Password Feature

[Richard Talley]

A recent conversation with a family member:

"I understand you're really getting into on-line banking and bill paying."

    "Yeah, I hate writing checks."

"Are you letting Firefox remember all your passwords?"

    "Yes, it's great!"

"Did you set a master password in Firefox?"

    "No. What's that?"

"Well, what if a burglar steals your laptop. Won't they be able to get
into all your bank accounts?"

    "Oh. I didn't think of that."

Lesson: end-user education never ends.

The reason many people don't password protect their computers is that
they don't know any better. We grew up locking our houses and cars,
but not our computers (an idea that didn't even exist in the Windows
over DOS days).

-- Rich

On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 4:04 PM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:
> At Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:24:12 -0500 Ray Little <ray at tangosystems.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> When I'm really concerned about security I don't trust Windows'
>> password.  I use TrueCrypt to encrypt the volumes where my data is
>> located.  Learned the value of this when I found the techs at Best Buy
>> nosing around my PC.
>>
>> I guess I'm lazier than most.  But at any rate I'm on my computers too
>> many hours a day and don't want to have to log back in every time I step
>> away for a moment and don't come back as anticipated.  It's just a
>> convenience thing.  I used to use jGnash which had this feature and I
>> got used to it.
>
> Here is a thought question:
>
> Do you lock your car and/or take the key out of the ignition every time
> you step away from your car?  Even if it is to just 'run in and grab a
> quart of milk' at a convience store?  Why (or Why not)?
>
> Is your computer data any more (or less) important than your car?
>
> And yes, even if you lock your car and take the keys with you a truly
> determined theif can still steal your car (and the same is probably
> true with your computer data).  Still, locking the car / logging out,
> is going to be a perfectly effective protection from 'casual'
> 'theft'/snooping (eg curious grandkids, random 'guests', etc.).
> Getting into the 'habit' of logging out (OR using a passworded
> screensaver) is a GOOD thing.  Why more people don't practice it is
> unknown to me.
>
>>
>> Ray
>>
>> Robert Heller wrote:
>> > At Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:18:43 -0500 Ray Little <ray at rlla.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >> I disagree with you on the need for a password feature.  First, not
>> >> everyone uses Linux (it would be great if they did but that's another
>> >> argument).
>> >>
>> >
>> > *EVERY* modern O/S has a passworded login feature.  This includes all
>> > NT-based MS-Windows O/Ss (Win2K, WinXP, WinVista) and MacOSX.  Only
>> > MS-DOS based MS-Windows (Win 3.11, Win9x, WinME) and Classic MacOS (<=
>> > System 9) don't.  Does anyone seriously use these old O/Ss any more?
>> >
>> >
>> >> In your argument against a built-in password feature you mention how
>> >> you're not sure you could do it well.  However, I'm not under attack by
>> >> the Russians (or the Chinese).  I would like a much smaller measure of
>> >> protection.  I'm using a WinXP system in my office and it would be nice
>> >> to have a little something to keep the curious grandkids or guests at
>> >> bay when I step away from the computer.
>> >>
>> >
>> > All you need to do is create a proper passworded account under WinXP.
>> > And don't tell the grandkids or guests what that password is.  Create a
>> > *separate* account for the grandkids and/or guests.  I know WinXP can
>> > do this -- I seen it.  *I* don't know why MS-Windows users don't make
>> > use of this feature.  Is it really that hard to set up?  Or is it just
>> > that Microsoft (in their infinite wisdom?) make it *too* easy NOT to
>> > need to use it?
>> >
>> >
>> >> Thanks,
>> >> Ray
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
> --
> Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
> Deepwoods Software        -- Download the Model Railroad System
> http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows
> heller at deepsoft.com       -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/
>
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