Comments on: David Pogue, Are You Kidding Me? http://www.brandonsavage.net/david-pogue-are-you-kidding-me/ The personal blog of Brandon Savage. Contains entries of a personal and professional nature focusing on PHP, Apple, LAMP, MySQL and Washington, DC. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:09:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Brandon Savage http://www.brandonsavage.net/david-pogue-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-551 Brandon Savage Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:42:34 +0000 http://www.brandonsavage.net/?p=425#comment-551 While I wish I could say you're right, I think that you're naive if you see having no password as any security. There's a belief that a Windows machine (and perhaps others) are safer online without passwords; this is categorically untrue. This viewpoint ignores hundreds of attacks against open ports and running services, not to mention it fails to address the biggest security flaw laptops have: their portability. A laptop password doesn't exist to protect the laptop online, though that helps. It exists to protect the laptop from being accessed if physically stolen. Combined with good disk encryption, unlocked by the password, the user can be reasonably confident about the laptop's security. While I wish I could say you’re right, I think that you’re naive if you see having no password as any security.

There’s a belief that a Windows machine (and perhaps others) are safer online without passwords; this is categorically untrue. This viewpoint ignores hundreds of attacks against open ports and running services, not to mention it fails to address the biggest security flaw laptops have: their portability.

A laptop password doesn’t exist to protect the laptop online, though that helps. It exists to protect the laptop from being accessed if physically stolen. Combined with good disk encryption, unlocked by the password, the user can be reasonably confident about the laptop’s security.

]]> By: Seynaeve http://www.brandonsavage.net/david-pogue-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-550 Seynaeve Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:36:16 +0000 http://www.brandonsavage.net/?p=425#comment-550 Accuracy: To access a machine via intenet, it must be protected by password. Therefore, not having a password is a light security over against piracy Accuracy: To access a machine via intenet, it must be protected by password. Therefore, not having a password is a light security over against piracy

]]> By: Keith Casey http://www.brandonsavage.net/david-pogue-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-549 Keith Casey Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:28:10 +0000 http://www.brandonsavage.net/?p=425#comment-549 Amazing. Even when I use my laptop for music when we have people over, I log into a separate locked down guest account. It's not that I don't trust my friends and family - though maybe I shouldn't ;) - it's that I have sensitive information for a variety of customers, people, and organizations in my possession. Not using a password would be a flagrant disregard to the NDA's I have in place... and may be actionable if something leaked. Amazing.

Even when I use my laptop for music when we have people over, I log into a separate locked down guest account. It’s not that I don’t trust my friends and family – though maybe I shouldn’t ;) – it’s that I have sensitive information for a variety of customers, people, and organizations in my possession.

Not using a password would be a flagrant disregard to the NDA’s I have in place… and may be actionable if something leaked.

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