climate and comms

con·text /ˈkäntekst/ The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. authenticate [ɔːˈθɛntɪˌkeɪt] vb (tr)   to establish as genuine or valid What does context have to do with authentication? When you log on to a web site and enter your user name and password so as to ‘authenticate’ yourself all you are presenting are self reported credentials to the site.  If you present the correct credentials then the site accepts you as - who you say you are.   It takes you at face value.  It identifies you.  Liken it to a knight of old arriving at castle and announcing himself.   When you log on to a web site and it asks you to log in with a user name and password – you are in effect – announcing yourself – identifying yourself.   What happens if someone steals your password?   Then they can log on as you – the site is none the wiser – the thief has presente...

We in the southern part of the UK have started to see our Indian summer start to slowly fade as we get into this first week of October.    It has been a wonderful but disorientating week with temperatures in the high 20’s (80’s F) – and clear blue skies - I could have sworn this was Jo’burg in Summer.   All that was missing was the swimming pools ! Well I know that parts of the mid-West have also had some great weather.  Indeed in the good ol’  US of A October has become known as  National Cyber Security Awareness month.    Who would have thought ten years ago that a whole month would be ‘honoured’ with such a strange moniker.     Well I guess 10 years ago no one would have predicted that we would have become so utterly dependent on the Web – our every waking and in some instances sleeping moments have some Web connection.    E-mail, social-media,  telephony,  shopping, business, entertainment, gaming  – ju...