 different sites: 53 of these passwords are reused, 23 of these accounts are using weak passwords and there are no compromised passwords. It is pretty shameful. However, people assume that provided with this information a user can be reassured of his safety. | | | | |
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< | Because of the master password idea of passwords manager, if the database is insecure, then all the "advantages" that comes with it are wasted and from what I have researched, Google's passwords manager is far from secure. Untrue to their own claim that passwords manager stores the info in Google's servers, Chrome actually stores this info in SQLite database file in the user profile directory. By my amateur understanding, the SQLite database is a self-contained, server-less, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine and its code is in the public domain and is thus free for use for any purpose, commercial or private. Even a non-programmer lawyer like me can sense that this is not safe nor secure. | >
> | However theoretically, as a result of the master password concept of passwords manager, if the database is insecure, then all the "advantages" that comes with it are wasted. Therefore, in order to understand whether a risk exist, and the magnitude of it, one needs to familiarize himself with the tech behind Google’s password manager. | | | | |
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> | Untrue to their own claim that passwords manager stores the info in Google's servers, Chrome actually stores this info in SQLite database file in the user profile directory. SQLite database is a self-contained, server-less, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine and its code is in the public domain and is thus free for use for any purpose, commercial or private. The database does not contain the decryption key for the passwords in it, for the passwords are stored in encrypted form, thus creating an obstacle for one who tries to hack the database in search of passwords. | | | | |
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< | Actually, this is not a security problem. SQLite is free software that is in everything, as you might expect. You got the feature description from the website, so you see that it's a component that helps all sorts of software systems by providing basic database functionality that is strong and in all senses free. But the places.sqlite database managed by your browser (by pretty much all browsers, in fact) doesn't have the decryption key for your passwords in it. The passwords are stored in encrypted form in the database SQLite manages: "attacking" the database cannot compromise the password. | >
> | With that being described, this idea of convenience that I unreluctantly enslaved myself for has surely created my exposure to not only my private emails, conversations, files and etc., but also my very own property, especially my financial assets (e.g. my online banking password). | | | | |
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Thus potentially, any user to this database file can make modifications and access my personal data.
This idea of convenience that I unreluctantly enslaved myself for has exposed not only my private emails, conversations, files and etc. to outside threats, but also my very own property, especially my financial assets. Currently, these financial assets surround around my tuition payment and as a student sponsored by a full scholarship, who's in charge of utilizing the sum granted towards academic-financial duties, I became terrified. The claws of anyone smart enough to hack Chrome's database can reach the throat of all of my achievements, regardless of how much Chrome is trying to reassure me that my information has not been compromised. | >
> | Currently, these financial assets surround around my tuition payment and as a scholarship sponsored student, who's in charge of utilizing the sum granted towards academic-financial obligations, I am terrified. What will happen if one day the machine will refuse my login? What will happen if it refuses my login on a holiday time, with no other services than online ones? Clearly, these questions intensify in problematic scenarios of banking fraud or unauthorized withdraws. | | | Not less importantly, I have risked my own human control of my very own interests, connections, achievements and life through the instrument of the web. This conclusion led me to ask a final question: how do I take control back? In other, more subjective words, how could I redefine "convenience"? | | | As can be inferred from the above, I have been contemplating with this idea and theme for a while. However, unlike the previous sections, this part was rather unclear for me to write - until our latest lecture when Prof. Moglen analogized nowadays and futuristic technology's convenience as "stuff our mothers used to do for us". Applying this idea here was natural for me: obviously my mother used to systematically remind me of important matters in my daily life, just as important as my current passwords and in the same systematic manner passwords manager does. Therefore, in the spirit of reminiscing of simpler times, I began second thinking.
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< | The first-second thought I had was copying passwords manager's information, before permanently deleting it, to a notebook or other non web-connected instrument that I usually carry with me, such as a calendar or a professional notebook. There is a clear disadvantage of losing the digital comfort in this thought but I believe that overtime it will transform into a satisfying feeling of regaining human control over life.
The second-second thought I had was to disconnect from most of these platforms entirely. The fear of missing out is truly real when it comes to social media but is it too naive to think that if one maintains his desirable relationships steadily instead of superficially liking and commenting virtually, the FOMO would be neutralized?
On the other hand, there are some services I most likely won't (and can't) disconnect from (Faculty services, financial apps and Twiki for example), which leads me thinking that these kind of passwords for these platforms will have to be stored manually by me. | >
> | The first-second thought I had was copying passwords manager's information, before permanently deleting it, to a notebook or other non-web connected instrument that I usually carry with me, such as a calendar or a notebook. There is the clear disadvantage of losing the digital comfort however I believe that overtime it will transform into a satisfying feeling of regaining human control. | | | | |
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< | So you might want to
think a little bit about how to make memorable and more secure
passphrases than the "one letter in each case, one number, one
punctuation mark" nonsense people are mostly taught to follow.
Investigate passphrases. Find an XKCD cartoon on the subject, which
will prove memorable for you and introduce you to XKCD. That will
help you figure out what best practices really are, and when you are using them, your security will immediately improve.
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> | The second-second thought I had was to disconnect from most of these platforms entirely. While contemplating over this thought I reckoned that the disconnection will have negative outcomes, especially on the social side. These outcomes can be avoided if I recreate my important passwords by using practices that will improve my security. For example, customizing my password with common letters, acronyms and elements (for example, instead of “MyPassword” one can write “My_Pa$$wrd”). These simple techniques can solve my passwords dilemma and render me some serenity in the chaos of the technology era. | | |
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