Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The Science of Password Cracking

A lot of ordinary computer users understand what a password is. It protects their sensitive data, and it is all they need to get access to a majority of accounts. It is that all-important word that will allow them to access their significant other's Facebook profile while they're away to make sure they haven't been cheating, and the pin number or pattern to their phone that betrays them access to their deepest, darkest secrets.

Not surprisingly, many people will resort to anything to gain access to someone's personal data, when properly motivated. All manner of excuses crop up as to why they are exonerated from any crime or guilt for doing so.

"I know he's cheating" or "I'm only doing it for a prank. I'm not hurting anybody."

Honestly, these are the cheapest, weakest excuses for invading someone's privacy. First of all, if you need to resort to betraying someone's privacy to determine whether you should trust them or not, you should already know by now that you have your answer. If you can't trust your significant other to be faithful, and they can't trust you to keep your nose out of their business, why are you with that person in the first place?

Now that that little slap in the head is over with...let's get on with this the real meat of this article.

Anonymous Reveals the 'Priorities' of the Trump Campaign in an Unexpected Way

Earlier this week, the Anonymous group posted a video in response to Donald Trump's campaign.

It is important to note that Anonymous is a very decentralized group that operates very freely and independently of any singular objective or governance. Nevertheless, it seems determined toward the same goal of ensuring the continued freedom of people across the world by attacking what they perceive as evil any way they can. Typically their methods involve Denial of Service to websites and organizations, or hacking centralized networks to achieve an end; however, this time, this was not the case.

On March 17, 2016, Anonymous announced that it had released private information on Donald Trump including his social security and personal cell phone numbers, as a means of inciting individuals to 'investigate' his campaign and past. The video also warns viewers that they are solely responsible for their actions in regards to what they do with the information.