Category: General

The Prevailing winds of the Lastpass Breach — How it affects you!

Paul

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Understanding the Lastpass Breach

Let us be clear about this, people really don’t truly understand what is going on with this breach.   It however will not stop the threat actors from taking control of your data if they get a chance.   This means they will go after the websites you will visit or maybe impersonate you in some way to get the access they are seeking.   Either way it isn’t like we can just sit back and do nothing.

“It is possible to crack those passwords,” Melissa Bischoping, director of endpoint security research at Tanium, said via email. “Instead of running the math to determine how complex your password would be to crack with modern equipment, it’s best to go ahead and do some credential hygiene.” — CyberSecurity Dive

Credential hygiene is necessary in our day to day routines because it helps stops theft of our accounts and our personal information.  However that doesn’t that the Meta data associated with your vault was encrypted, in fact it wasn’t and can be used to exploit this issue.   So even if they don’t brute force yoru password vaults, they can do fishing or means to get the access they are seeking so they can get even more information about you to use against you.

The Lingering effects of Password Managers

Password managers are a necessity in today’s time because of the all too common breaches.  Even if Lastpass wasn’t breached, some other site or sites would of breached and you’d still have to change your password or add multi-authenticator access to prevent any authorized access.  This goes without saying, we will see other breaches and it will not just be Lastpass.   Sooner or later some other Password manager will be a target and we will see this again but that shouldn’t deter you from using a Password manager it is the one tool we will always need to create even better Passwords than we could by our selves.    Although Many in the Security field are advicing users to go to another Password Manager.  I too have not like the taste of what Last Pass has done.  They way they made it sound less important that it truly is but that just might be because they’re lawyers got involved.   Either way I will suggest three things to better help you even if you keep Last pass.

  1.  Check your interations and make sure you have them high.   I think the minium we should have is over 500,000 interations to make sure they can’t be hacked the next time as easily.   Also if they are low, now is a good time to bump them up even though it makes you more of a target right now.  This will help in the future, in case there is another breach.
  2. Change all your imporant sites passwords, don’t just wait to get hacked might as well go through and see which sites you are truly using right now and go ahead and change your password and if you can add an authentication method to help protect you incase there is another hack down the road.
  3. Create a new masterpassword which isn’t anywhere close to what you have now.  If you can create your own acronym with a minium of 12 digits that would help. (What is an acronym?)  I suggest not using the most common acronyms but creating one that you can only remember and use that.   It may take some time but it could be something you have to say everytime you type in on your computer, just don’t let everyone else hear it.

Those Password Managers

Finally, let’s talk about your choices in this matter. Even though I talked about this in the previous post, we should at least look at the ones that might want to go another service.  Here are a few of them that I saw around the internet:

  • Bitwarden  — This is the one I perfer to go to because it is so opened sourced and you have several options to choice from.   It is where a lot of people are going right now after the LastPass Breach, I am sure of it.
  • 1Password —  This one I only know about through what i’ve heard.  I’ve heard good things about this but there are not many options to those who are wanting free.   This is good because they’ve been in this for quite sometimes.  I’ve heard of this company for MANY years and still has some great value to give to their users.
  • Dashlane — I’ve never heard of this product but it comes highly recommended by other because of how security focused they are.  You will have to pay a yearly subscription fee and there is only a demo version that means you do not have a free version.
  • Roboform — I’ve talked about Roboform way in the past and still it was a very useful password manager when I was using them 10 or so years ago.  So they must ast least be doing something right to still be in the business.   I haven’t explored them lately but I might just do that again to see how they are doing.

As you can see you have several choices to choose from if you decide you want to get away from Lastpass but ultimately you will have to decide what you want to do.  I am still going to possibly go to Bitwarden because of the open source or I might go back th Roboform if I can find my license that i had with them in the past.  I haven’t really decided I think Bitwarden would be my best choice because I know people can look at their code and help keep my passwords secure.   Are you planning on changing or staying with Lastpass?  Who will you be going to if you are going to change Password Managers?  Why not leave a comment and tell me your options.  I’d love to hear them and find out exactly what you are thinking about this LastPass breach.

Is it time to say NO to LastPass?

Paul1 Reply

Lastpass Recent Incident

Lastpass in the recent has been an excellent password manager and I was one of the many supporters.   The problem with it now is that it is going down hill.   They seem to not want everyone to know just how severe this incident is and have not really done the job that we should of expected.   In December they sent out a small notice to people and reference their blog post.   Who is going to go look at a blog post around Christmas.   I sure as heck was to busy with other stuff to worry about a small email telling people to check out the blog post.   LastPass you should of done better and put out the warning bells for everyone to know just how much you screwed up.

In there blog post:

The threat actor was also able to copy a backup of customer vault data from the encrypted storage container which is stored in a proprietary binary format that contains both unencrypted data, such as website URLs, as well as fully-encrypted sensitive fields such as website usernames and passwords, secure notes, and form-filled data.

Vault and Robbers

You see this isn’t very nice how much information they didn’t send out on the email.  This should of been “Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!” type of warning.  Yet, Lastpass didn’t sound the alarm.  Shame on you for not doing the right thing.   As you can see they got your vault data and mine, althought they can’t really use it without the master password but it is only going to take time and then they will have all our passwords for sites across the internet.   There’s the problem they don’t seem to care that it got out.   The threat actors will use GPU’s and other hardware to finally figure out one user at a time their passwords and it could be years before they get to yours or it could be next month depending on how good you Master Password was.   Was it long or was it Short?  What about enterations?  Did you bump it up to keep it from getting hacked and making it harder for them to figure out your Master Password?

The threat actor may attempt to use brute force to guess your master password and decrypt the copies of vault data they took. Because of the hashing and encryption methods we use to protect our customers, it would be extremely difficult to attempt to brute force guess master passwords for those customers who follow our password best practices.

As you can see even Lastpass has stated they will eventually do that to each and every vault password they can, but did you their suggestions?  Probably not and I wouldn’t blame you because we don’t always have time to keep track of what they recommend.

They claim it could take thousand of years for threat actors to crack the Master Password:

f you use the default settings above, it would take millions of years to guess your master password using generally-available password-cracking technology.

However that isn’t alwasy true if they have enough computers put enough effort into cracking a vault it could be sooner and not later.   The way technology is growing and the speeds of comptuer now would mean threat actors could start usurping people processing powers and have thousands of computers world wide to crack the Master Password keys.   That is how Bitcoin came into being but we wouldn’t know it until it could be too late.

Is it time to switch to another Password Manager?

I’m inclined to switch to Bitwarden just because it is open sourced and I really feel like at least I won’t have to worry about my passwords being leaked.   I will also probably go through every site that I visit and change my password and also use 2FA (2nd Factor Authentication) to prevent threat actors from taking control of my accounts.   I’m going to explore my options but I am more and more thinking about going somewhere else where my data can be safer than with Lastpass.  What’s your throughts on this?  are you staying with LastPass or are you Planning to go somewhere else?

The Last of Us Is Coming to Steam Deck

Paul
Last of Us on Steam

Steam and Steam Deck

This is one of those games that has been out for years. I won’t say it hasn’t been something that I look forward to play.  It has some graphical scenes but that goes along with the zombie apocolypses that you see every time in movies and shows.   This popped up on my radar last week when I saw this over the weekend on some social media.  I thought they were kidding so I went did some searching and it is comign to the Steam.  I can imagine it will also be coming to the Steam Deck because of how old the game is.   It’s is almost a 10 year old game but has been remastered to work with the Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.   With all this in the air, I am fairly certain it wil work on the Steam Deck out of the gate as it is released.  Even the newer versions of the game doesn’t require as much as Spiderman game.  Which I love to play on my PC or Steam Deck when I am on long car rides.  I can’t see this not being released to the Steam Deck.

Pre-orders 

It is currently on preorder for the game.  It will cost people $59.99 and it looks to be very interested when they finally release it.  I have heard this game has some great story lines and will be like Laura Croft to a point so that much will always keep me going with puzzles and being able to explore the worlds.   I’ve watch people play through the game from time to time on Youtube and it looks to be insteresting.  I have already put my money down for Pre-order since I don’t have a playstation.   My Steam Deck is ready to recieve the game once it is released.  I suspect the first week or two there may be problems with the Steam Deck but I am hopeful that they will fix them quickly enough.

March 3, 2023

That the time it is set to be released on Steam, I am hopeful they don’t delay it because this will be so helpful on my next trip in April that I am all set to go. I will have several hours to waste while traveling and this game will be my game to play to keep my busy while traveling.  I suspect this will be a 30 or 50 Gb download and install on any system.  So i will be keeping that much ready to be downloaded to my Steam deck.   I also have found a really small portable dock that I can take with me.   I’ve found it around town.  It’s Call the Gizmovine USB-C hub and it is currently not available on Amazon.  I guess you can go to Newegg and buy it if you want to pay more for it.  I do wonder if I can find more of these these hubs to use for later.   Small Post about this upcoming game.

Are you planning to buy this game or do you think it is worth the 60$ price range?  Let me know what you think and tell me if you have played this before.  Thanks.

Getting my Movies my way is the best way.

Paul

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Time to use my DVD collection

I’ve got a really big DVD collection that I want to be able to use when I want to use them.   I’ll tell you when we were at home for those two months, I should of done that then in 2020 but I didn’t think about it until now.   However that doesn’t mean it is to late to do it.  I have a plan for the my Steam Deck and this will allow me to do that.  Although gaming streaming and video streaming are two different beasts it still has some of the princples that you might not think of.   You will still need to stream through wifi or wired if you are trying to get the best quality.    My plan is to have my DVD’s available anywhere I go, so I even can play on my phone if I wanted to.   I’ve found this awesome streaming service that will do just that on the Steam Deck and any other device.   I’ve installed Plex.tv and created a server for myself.   I’ve got this old NAS (Network attached storage) that hasn’t been used very much.   I’ve been upgrading it lately for just this occasion.   I want to put all my DVD’s and Music on their to listen to or use as I wish.  You can buy a NAS for really small amount of money and add storage as you see fit.

What’s the Purpose

The Truth of the matter is, because I can and it can help with not paying for streamin services as much.  I can be more selective of which services I want to subscribe to and save money in the long run.   I can also buy cheap DVD’s and copy them onto my NAS with realtivity easy process.   The really hard part is the CopyProtection that the big names do to prevent you from do just this.   The problem is that we own these DVD’s and we have the right do what we want with them.  Also there a movies that I want to watch that aren’t either on the streaming service or would need to buy another subscription to another service.  There’s to many services and with the prices going up and I have this NAS hardly being used it should be used more.

Understanding the Basics

We’ll not going to talk about the ethics as much as you want but if you are curious how to do it, you can watch this video and learn something.   I’ll talk a little bit about the copy protection that can be hard to circumvent but can be if you really want to own your media.   The problem is that not all this works with but can be useful to understand.   The copy protection of DVD’s has been something that has plagued mankind since the dawn of the DVD.   They deserve their money for the making the movies and films.  Even TV shows should get what is owed to them but that doesn’t mean people haven’t pirated them around the world through other means.

Copy Protection Software

Here’s where it gets a little bit more interesting to some because if you are like me and have some movies in either DVD or Bluray.  You’re going to need these software to do what is necessary to get to the information you might need. I’ll say this much, use as your own risk or own use.  I will not be responsible for anything that might happen.

I’ll say this I’ve only used DVD Decrypter right now because it works with all that I needed but the others look promising and I will try them out later.  It’s up to you on which one you will want to use to decrypt those DRM heavy DVD’s or Blurays.   I think it all depends on which one will work for you and how you like to use them .  Each one has their own unique way of getting the files needed to copy the main movie file.   So it just depends on what you are looking to do.

Are you planning to do this?  What do you think it will be like when you watch movies on the Steam Deck? I plan to try it out on the steam deck and see how well Plex.tv does the only thing that is problem right now is that you need to buy the server software either monthly or lifetime to do it.  I am going to look into buying the Lifetime because I am really curious as to how well this will work outside of my house.   I also might buy a little Pi board and use that as my server because I can use less energy that way instead of using my tower to do the serving of the movies.  What’s your plans for yoru steam deck?  I’d love to hear your plans on what you want to do with yours.

How to stay positive with Quiet Quitters!

Paul
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We all know one or two quiet quitters

I don’t say this lightly, I am sure you know one or two people who don’t do as much work as the rest of the people. You probably even started to get annoyed with them because they aren’t doing as much as you. There’s even a small chance that you have started hinting to the higher ups about them. You know I think they probably already know and nothing you can say or do will make them do the work like they should. You just have to admit and do what you can for yourself. You can’t control what others do or how they do their jobs. The only thing you can really do is make it a positive experience for yourself.  So the real question is how do you not get dragged down by the people in the office and always have a positive mindset.   I am going to talk to about how I do it when I need a pick me from all the negativity in the office.

Think about your future

This one has helped me tramendously, even if I have to work at the same job for a while, I am always thinking about what will come next and that always keeps me from dwelling on those who don’t do their jobs.   It isn’t always easy and that can be very challenging at times because who you might have to deal with and not get angry with.  It however isn’t the only thing I do.

Find Reason to be Thankful

This is something I do all the time, because when I am finding reason to be thankful all the negativity goes away.  I find coming up with positive things to say to myself every morning to help me get up and go to work.  It also helps me keep myself from worry about those quiet quitters as much because you know when your happy they don’t seem to bother me.  I am doing my own little thing and they can stay where they are.  It’s not easy sometimes and it can be quiet difficult to deal with them or work with them but sometimes that is just the price of getting paid.

Don’t Dwell on their inactions

It can be quite hard not to think about what they aren’t doing and what you are doing.   They will be bored or not doing much work for the hours they are there.  You probably have even dwelled on just how fustrating that can be when they aren’t working nearly enough.  You have to stop watching them because it will not help you.  This is another easy to say but hard to do, because we all see them and think how they are keeping their jobs?   That is their problem not ours to worry about and we should just keep busy and let them be.

 Find People who appreciate you

This can seem so simple but very useful.  Even if your current job people don’t appreciate you, those aren’t the only people who can show you appreciation.  You can find people who appreciate you all over the world not just in your little part of the world.  Even that small amount of people who appreciate you will make going to job that much easier and more enjoyable because they are the true reasons why you go to work.  Not the people there or even your boss, people who want you to be happy will always show you their appreciation and respect.   The job is just a job and that is where you will have to be but that doesn’t mean you can be happy at your job.   Let everyone else be unhappy but you can be happy and enjoy yourself at work.

Even these small recommendations will help you to get a better perspective on what you want to accomplish at your job daily.  Keep you moving forward and maybe even make you a little bit more happier than the rest of your coworkers.  Who know’s they are probably watching just because they want to be as happy as you and are trying to find out how to do it.  Do you have tips that help you with keeping a positive mindset?  why not share them and help others find ways to keep themselves happy.