password

Infopackets Reader Tom G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to send encrypted email to a friend using MS Outlook . To do so, I purchased a digital certificate from Comodo, then imported the certificate into Outlook. I could send my friend digitally ... signed messages which he could read and reply to. He could send me digitally signed and encrypted messages, which I could read and reply to. However, I could not generate an encrypted message; I could only reply to his. I could not create an encrypted message from scratch. When attempting to initiate an encrypted message, I was told ' Microsoft ... (view more)

Apple has been forced to fix a major security flaw in the latest edition of the Mac operating system. The fix makes it far easier for a thief to access a computer's files. The bug is in MacOS High Sierra, which was released two months ago. It's ... widely used as its compatible with most Mac computers released in the past eight years or so. The problem is with root access on the system. That's the highest level of access, giving complete control of the computer and even the opportunity to alter key system files. Normally only the most confident users would enable root access (which then acts a ... (view more)

The man behind some of the most commonly held advice on creating passwords says he was wrong on several points. Bill Burr says the real problem with his tips were that they led to predictable behavior. Burr's advice came in a short 2003 document ... produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Because of the institute's prestige, the advice was widely adopted and cited, with both employers and sites often insisting that passwords meet the guidelines. (Source: wsj.com ) Mix of Characters Hard to Remember One part of the advice was to use a mix of capital letters, lower ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sean S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own three Windows 10 PC's at home - my own PC, my wife's laptop and my son's laptop. Each laptop is set up to access my main PC using network shared folders (I have the same user names and ... passwords also set up on my main machine to create a password protected share). Recently my wife tried to access a shared folder on my PC but now receives an error 'the password of this user has expired'. The same day I also received an error message on my Windows 10 login screen that 'the password for this account has expired' and I need to reset it. Is ... (view more)

Two biometric security measures have come into question after reporters and researchers claimed to have overcome them. A phone's iris recognition and a bank's voice log-in both appear to be less than perfectly secure. The Samsung Galaxy S8 - ... arguably the most high-profile and hyped phone currently running the Android system - includes an option to unlock the phone by simply looking at the camera. In a similar way to fingerprint recognition, it works on the idea that the patterns in the eye's iris are unique. Samsung described these patterns as "virtually impossible to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Marion L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been using my Yahoo email with Windows Mail for quite a while, but now it keeps telling me 'Your Yahoo account settings are out of date' near the top of the screen. The options 'Fix Account' ... or 'Dismiss' don't work. If I click 'Fix Account' it says 'Something went wrong. We're sorry but we weren't able to do that. Error code: 80070422'. I cannot send or receive emails using my Yahoo account. Can you please help? " My response: As I mentioned in last week's post, the ' Your account settings are out of date ' is a very generic error ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Marion L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am using Windows Mail with Windows 10, and all the sudden I have been getting an error that says 'Your Outlook account settings are out of date' near the top of the screen. I have the option to ... 'Fix Account' or 'Dismiss'. If I click the 'Dismiss' option, I can't receive any emails, then within a few minutes I'll receive the same error that 'Your Outlook account settings are out of date'. If I click 'Fix Account' it tells me 'Something went wrong. We're sorry, but we weren't able to do that', and it gives me an error code 0x80070003. I have ... (view more)

A US court says a man must provide the password to unlock two hard drives that prosecutors say contain unlawful images. The court rejected his appeal that to do so would breach his fifth amendment rights, which roughly translate to: "No person shall ... be held to answer for a ... [crime], unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury." The case is an unusual twist on the more common disputes about how the fourth amendment -- which deals with searches and seizures -- applies to technology. In this case the man claims that handing over the password could incriminate him. The ... (view more)

Voice messages from parents to children through a 'smart' cuddly toy could be compromised. The security risk is a combination of a flaw by the designers and poor security practices by users. The issue involves CloudPets, a range of $40 toys designed ... to help working parents stay in touch with their kids. The parent can leave a voice message via a phone app at any time and it will then be sent over the Internet and Bluetooth and played back through a speaker in the toy. The child can then press the toy's paw to record and send a reply. The problem is that while delivering messages ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dan A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I upgraded to Windows 10 last year and now all the sudden I keep receiving popup notifications from the Windows 10 Action Centre that my Windows 10 password is about to expire. I have never received ... this password expire notification before. How can I disable these notifications? " My response: I also started receiving these notifications some time in the last two weeks and I'm not sure why. Perhaps there was an update to Windows 10 that caused these notifications to appear. How to Fix: Disable Windows 10 Password Reminder There are a few ways ... (view more)