Questions tagged [security]

Questions about security; as it applies to any vulnerable and valuable asset, such as a person, dwelling, community, nation, or organization.

Security

noun, plural: securities.

  1. freedom from danger, risk, etc.; safety.

  2. freedom from care, anxiety, or doubt; well-founded confidence.

  3. something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.

  4. freedom from financial cares or from want. "The insurance policy gave the family security."

  5. precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, etc. "claims that security was lax at the embassy; the importance of computer security to prevent hackers from gaining access."

  6. a department or organization responsible for protection or safety. "He called security when he spotted the intruder."

  7. protection or precautions taken against escape; custody. "The dangerous criminal was placed under maximum security."

  8. an assurance; guarantee.

  9. Law.
    a. something given or deposited as surety for the fulfillment of a promise or an obligation, the payment of a debt, etc.
    b. one who becomes surety for another.

  10. an evidence of debt or of property, as a bond or a certificate of stock.

  11. Usually, securities. stocks and bonds.

  12. Archaic. overconfidence; cockiness.

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or serving as security. "The company has instituted stricter security measures."
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Do Facebook or its third-party partners use my photos in ads?

There's a current scare going around FB that now that it wants to make some actual money, they'll start using profile pics and other things uploaded to facebook in advertisements. Here is an example of the messages that get sent around: On Friday,…
Lagerbaer
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Are 95% of Ashley Madison dating site's accounts male?

The hackers who procured and recently published Ashley Madison's internal databases, the so-called "Impact Team," have claimed that the accounts in the databases were predominantly, in fact "90-95%" owned by men (see graphic below). Is this true or…
Tyler Durden
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Was the C compiler trojan horse written by Ken Thompson ever distributed?

This is a followup to the comments in this question. Thanks to Oddthinking for bringing up the issue. Ken Thompson gave a famous speech upon receiving an award titled "Reflections on Trusting Trust" In the speech, he described inserting an almost…
Dr. belisarius
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Is it safer to NOT light your house at night?

At some point, I read a news report that investigators found out it is actually safer not to light your house when you are not there or when asleep. It mentioned that thieves found very dark places 'creepy' as well (that was the theory), and they…
please delete me
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Can the Rape-aXe only be removed by a doctor?

The Rape-aXe was a prototype of a female condom designed to attach itself to an attacker's penis with barbs if an attacker attempts to penetrate the woman wearing the Rape-aXe. The inventor claims The barbed shafts can only safely be removed by a…
Ken Bloom
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Does United States have no technology to allow Internet voting in a secure way?

In 2011, nearly a quarter (24.3%) of participating voters in Estonia cast their ballot by remote electronic voting (that is, on their computer/phone/tablet via the Internet). Several larger countries, including the United Kingdom (63M), France…
Carlo Alterego
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Can the USA turn off the whole internet by deactivating root DNS servers based there?

Drinking with a friend, he told me how his lecturer had revealed to his class that the US can turn off the Internet for the whole world if it wants to, because all of the DNS root servers are there. I wasn't convinced, because that would go against…
puppybeard
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Do removable faceplates on car stereos deter theft?

Everyone has probably seen a car stereo head unit with a removable face plate; the idea being you can take the faceplate with you to deter theft. The claim is specifically made in this product description, for example: Removable Faceplate The…
Flimzy
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Are locks as easy to pick as in the movies?

Are door locks as easy to pick as in the movies? They seem to only take around 2-3 seconds to pick be it with a credit card or a hairpin. Is this realistic? Or is it simply Hollywood being Hollywood? How long would it take an expert to open a random…
user7920
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Does scam-baiting make a noticeable difference to the prevention of internet fraud?

So I've recently found out about scam-baiting, and I've discovered a whole community around just wasting the times of scammers, such as 419Baiter and TheScamBaiter. A lot of the people there are quite passionate about it. Some have set up fake…
Samuelson
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Did the FBI not require assistance from Apple to unlock the San Bernadino terrorist's phone?

Edward Snowden's official Twitter account posted the following tweet: The first 4 points are not in contention, but the 5th point states that the FBI does not require Apple's assistance to unlock the phone, implying that the FBI is using this case…
March Ho
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Is posting my bank account number online unsafe?

With a credit-card number, validity date and CVV-code, people can make purchases, so this information should be strictly protected. But if I post my bank account details online (IBAN + BIC/SWIFT), does this put me at any risk at all? In my…
gerrit
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Do the "Presidential Alerts" give the government full access to all phone functionality?

John McAfee, libertarian politician and former computer programmer, tweeted this: The "Presidential alerts": they are capable of accessing the E911 chip in your phones - giving them full access to your location, microphone, camera and every…
James G.
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Are conversation-starting memes on social-media harvested by criminals?

There have been a raft of warnings circulating on Facebook for years (but seem to have had a recent uptick) warning that memes that are shared on social media that encourage people to post trivia about their background or childhood actually have an…
Oddthinking
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Is there a "cyber war"?

I've been extremely sceptical of this new concept of a cyber war. That is, a malicious country or organisation could attack another country by bringing down their network through, say a DDoS or a well targeted virus attack on vulnerable systems.…
Thomas O
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