HPR3715: Secret hat conversations, Part 2.

Quantum computing

Quantum
computing is a type of computation whose operations can harness the
phenomena of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, interference, and
entanglement. Devices that perform quantum computations are known as
quantum computers. Though current quantum computers are too small to
outperform usual (classical) computers for practical applications,
larger realizations are believed to be capable of solving certain
computational problems, such as integer factorization (which underlies
RSA encryption), substantially faster than classical computers.
Today’s quantum
systems only include tens or hundreds of entangled qubits, limiting
them from solving real-world problems. To achieve quantum practicality,
commercial quantum systems need to scale to over a million qubits and
overcome daunting challenges like qubit fragility and software
programmability.
Quantum
computers, if they mature enough, will be able to crack much of
today's encryption. That'll lay bare private communications, company
data and military secrets. Today's quantum computers are too rudimentary
to do so. But data surreptitiously gathered now could still be sensitive
when more powerful quantum computers come online in a few years.
Simple
passwords can be cracked using brute force; this is where an
attacker uses tools that try every possible password until the correct
one is found. This generally done using a dictionary attack, where an
attacker will try known passwords and words until they find the one that
unlocks an account. There are databases available on the internet that
contain personal names as well as dictionary and slang words, in scores
of languages, along with passwords found in data breaches, and
more.

Encryption.

The Advanced
Encryption Standard (AES) specifies a FIPS-approved cryptographic
algorithm that can be used to protect electronic data. The AES algorithm
is a symmetric block cipher that can encrypt (encipher) and decrypt
(decipher) information. Encryption converts data to an unintelligible
form called ciphertext; decrypting the ciphertext converts the data back
into its original form, called plaintext. The AES algorithm is capable
of using cryptographic keys of 128, 192, and 256 bits to encrypt and
decrypt data in blocks of 128 bits.
The National Security Agency (NSA) reviewed all the AES
finalists, including Rijndael, and stated that all of them were secure
enough for U.S. Government non-classified data. In June 2003, the U.S.
Government announced that AES could be used to protect classified
information: For cryptographers, a cryptographic "break" is anything
faster than a brute-force attack – i.e., performing one trial decryption
for each possible key in sequence. A break can thus include results that
are infeasible with current technology. Despite being impractical,
theoretical breaks can sometimes provide insight into vulnerability
patterns. The largest successful publicly known brute-force attack
against a widely implemented block-cipher encryption algorithm was
against a 64-bit RC5 key by distributed.net in 2006.

Password Management.

Bitwarden
KeepassXC
Tips
for creating a strong password

Enable Two-Factor authentication whenever possible. While a great
passphrase will help secure you and the Commonwealth’s data, a second
factor makes it that much more difficult for hackers to gain
access.

Password Generation.

pwgen : found in most linux repos
Man page for pwgen
Example : pwgen -y 50 3 : generates a 50 character password with
symbols, with 3 choices

Google and Amazon are listening

CNET article on Google and
Amazon

"I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to fill their house with cameras and
microphones, but I also don't blame anyone who's willing to trade some of their
data with a company they feel comfortable with in order to bring some new
convenience and utility into their lives. It's nearly impossible to navigate
today's age without making trades like that on a daily basis."

What is Web
Scraping? Web scraping is an automatic method to obtain large
amounts of data from websites.

What is Machine
Learning? Machine Learning, as the name says, is all about machines
learning automatically without being explicitly programmed or learning
without any direct human intervention. This machine learning process
starts with feeding them good quality data and then training the
machines by building various machine learning models using the data and
different algorithms.

The October
Suprise.
The fruit
of the poisonous tree.
This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute
a Teenager for Abortion.
Google is giving
data to police based on search keywords, court docs show.
Google bans dad for ‘child porn’ after he
sent pics of toddler’s swollen genitals to doctor.
Proton VPN Transparency
Report & Warrant Canary.