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Safecracking for the Computer Scientist
secureman writes "It looks like Matt Blaze (the University of Pennsylvania CS
professor best known for finding security flaws in the NSA Clipper Chip
and in master keyed
locks) is still causing trouble in physical security circles. There's a draft paper (dated December '04) on his web site
entitled Safecracking for the
Computer Scientist, which is a pretty in-depth look at what
computer security can learn from safes (and vaults). The interesting
thing is that it describes in detail the different ways that safes are
cracked, probably revealing techniques that locksmiths would rather you
didn't know about (there's a lot of security-by-obscurity there). The
conclusion seems to be that while safes can fail, at least they do so
in better ways than computer systems do. Warning: it's a
2.5 meg pdf file with lots of pretty pictures."
All safes open using a maintenance combination of 12345.
Did anyone else read the headline and think this was some horrible spoof on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"?
... no.
Well, now that you mention it
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
" Unable to determine IP address from host name for www.crypto.com
Wow, that's pretty darned secure!
"Derp de derp."
That sounds like the combination some idiot would have on his luggage.
Thinkin' Lincoln - a web comic of presidential proportions
To top it off, his mastery of punctuation and the Shift Key is far better than yours.
I think I need a new sig here.
True story.
I needed access to secured room of a building my company was renovating. It had a pushbutton type combination lock on it (or some such). I asked the combination, and the maintenance superintendent said "1-2-3-4-5". I immediately blurted out "1-2-3-4-5? That sounds like the combination some idiot would put on his luggage." Straight Pavlovian response to a Mel Brooks straight line.
It was only after a 5 seconds of being stared at that I realized that the Superintendent had intentionally set that combination, and he was NOT a "Spaceballs" fan.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
This one throws a monkey-wrench in the works of the old "hacker vs cracker" argument. If someone is a redneck safe-cracking computer scientist from Georgia, what category do they fall into? Hmmm?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Well i dont think we have much to worry about here. As most
Ever read /. at -1?
You'll discover that you are incorrect, Sir.
I walked past the gym we have in the basement of our building. When too maany (non entitled) people started using it, they changed the PIN on the door. I know this because some Brainiac posted a apologetic notice on the door that helpfully included the *new* PIN for regular gym patrons.
Unfortunately it was taken down before I could take a picture of it.
Xix.
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
Bah. A real genius would set his combination to the LAST few digits of the Fibbonaci sequence ;-)
--- Egads, I glow in the dark!