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Facebook Master Password Was "Chuck Norris"
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "A Facebook employee has given a tell-all interview with some very interesting things about Facebook's internals. Especially interesting are all the things relating to Facebook privacy. Basically, you don't have any. Nearly everything you've ever done on the site is recorded into a database. While they fire employees for snooping, more than a few have done it. There's an internal system to let them log into anyone's profile, though they have to be able to defend their reason for doing so. And they used to have a master password that could log into any Facebook profile: 'Chuck Norris.' Bruce Schneier might be jealous of that one."
Will he brute force his way in?
In Soviet Russia, passwords ask for Chuck Norris.
Sent from your iPad.
It's not Facebook's fault: it's not like they actually set the master password to "Chuck Norris".
The real WTF is that "Chuck Norris" works as a password into anything: Facebook, your online bank account, your sister's pants...
Like you need another reason?
Chuck Norris types in his name as the Username and a program never has the chance to ask for a Password.
I think you meant because suicide is illegal.
There's funny, and then there's irresponsible. Having "Chuck Norris" as a master password that grants access to any account is most definitely the latter. I would expect that from a couple of teenagers running their first web server, not one of the most popular websites on the Internet. But Facebook WAS a couple of teenagers running a web server (He was 19 when FB launched)... and it grew. Not that I don't disagree with it being irresponsible, I'm just saying...
I wonder, what it is now... "Angelina Jolie"? "Bruce Willis"?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
At least the master password wasn't something weak like "Rick Moranis." By using Chuck Norris, you can tell Facebook was taking security seriously.
or else!
The default password only worked from the Facebook office on the Facebook ISP.
There's funny, and then there's irresponsible. Having "Chuck Norris" as a master password that grants access to any account is most definitely the latter. I would expect that from a couple of teenagers running their first web server, not one of the most popular websites on the Internet.
Despite what the summary and title say, the password was not "Chuck Norris". The password was a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols that essentially spelled "Chuck Norris". In other words, probably something like "(hu(|<N0rr15". Also, it only worked from within the Facebook office, and was only known to certain individuals. It's not like you or I could have used the password from home to enter anyone's account.
There is a time and a place for silly HTML comments or in-joke variable names, but a master password for a site with hundreds of millions of users is not one of them.
It's pretty normal for support personnel to have access to production systems in order to provide support.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
You don't have any friends.
in fact, a little known subplot in the whole drama last week over china hacking into google email servers is that chinese intel knew the master password for gmail was "chuck norris"
problem was, when the chinese spies typed chuck norris into the human rights activists' email logins, the password itself would jump off the computer screen, hit the spy with five roundhouse kicks to the face, then smash their keyboard into dust just by giving it a hard stare
so the chinese government had no other choice but to hire hackers to break into the accounts. because even when they hired seven of the greatest kung fu masters and the most proficient in the eighteen arms of wushu in all of china to stand by while the spy logged in, plus jet li, plus jackie chan, and plus the reanimated cyborg admantium zombie of bruce lee, the chuck norris password still roundhouse kicked all of them into submission
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
^ Chuck Norris must have gotten to him
... Paris Hilton. So anyone can get in.
Have gnu, will travel.
Inquiry, how do you know this? You from facebook?
No, I used a novel new approach to acquiring information — I read the article.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
If 24 starred Chuck Norris, it would have been called "1".
And most of that time would have been Chuck just taking his time to get there...
-JJS
No, I used a novel new approach to acquiring information — I read the article.
I'll go fetch the torches, guys.
Can Chuck Norris create a password SO strong that he, himself, cannot crack it?????
Yes.
And then he can crack it.