Author: Chris Johnson
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The Guessing Game. Guessing Passwords
My wife read my article on passwords and “got it”. Which is nice. I was attempting to explain how password crackers use rule sets to modify input dictionaries to create more guesses from a single word list. I decided to see how much things have advanced. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.…
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Two Factor Authentication
What we are talking about is “authentication.” Authentication is the method of confirming that you are who you say you are. There are three methods to determine authentication: Something only you know Something only you have Something unique about you In the old days, when people carried checkbooks with them and wrote checks for things,…
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Password Security/Password Managers
Password Security There are four ways of cracking a password. Guess the password Brute Force the password Go around the password authentication Trick the password from the owner If your password is easy to guess, then it is a weak password. Examples of weak passwords are: password, 1234, YOUR_NAME, BIRTHDAYS. Many things use a four…
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Trump Derangement Syndrome
An example — from an NYU professor: “{DJT’s holding a rally in Waco} sends a clear message…Waco has been a pilgrimage site for White power and militia movements… He is paying homage to this tradition and doubling down on his profile as leader of an extremist cult (MAGA). The stagecraft and rituals seen at this…
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Single Point of Failure?
Resiliency is a goal. I’m not sure if we ever actually reach it. In my configuration, I’ve decided that the loss of a single node should be tolerated. This means that any hardware failure that takes a node of line is considered to be within the redundancy tolerance of the data center. This means that…
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What Did I Buy?
In upgrading from copper to fiber, I’ve been exploring the different options and learning as I go. Some learning curves have been steep, others have been “relearning” what I already knew. One of the biggest things I needed to learn is that there are “switches” that are actually “routers”. That was mind-bending. The other is…
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Friends
Christmas is past for another year. It was better than expected. Watching movies with the family was good. My wife insists on “A Christmas Story”, as it is her favorite. I picked “Red One” on a recommendation from Scott Adams on X. The final movie was “A Christmas Story Christmas”. This last hit a bit…
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Merry Christmas!
Here is hoping that the happy man in the red suit brought you all you wish. More importantly, I wish you health and happiness in the coming years. -Chris
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