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Stupid Security
Buck Mulligan writes "The folks at Privacy International are holding a stupid security contest to discover the "world's most pointless, intrusive, annoying and self-serving security measures." Nominations can be submitted by email: stupidsecurity@privacy.org.
My vote goes to the Ronald Reagan 'Free Trade' Center in Washington, where you have to show your driver's license to visit the food court. (Having a driver's license proves that you aren't dangerous!)"
this
How about...
Using a one million bit key and claiming it's uncrackable on Slashdot?
& also "Company Letterhead via fax"
I've encountered both of those as some sort of "security"
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
US web-vendors that requires international customers to e-mail or fax in a copy of their ID and credit card. Mailing a picture of the card kinda defeats the purpose of the secure, encrypted order form.
I find it strange that there is (almost) no security at all in many chemical labs at universities in Holland where I've been. Anyone can walk in and pick up some chemicals, some of which are very dangerous if you don't know how to handle them. Of course people who work there can always take anything they want, but people who just happen to be there are not (much) resticted.
-- Cheers!
I guess they've stopped doing this, but the airline ticket agents asking if you're a terrorist always seemed pretty stupid to me.
-- Don't Tase me, bro!
How about the "Fax us the change request on company letterhead" for making changes when you don't have the admin password.
Like nobody could possibly fake that.
--
When transferring a domain to another party, I had to have the form notarized, then fax it in.
What's the point of the notary seal (embossed) when I'm going to fax it?
No, of course not, but showing a DL makes you somewhat accountable -- would you rather chase "Caucasion male between 5'6" and 6', with brownish-blondish hair and average build", or "John Smith, 123 Maple Sreet, Clevland OH"?
Sure, credentials can be forged, but at least you've raised the bar.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
JavaScript on web pages that won't allow you to right click. Very stupid "security", and highly annoying too! Not to mention that it is super easy to get around...
When you use Explorer, which used to mean you would see everything about your computer in one fell swoop, clicking or double-clicking on My Network Places does nothing. You now have to right-click and Explore again if you actually want to get there. It seems it's because some users were getting into Network Neighborhood accidentaly and noticing there were other computers out there, possilby not locked down properly. But really, making someone right-click again, that is not better security, it's reduced functionality.
you have to show your driver's license to visit the food court.
Heh
Being blind this _really_ anoys me. The number of places that won't accept anything other than a drivers licence as a form of identity.
Before now I've had to explain to people _why_ I don't have a drivers licence!
Have you guys ever seen one of those things? There's this form you have to fill when you request a VISA for travelling into the US. I think it's the same for most foreign countries. In Mexico, at least, it has about 10 checkboxes that look something like this:
- I am a member of a violent terrorist organization yes / no
- I am trafficking drugs/weapons/any sort of illegal substances into the US yes / no
- I am an active member of a hate/racist group involved in violent attacks of minorities yes / no
- I engage in satanic rituals.... etc. etc.
I'm not kidding you. This is the sort of things the form actually asks. I guess there may be a legal precedent as to the need for these questions, but it's funny as hell anyway. Or maybe it actually works for stopping extremely stupid hatemongers / drug dealers from travelling into the country.
Overcaffeinated. Angry geeks.
the password prompt that pops up on system startup, which can be safely ignored.
My favourite as of late is applying to security-minded companies, and embedding an image in my email from a server that I have access to. I can watch it as my cover-letter is passed from one department to another. I get to see what systems they are using, and I've found that a lot of companies have their IT department running one version of OS with a Google browser, while HR runs another version of OS (usually XP), and internal managers or reviewers running yet again another OS...
Sillies. You want security, don't claim to be a security firm and yet allow people to view your internal operations... Sillies...
I stick to walls...
My friend (who is Australian but of Indian decent) recently re-entered the country from a vacation Down Under. At the airport, the guards put him through all sorts of questions. Among them was "How did you get your Green Card?". When my friend, a professor of Mathematics, replied that he got it through an Outstanding Researcher program, the guard asked him "So, are you an outstanding researcher in mathematics?". My buddy, groggy from a double-digit-hour flight, replied "Well, I guess I am." The guard then asked him "What's the Pythagorean Theorem?" to test him. My friend couldn't believe his ears. This question was supposed to determine whether my friend really was a mathematics professor? Every kid who went through high school math knows that one!
I feel safer already knowing we've got such intelligent guards monitoring our borders...
GMD
watch this
What they DID accept was my recently expired college ID. WHAT???
And if you want to call and complain to the passport office, it's a toll number!
This was a few years ago, back in 1999,so may well have changed (probably got stupider). Here in the UK we still don't need to show ID when checking in for domestic flights (a couple of airlines require it since 9/11, but it's not required by the government). However when me and my girlfriend flew from Cardiff to Belfast in June 1999, after having gone through the gate, before boarding the plane we had to show our boarding passes to a plain-clothes policeman who wrote down our names. No doubt this was because of the ongoing unpleasantnesses in Northern Ireland, and the police were taking it seriously enough that when the guy in front of us objected he was pulled from the line and eventually was last onto the plane bearing a very pissed-off expression.
The thing is though, is that the *only* ID they asked for was the boarding passes, with no corroboration that the names on them were our real names. Presumably the South Wales Police have come to an understanding with the IRA and UVF who've agreed that their guys would never dream of buying airline tickets cash and supplying a false name, or with a fake/stolen card.
Patriot Act?
No sig for you!!