Password or passphrase: which is more secure?
The other day a few students asked me whether the most secure password actually was a passphrase consisting of at least three words. They had read this here (which is more or less a Dutch translation of this post). Passphrases are also recommended by Bits of Freedom. The source of the students was a bit dodgy however (claiming that the passphrase “This is fun” is secure forever!), so I decided to investigate.
De risico’s van “Pinnen moet”.
Steeds meer winkels accepteren geen contant geld meer. Pinnen moet – in plaats van pinnen mag. Als reden wordt het voorkomen van overvallen genoemd. Maar mag het wel: contant geld weigeren? En wat nu als je nergens meer contant kunt betalen? Dat heeft gevolgen voor de privacy, en de betrouwbaarheid van de samenleving.
Google is sending the perfect phishing email.
This weekend I decided to change my Google account password. In response, Google sent me an email to the account address, notifying me of this fact. The email told me that if I did not change my password (and apparently someone else did it for me) I should click on a link to reset my password. Excellent service right? Until I realised we are all doomed!
Pseudonymous data should not be exempted from data protection.
Europe is currently discussing an update of its data protection regime. The Albrecht Report suggests several amendments to the Commission’s proposal for a new regulation. One of the proposals is to limit the protection for pseudonymous data. I think this a dangerous idea.
De Amerikaanse arm der wet is echt langer dan de minister suggereert.
Het parlement had wat vragen over lengte van de Amerikaanse arm der wet, als het gaat om het ‘datagraaien’ in de cloud. De antwoorden van de minister zijn op zijn zachts gezegd verhullend te noemen.

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