password

Comcast passwords leaked onto the Web

Updated March 17 9:45 a.m. PST with Comcast saying there were 700 customer names on the list.

A list of 700 usernames and passwords for Comcast customers was removed from document-sharing Web site Scribd on Monday, two months after it was posted there.

Scribd removed the list of what initially looked like thousands of passwords and usernames after being contacted by Brad Stone at The New York Times. Stone wrote that he was contacted by a Comcast customer who happened across the list after doing a search on his own e-mail address on search engine Pipl.

Comcast spokeswoman … Read more

Lenovo sticking with face recognition tool

Despite detailed demonstrations that the security of its Veriface face recognition technology can be manipulated to gain unlawful access, Lenovo is keeping current notebook models equipped with it.

In an e-mail interview with ZDNet Asia, a Singapore-based Lenovo representative said the company has "no plans to pull affected models." However, the PC maker does plan to continue to upgrade the face recognition technology.

The technology's vulnerability was demonstrated in December by the Bach Khoa Internetwork Security (BKIS) center in Hanoi, Vietnam.

At the Black Hat security conference last month, researchers Nguyen Minh Duc and Bui Quang Minh … Read more

Foxmarks becomes Xmarks

Originally known as Foxmarks, Xmarks takes the original, bookmark-synchronizing concept behind the plug-in and mashes it with a style of Web site discovery reminiscent that should feel familiar to users of StumbleUpon or Del.icio.us.

Xmarks maintains its utility in this major update, retaining focus on synchronizing your bookmarks so you can access them from any computer running Firefox. A simple start-up wizard guides you through the set up, after which it indexes your bookmarks. After installing Xmarks on a second computer, it gives a choice to merge or junk bookmarks from either rig. New to this version are … Read more

Are passwords our best security option?

Last week, Steve Bass described in his TechBite newsletter how someone cracked into his PayPal account, hitting him up for $400. Fortunately, Steve caught the theft in time to have the bogus charge reversed, but reading about Steve's experience made my blood turn cold.

The fact is, people get their online accounts pilfered every day. But this is Steve Bass we're talking about. I learned more about PC security from Steve while we worked together at PC World than I have picked up from any other 10 so-called experts. I know how careful he is when making purchases … Read more

Simple, effective tool

This simple, little, Internet Explorer privacy tool may not look like much, but it successfully password-protected user-selected Web sites.

IEProtect requires that you enter a master password that you will enter each and every time you access the program. The user interface is extremely simple to operate, with all of your menu commands at the top of a small window. The help feature provides a link that takes you to the publisher's Web site. Each Web site that you add is displayed below the command buttons. Password protecting sites is as easy as clicking the Add Site button, entering … Read more

Misspellings tarnish app

Even though we encountered a glitch and came across several misspellings on the user interface, this encryption tool ultimately secured executable files. We just weren't persuaded that it was the best possible option.

Immediately after clicking EXE Password Lock's executable file to get started, we received an error message. Luckily, we were able to bypass it and move on to the main user interface. The designers should have used some kind of spellchecker, because we found several misspellings that would have (and should have) been caught. Still, the program was very easy to navigate, and involved simply browsing … Read more

Encryption tools that work

The mere mention of encryption can evoke images of lonely geeks or government operatives hunched over their potentially earth shattering work. Discussions of public and private keys can send even experienced computer users into a fundamental state of distress, but it doesn't have to be that way. Advanced Encryption Package Professional is a tool that can, at the very least, ease some of the pain of working with encrypted messages and files.

The program itself is decent-looking but quirky. It has a theme engine that works well, though the existence of the theme engine is both welcomed and perplexing, … Read more

Cluttered interface design

The name of this password and number generator is fitting, because it seems as though its overall design is truly random. Nevertheless, it proved to be a worthy tool for coming up with unique combinations.

Truly Random has a very cluttered user interface. Luckily, it can be resized, which also increases the font size for better readability. Still, we found it awkward to navigate. Check boxes let you select the characters that you wish to include: uppercase, lowercase, special characters, numbers, spaces, and pronounceable. The length and number of characters can also be manually inputted. There is a wizard that … Read more

Lives up to its EZ claim

In a nutshell, EZ Document Safe lets you group important files into one safe, encrypted location. The program worked well with the exception of one feature that we weren't able to access.

The program's user interface is very easy to navigate. A tutorial is included to help you along the way. Menu options and a toolbar run across the top of the window. A tree menu displays the database list and files. We really liked the wizard-like approach it takes for creating new databases. We were able to add new files to the database by dragging and dropping … Read more