#encrypt

[cyberianpunks]

I do not ask for the spoken; I do not ask for the unspoken

[find-your-software]

Avira Prime

Enjoy convenient access to all our premium services! Protects you from surveillance, spoofing and scams. Detects malware & online threats in real time. Anonymizes & encrypts your web browsing. Generates & remembers passwords for you.

[jobaaj]

ALERT: WhatsApp is in danger! It might be leaving India!! But why? In February 2021, the government introduced new IT guidelines, sparking controversy with a requirement that social media platforms facilitate the identification of the original source of information upon request from a court or competent authority.

At the time, WhatsApp appealed, arguing that the rule was unconstitutional and breached the Indian Constitution. Now, the company has emphasized that compromising its encryption would betray users' trust and has warned of the possibility of exiting the country if compelled to do so.

The government has defended the importance of such rules while claiming that WhatsApp was already violating its users’ fundamental rights by denying them dispute resolution and using their data for business and commercial purposes!!! With over 400 million users here, India is WhatsApp’s largest user base! Will WhatsApp really leave the country? Are the laws wrong? Should the Indian government WhatsApp some concessions? Follow Jobaaj Stories (the media arm of Jobaaj.com Group) for more.

[jcmarchi]

How to Choose the Right Password Manager for Your Needs? - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-to-choose-the-right-password-manager-for-your-needs-technology-org/

How to Choose the Right Password Manager for Your Needs? - Technology Org

Data breaches and resulting account takeovers are among the most serious and fastest-spreading digital threats that put sensitive information, privacy, and finances in danger. Millions of individuals feel their effects each year, sometimes as part of a single, huge breach. Companies are even worse for ware, as mounting data breach costs illustrate.

Password managers effectively combat this threat, but not all are up to the challenge. What separates competent password managers from mediocre or downright dangerous ones? Read on to discover which features to look for in a password manager and get the best protection for yourself or your business.

Password. Illustrative photo. Image credit: geralt via pixabay, free license

Secure Storage

Password managers can store countless login credentials. They may even provide storage for form fields you fill in regularly or documents that need extra protection. This only works if there’s a means to secure all this invaluable information. Encryption is the most secure means at our disposal today, and password managers depend on its most sophisticated implementation.

Encryption algorithms like Aes-256 and xChaCha20 scramble the data within password managers’ vaults, making it inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t have the master password. These encryption methods are currently impenetrable with brute force. That makes them highly desirable for individual and business use alike.

Password Generation

Storing thousands of passwords for all your employees is convenient but does nothing to address their security. People will default to using variations of easy-to-guess passwords, or they might have a single strong password they use for several accounts. Both are serious security risks managers handle conveniently through password generation.

Look for a manager that lets you set parameters like length or the use of special symbols to enhance individual password strength even more.

Multi-Factor Authentication Support

At least two entities control any password – its creator and the website or service it protects. Even if you encrypt every password, it can still leak as part of a data breach. Password managers can’t prevent this, but those that incorporate multi-factor authentication can contain the fallout.

MFA introduces another step, usually a code or biometric scan, before it grants account access. On the one hand, this prevents stolen passwords from compromising accounts. On the other, you get login attempt notifications and can generate new credentials to reestablish complete control.

Intuitive UI

User-friendliness should be high on the priorities list, especially when choosing a password manager for enterprise clients since people with varying tech aptitudes need to use the tool efficiently. Try to find screenshots and video presentations online that showcase a manager’s UI. Make sure none of the descriptions or tabs are misleading, and the manager’s frequently used features are easy to get to.

Cross-Platform Compatibility and Sharing

The best password managers combine security with seamless accessibility. That means it’s equally easy to enter stored passwords whether you’re on a desktop or mobile, regardless of the operating system. Your manager of choice should also support extensions for all popular browsers to streamline the verification process while surfing.

Sharing is an important feature for families and teams collaborating on complex projects. The manager should make sharing passwords between verified accounts easy. Still, it should also allow for role creation and flexibility if used for business purposes. For example, regular users should be able to share passwords with others by granting full or limited rights, while admins may disable users’ sharing privileges altogether.

Data Privacy Assurance

What good is a supposedly secure password manager if its parent company collects or even sells your data? A responsible developer will have a zero-knowledge policy in place, meaning they don’t have knowledge of the passwords and documents you store. Third-party audits are a good indicator of trustworthiness, so check that the password manager company undergoes them regularly.

Pricing

Many password managers entice new users with free tiers. These vary by limitations but offer a good glimpse into a manager’s features. Most reputable password managers are subscription-based and may offer sizable discounts when you sign up for long periods. If you’re buying enterprise-level services, check the maximum number of supported teammates and whether signing on more offers any discounts.

Competent Tech Support

No password manager is perfect. The app might act up, or you could have trouble importing an existing password list. How tech support handles such issues is a telling indicator of a password manager’s quality. Read user reviews to see if the manager’s parent company resolves issues quickly and professionally.

Conclusion

We hope finding the right password manager is easier now you know which features to assess. While instrumental, keep in mind that password managers should only be part of your cybersecurity toolkit. You’ll want to augment them with privacy and internet security-enhancing tools like a VPN and anti-malware. Finally, keep up with digital threat developments so you can correct risky behavior and reduce susceptibility to threats.

[mustafabukulmez-blog]

PHP OpenSSL Encrypt & Decrypt

Merhabalar, bu yazımda PHP OpenSSL Encrypt & Decrypt konusuna değineceğim. Daha önceleri Encrypt & Decrypt konusunda bir yazı daha yazmıştım. Her ne kadar konu olarak aynı olsa da yöntem olarak farklı oldukları için yeni bir yazı olarak yazıyorum. Üstelik şifreleme üzerinde farklı programlama dillerine dair bir çok yazım var. Hepsini hemen aşağıya ekliyorum.   PHP MD5 Şifreleme Kullanımı C#…

[bfpnola]

UPDATE! REBLOG THIS VERSION!

[sandeep2363]

Check database is encrypted in AWS RDS

Check the database and its backup is encrypted in AWS RDS service Check the Database in AWS Encrypted Log in to the AWS console website. Go to the RDS Services. Select the database you want to check and go to the configuration tab. In the Configuration tab, check the encryption. Check the database backup is Encrypted in AWS RDS service: Login to AWS console. Go to the RDS Service On left…

[redactedcrowart]

508674490205402479706314796864630680869369077811119428391436709549024497908162273368108540422084022079569335651244898

[hedgehog-moss]

Forgive me for making yet another post about the French Revolution but one small detail that makes me laugh is when, as things started to go seriously wrong, one of Louis XVI's advisers tried to persuade him & Marie-Antoinette to get away from Paris and wait for things to calm down (the idea was "if you lay low and wait, the newly-created National Assembly will vote something stupid and lose popular support" which was a solid plan honestly.) But he was also like "whatever you do, DO NOT go East or South or people will think you'll get help from other monarchies to restore your power and that won't calm things down"

So the King was advised to flee to Normandy, which... is just a short ferry ride away from another monarchy. But that's completely different since it's England. To be fair to the English, the French monarchy had basically bankrupted itself a few years back to send millions in support of the American revolutionaries because it would be a shame not to take advantage of "perhaps the best opportunity for centuries to come to put England in its place" (actual quote by France's minister of Foreign Affairs in 1777)

—still I love the realistic approach of the King's adviser telling him, Sire you can't go near any of our borders rn, it'll escalate the situation, Parisians will know you're trying to get another country to help. Obviously you can go set up camp right across the sea from England though, that's fine since everyone knows the English wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire¹

¹ Perfidious Albion was like "aw no France is in turmoil and possibly weakened :) a shame :)" exactly like France re: them at the start of the US independence war ² they also thought well these backward french are finally following our glorious example and entering civilisation (parliamentary monarchy) ³ and only when the Girondins started being like "let's spread the French Revolution to the whole universe!!! or at least Belgium" did England finally decide "it's been a while since we last declared war on France actually" (but it was too late for Louis XVI) ⁴ That's not how footnotes work sorry. Trying to make my post look fancier

[movie-titlecards]

Encrypt (2003)

My rating: 6/10

Amusingly cheesy post-apocalyptic dungeon crawler that does feel a bit like a video game early on, but moves past that into very silly action movie territory soon enough. It's not good, but it's kind of fun.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

An adversarial iMessage client for Android

Adversarial interoperability is one of the most reliable ways to protect tech users from predatory corporations: that's when a technologist reverse-engineers an existing product to reconfigure or mod it (interoperability) in ways its users like, but which its manufacturer objects to (adversarial):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

"Adversarial interop" is a mouthful, so at EFF, we coined the term "competitive compatibility," or comcom, which is a lot easier to say and to spell.

Scratch any tech success and you'll find a comcom story. After all, when a company turns its screws on its users, it's good business to offer an aftermarket mod that loosens them again. HP's $10,000/gallon inkjet ink is like a bat-signal for third-party ink companies. When Mercedes announces that it's going to sell you access to your car's accelerator pedal as a subscription service, that's like an engraved invitation to clever independent mechanics who'll charge you a single fee to permanently unlock that "feature":

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/05/carmakers-push-forward-with-plans-to-make-basic-features-subscription-services-despite-widespread-backlash/

Comcom saved giant tech companies like Apple. Microsoft tried to kill the Mac by rolling out a truly cursèd version of MS Office for MacOS. Mac users (5% of the market) who tried to send Word, Excel or Powerpoint files to Windows users (95% of the market) were stymied: their files wouldn't open, or they'd go corrupt. Tech managers like me started throwing the graphic designer's Mac and replacing it with a Windows box with a big graphics card and Windows versions of Adobe's tools.

Comcom saved Apple's bacon. Apple reverse-engineered MS's flagship software suite and made a comcom version, iWork, whose Pages, Numbers and Keynote could flawlessly read and write MS's Word, Excel and Powerpoint files:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

It's tempting to think of iWork as benefiting Apple users, and certainly the people who installed and used it benefited from it. But Windows users also benefited from iWork. The existence of iWork meant that Windows users could seamlessly collaborate on and share files with their Mac colleagues. IWork didn't just add a new feature to the Mac ("read and write files that originated with Windows users") – it also added a feature to Windows: "collaborate with Mac users."

Every pirate wants to be an admiral. Though comcom rescued Apple from a monopolist's sneaky attempt to drive it out of business, Apple – now a three trillion dollar company – has repeatedly attacked comcom when it was applied to Apple's products. When Apple did comcom, that was progress. When someone does comcom to Apple, that's piracy.

Apple has many tools at its disposal that Microsoft lacked in the early 2000s. Radical new interpretations of existing copyright, contract, patent and trademark law allows Apple – and other tech giants – to threaten rivals who engage in comcom with both criminal and civil penalties. That's right, you can go to prison for comcom these days. No wonder Jay Freeman calls this "felony contempt of business model":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Take iMessage, Apple's end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) instant messaging tool. Apple customers can use iMessage to send each other private messages that can't be read or altered by third parties – not cops, not crooks, not even Apple. That's important, because when private messaging systems get hacked, bad things happen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_celebrity_nude_photo_leak

But Apple has steadfastly refused to offer an iMessage app for non-Apple systems. If you're an Apple customer holding a sensitive discussion with an Android user, Apple refuses to offer you a tool to maintain your privacy. Those messages are sent "in the clear," over the 38-year-old SMS protocol, which is trivial to spy on and disrupt.

Apple sacrifices its users' security and integrity in the hopes that they will put pressure on their friends to move into Apple's walled garden. As CEO Tim Cook told a reporter: if you want to have secure communications with your mother, buy her an iPhone:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-cook-says-buy-mom-210347694.html

Last September, a 16-year old high school student calling himself JJTech published a technical teardown of iMessage, showing how any device could send and receive encrypted messages with iMessage users, even without an Apple ID:

https://jjtech.dev/reverse-engineering/imessage-explained/

JJTech even published code to do this, in an open source library called Pypush:

https://github.com/JJTech0130/pypush

In the weeks since, Beeper has been working to productize JJTech's code, and this week, they announced Beeper Mini, an Android-based iMessage client that is end-to-end encrypted:

https://beeper.notion.site/How-Beeper-Mini-Works-966cb11019f8444f90baa314d2f43a54

Beeper is known for a multiprotocol chat client built on Matrix, allowing you to manage several kinds of chat from a single app. These multiprotocol chats have been around forever. Indeed, iMessage started out as one – when it was called "iChat," it supported Google Talk and Jabber, another multiprotocol tool. Other tools like Pidgin have kept the flame alive for decades, and have millions of devoted users:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/tower-babel-how-public-interest-internet-trying-save-messaging-and-banish-big

But iMessage support has remained elusive. Last month, Nothing launched Sunchoice, a disastrous attempt to bring iMessage to Android, which used Macs in a data-center to intercept and forward messages to Android users, breaking E2EE and introducing massive surveillance risks:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/21/23970740/sunbird-imessage-app-shut-down-privacy-nothing-chats-phone-2

Beeper Mini does not have these defects. The system encrypts and decrypts messages on the Android device itself, and directly communicates with Apple's servers. It gathers some telemetry for debugging, and this can be turned off in preferences. It sends a single SMS to Apple's servers during setup, which changes your device's bubble from green to blue, so that Apple users now correctly see your device as a secure endpoint for iMessage communications.

Beeper Mini is now available in Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beeper.ima&hl=en_US

Now, this is a high-stakes business. Apple has a long history of threatening companies like Beeper over conduct like this. And Google has a long history deferring to those threats – as it did with OG App, a superior third-party Instagram app that it summarily yanked after Meta complained:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained

But while iMessage for Android is good for Android users, it's also very good for Apple customers, who can now get the privacy and security guarantees of iMessage for all their contacts, not just the ones who bought the same kind of phone as they did. The stakes for communications breaches have never been higher, and antitrust scrutiny on Big Tech companies has never been so intense.

Apple recently announced that it would add RCS support to iOS devices (RCS is a secure successor to SMS):

https://9to5mac.com/2023/11/16/apple-rcs-coming-to-iphone/

Early word from developers suggests that this support will have all kinds of boobytraps. That's par for the course with Apple, who love to announce splashy reversals of their worst policies – like their opposition to right to repair – while finding sneaky ways to go on abusing its customers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

The ball is in Apple's court, and, to a lesser extent, in Google's. As part of the mobile duopoly, Google has joined with Apple in facilitating the removal of comcom tools from its app store. But Google has also spent millions on an ad campaign shaming Apple for exposing its users to privacy risks when talking to Android users:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/21/23883609/google-rcs-message-apple-iphone-ipager-ad

While we all wait for the other shoe to drop, Android users can get set up on Beeper Mini, and technologists can kick the tires on its code libraries and privacy guarantees.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/07/blue-bubbles-for-all/#never-underestimate-the-determination-of-a-kid-who-is-time-rich-and-cash-poor

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[mollyjimbly]

🚨VERY IMPORTANT KOSA UPDATE🚨

After Tuesday's Judiciary hearing, Blumenthal and Hawley promised to try their best to bring KOSA to the floor. Cantwell has promised to sneak KOSA to the floor on a voice vote, like with what Hawley tried with the Restrict Act this past spring if you remember. We just need ONE senator to speak out. So right now, DON'T PANIC, SPEAK OUT.

As always, you can use https://www.badinternetbills.com/ to easily place your calls to everyone influential with a call script.

If you don't want to use that site

<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IyBUe6frFGF44rJQU3TahZ5zyG3tC7jai_hPneAKlnM/edit>.

Share these resources.

Sign and share these open latter's and petitions.

We are targeting these senators:

Wyden (202) 224-5244

Markey (202) 224-2742

Welch (202) 224-4242

Booker (202) 224-3224

Padilla (202) 224-3553

Ossoff (202) 224-3521

Tester (202) 224-2644

Civil rights and free speech groups will be pushing to stop the legislation. But nothing matters like constituents calls — especially as we approach an election year.

Sources:

<https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1722985460056670401?s=46>

<https://twitter.com/mikestabile/status/1723018810976788911>

Remember, if we don't do anything now, it could be pushed for a floor vote without hesitation, it could be close to passing by the end of the year!!

Please stay calm and share, and try to call If you are able. ❤️

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #88

Danny and Damian are twins but they get separated at age 7, years later when they’re both 14 they both are going to high school and their schools decide to create a program where they wind up as pen pals to each other unknowing that they’re talking too each other as it’s been set up to be anonymous. Danny decides to take a leap of faith and encrypts a message about the media blackout around his town and how they’re overrun with ghosts and could use the Justice Leagues help through out all of his letters knowing that very few could actually understand it but he just felt so tired and this was the only way he could think to get any help for his town.

Damian just wonders who exactly his pen pal is to encrypt these letters like this.

[pray1ngmantis]

anne carson, economy of the unlost (reading simonides of keos with paul celan), 1999

[just-ornstein]

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE BEAKER CASTLE EVEN - A SimPE Deep Dive

Alright, so after stumbling upon some of the Beta pics on the Russian TheSims.cc site and this analysis post about the Beaker mansion, I became deeply curious if some of this would be reflected in the lot relationships. After all, some characters like Viola, Kelly, on top of several others could be found when digging through the raw and somewhat encrypted code of lots.

By now it's pretty clear that the Beaker home once belonged to this dude and his army of girlfriends (definitely check out the post I mentioned earlier). On top of that Loki (and possibly Circe) seems to have gone through at least two iterations before eventually settling on their final forms.

And on top of that whenever you scan the mansion in a completely new game, you will find fingerprints of primarily deceased Sims everywhere!

Now to get to the Sim relationships on the lot...

712 freaking Sim Relationships, all of which are unknown. Some of which still have stats set such as married, friends, relationship scores, etc. I tried comparing this to other lots in their neighborhood and NONE even come close. Both Olive and the Smiths have around 400. The other lots have below. And the only lots that are even a tad higher in this number are the Capps and the Summerdreams which makes sense when you realise that hood went through at least one other iteration before turning into Veronaville.

Now I wondered if the encrypted code (despite being very hard to read due to being partially encrypted) had any old Sim remnants left in there. And yep, several even. Many of which even have information such as their gender, hair, clothes and age in there. So lemme go over some of them:

1. First one, a guy who's name is partially encrypted so it will never fully be visible. It's not Johnny cause Johnny also has his character file on this lot.

A male teen with brown hair who used to wear the "tmbodyhoodedsweatshirtboardshorts" + the "tmhairhatcap" hairstyle.

2. Second is another teen, this time by the name of Zeeshan. He had black hair, the bucket hat hairstyle and wore the hooded sweatshirt, except with pants this time around (and grey apparently?).

3. The third was an adult male Sim by the name of Kenneth with black hair. Based on his info he was likely meant to be a Gardener Sim.

4. The fourth was one named Kana... Possibly a longer name cause once again the code becomes a bit shambled here. She too was meant to be a Gardener as seen by her outfit and hair data. Her hair would have been brown.

5. Elle, another female Gardener Sim, this one having red hair.

6. Vasyl, an adult male Sim who wore the busdriver outfit. Sadly his hair data seems to be blocked behind the code. For funsies I like to give the name to Bald Beta Loki, since he gives off that vibe. BUT, I think this was an NPC busdriver due to the outfit.

7. Joanne, an adult female Sim with an unknown hair colour in corn rows style and the classy afbodyjacketturtlesweaterdressboots. Sadly her ID is hidden behind the encrypted code, so it's hard to fully make out.

All of these Sims appear to be NPC/Townie Sims. None of them match ANYONE in the Beta pictures. And the current Townies/NPCs seem to have replaced them. Interestingly enough, those that were NPCs are still NPCs and those that were Townies are still Townies. Making me wonder if this is a thing that translates to other Sim IDs too. That Sims that were Townies in earlier iterations are still Townies in their new form. Same for NPCs and yep, Playables. This is merely an assumption I'm making on what I'm finding here, but if anyone can help research this further, that would be greatly appreciated, especially as this could mean the Viola ID may not belong to Viola Monty.

Viola is an odd case cause no outfit, hair or other data can be found in the lot file and she's only ever mentioned once in the context of lines filled with "sleep in pyjamas". But for now I cannot say anything with certainty unless more remnants of these old Sims could be found somewhere. OR, if these files could be read in its entirety which is quite difficult.

It's very hard to get a Sim ID attached to a lot (believe me I tried) and often times seems to rather happen accidentally than intentionally. Moving a Sim out or having a Sim die usually removes the data they once held to that lot. Good example is Loki in my current Strangetown who lived on this lot all of his life and when he died he had no remnants left on this lot.

REGARDLESS! The Beaker lot is ancient and seems to have been ground for a ton of testing, Sims and many more things. No wonder the Beakers got this home with its incredibly shady history. Half of the beta town was partying here!