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posted by mrpg on Tuesday October 10 2017, @09:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the gud1dea dept.

Schneier on Security:

NIST recently published their four-volume SP800-63-3 Digital Identity Guidelines. Among other things, they make three important suggestions when it comes to passwords:

-Stop it with the annoying password complexity rules. They make passwords harder to remember. They increase errors because artificially complex passwords are harder to type in. And they don't help that much. It's better to allow people to use pass phrases.

-Stop it with password expiration. That was an old idea for an old way we used computers. Today, don't make people change their passwords unless there's indication of compromise.

-Let people use password managers. This is how we deal with all the passwords we need.

These password rules were failed attempts to fix the user. Better we fix the security systems.

Does this mean we can stop composing our passwords like Q*bert?


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by pTamok on Wednesday October 11 2017, @09:16AM (2 children)

    by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday October 11 2017, @09:16AM (#580358)

    You describe the benefits of using a password manager very well.

    What I would say, if I put on my paranoid security geek hat on, is that they are a simply MASSIVE target for malware, and the malware only needs to get lucky once.

    You are probably aware of a number of compromises of (Windows, but also other e.g. Android) systems that are around, that give the attacker full ring '0' access (or even ring '-1') to systems* - this means that an attacker will be able to (a) exfiltrate a copy of your password database and (b) also be able to access all of memory to grab the key to the database, which can be exfiltrated as well. The recent issue of Kaspersky Anti-Virus taking a copy of NSA software form a contractor's PC demonstrates the process. So by using an online password manager, especially one that shares across multiple platforms, means you have a huge vulnerability profile: a compromise of your phone could give access to all your passwords.

    This is a strong argument against using online password managers. They are incredibly convenient, and demonstrate that if you want people to do password security properly, it must be easy to use - but they are very much an 'all your eggs in one basket' affair, and multiplatform ones are only as secure as their most vulnerable platform.

    I won't go so far as to say that you shouldn't use a password manager. People's (and companies' ) attitude towards security risks varies, so there is no 'one size fits all' solution, but please be aware of the vulnerabilities of the platforms you use, and evaluate the risk of your password manager being compromised, and what effect such a compromise might have on you.

    I would recommend using an offline, air-gapped password manager. Such a thing is not easy to find. Having unique, strong passwords for every service you use is a good idea. Really.

    *Look at the capabilities of the Intel Management Engine, and the AMD equivalent. Even if the 'Black hats' can't current leverage those capabilities, I would be unsurprised to learn that Intelligence Agencies can. For most people, that is not an issue, as they are not 'persons of interest' to the intelligence agencies, and are happy to share all their personal information with them - if they were not happy to trust the intelligence agencies and government control of said agencies in their country's best interests, then there would be a great deal more protest. The 'average Joe/Josephine' regards national security agencies as essentially benign for ordinary folk. Quite possibly correctly.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by RedBear on Wednesday October 11 2017, @12:09PM (1 child)

    by RedBear (1734) on Wednesday October 11 2017, @12:09PM (#580411)

    We are not in disagreement. Offline air-gapped password store (that never touches a USB device either) is a great idea if you're dealing with anything more important than some personal accounts. But nobody will ever go to those lengths for personal things, just like nobody has ever bothered to change their passwords regularly, use random passwords, use long passwords, or use different passwords for different services. What the password manager does for us is it reduces the attack profile from a completely unmanageable [my computer] + [200 very badly run web services] to just [my computer]. From totally out of our individual control to kinda, sorta in our control.

    If you get malware on your machine that is capable of stealing passwords from your password manager, similar malware could also just scan files or any other open applications that might be storing your passwords. Such things have existed for decades. That's just the reality of imperfect computing security in an imperfect networked world. Best we can do is use password managers that don't do dumb things like transmitting unencrypted data across the internet or storing your passwords locally in the clear.

    If you're running a nuclear facility, a password manager is probably not a great idea. Then again, the reality is that people who run such facilities often make such terrible security choices that a password manager could actually be an improvement. How's that for a scary thought?

    --
    ¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
    ... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
    • (Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday October 11 2017, @01:49PM

      by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday October 11 2017, @01:49PM (#580459)

      Modded you up. I agree entirely that laziness trumps security, and you once again point out the real benefits of password managers.

      And I agree re: nuclear facilities, and in fact many process-control and SCADA applications. Security is just not baked in. If somebody messes with process control in an oil refinery, or a chemical plant, or a dam, really nasty things could happen.