climate and comms

The sheer volume of reportage on hacking is overwhelming.   The sites being hit are the ones that you and I use every day.   Some provide useful information, some, valuable services and others perhaps just news or trivia.   We use them multiple times a day – sometimes without even being fully aware that we are,  like DropBox.   We use these sites  to store personal and business information, to connect us with potential clients, employers and employees, to help us choose insurance providers, to send us our groceries and some, to just play on.   Dropbox allows us to seamlessly log in by re-referencing a cookie they have planted on our computer to ‘verify’ our identity.   LinkedIn also uses the same technique when we log in.    A user name and password.  How secure is that ?    Well,  not very,  given that both of these sites have been hacked and your and my perso...

You would be forgiven for thinking that perhaps most people have become somewhat nonchalant about online security and that the prevalence of hacks has made most of us somewhat immune to the dangers.    Indeed I would say that some sites have become almost cavalier about their attitude to their member’s security.  The recent hacking of LinkedIn certainly did not elicit the kind of response I would have expected, indeed hoped for,  as a member.   I get the impression that it was something of an irritant that they hope won't come again – and are certainly not bothering with beefing up security.  Far too much hassle.   So is their reaction reflective of their members lack of interest – I think not,  as one of their members has tried to sue them for failing to provide adequate security.  ( http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/21/business/la-fi-tn-linkedin-5-million-hack-20120621 )   LinkedIn have said that they will salt their passwords...