The security tag has no wiki summary.
4
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0answers
32 views
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 ...
4
votes
2answers
396 views
Is there a mechanism to stop theft of supermarket trolleys?
On the supermarket trolley, a notice says that the trolley will stop if you try to take it outside the precincts of the shop.
Is it true?
Is so, how does it work?
Example sign from Hyperorg.com
26
votes
3answers
2k views
Will entering the ATM's PIN in reverse notify the police?
I received a rather intriguing email. It says that if I am at an ATM and I'm in the process of getting robbed, I just enter my PIN in reverse order e.g. 4321 instead of 1234. The ATM will still give ...
16
votes
2answers
827 views
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?
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4
votes
1answer
177 views
What info should I keep secret to avoid identity theft?
According to the New York State police,
All an identity thief needs is any combination of your Social Security number, birth date, address, and phone number.
while the UK ActionFraud police (in ...
11
votes
1answer
683 views
Is it possible to recover data on a zeroed hard drive?
Let's assume that I have a modern magnetic (not SSD) hard drive, manufactured within the past ten years, and the hard drive is packed with the only copies of an unpublished paper about cheap cold ...
3
votes
2answers
818 views
XKCD comic on password strength [closed]
The author proposes that simple english phrases are not only easier to remember but more secure. The "information entropy" argument doesnt seem (IMO) to apply to a brute-force program chaining ...
5
votes
1answer
348 views
Fooling a commercial security door using printed scan of a fingerprint
According to wikipedia,the popular program called MythBusters were able to fool a security door with a printed scan of a fingerprint
^ "Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 1". Mythbusters. episode 16. ...
16
votes
3answers
866 views
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
1k views
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 ...
17
votes
0answers
894 views
Is owning a handgun for personal protection justifiable under risk analysis? [closed]
There is a common saying in the United States that "it's better to own a gun and not use it, than need a gun and not have it." Unwilling to accept such commonplaces in my decisions regarding security, ...
10
votes
0answers
442 views
Do home alarm systems reduce burglaries?
Does installing an alarm system in your home have an effect on the number or results of burglaries?
I am about to buy a house with an alarm system installed, with a siren/flash light on the front ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Can the USA turn off the whole internet by deactivating root DNS severs 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 ...
3
votes
0answers
220 views
Is there any proof, enhanced airport security in US has significantly reduced terror attacks in US plane? [closed]
This question is similar to Has the U.S. Transport Security Administration been an effective deterrent for terrorist attacks? but I am asking for data, not an opinion.
Is there any proof these ...
4
votes
1answer
239 views
Is the number of Windows users without security software now equivalent to the total number of Apple users?
According to Leo Laporte (on the podcast Security Now), Mac users are now targeted by malware because most of the larger base of Windows users use security software.
Here is the exact quote:
LEO: ...
15
votes
1answer
978 views
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" ...
10
votes
2answers
897 views
Have “backdoors” in software programs been seen in the real world?
Has there ever been a software program that has been shown to have an in-bad-faith "backdoor" allowing privileged access? When I say "in bad faith" I mean, "that cannot be credibly explained by ...
6
votes
2answers
367 views
Can diabetics with pumps be killed from a half mile away?
Black Hat: Lethal Hack and wireless attack on insulin pumps to kill
people Like something straight out of science fiction, an
attacker with a powerful antenna could be up to a half mile away ...
16
votes
2answers
700 views
Does banning liquids from planes verifiably improve flight safety? [closed]
I don't think I need to reference the now ubiquitous idea that, somehow, the presence of liquids in a passenger's carry-on luggage constitute a danger for the safety of the flight (and thus justifies ...
100
votes
10answers
5k views
Is closed-source code more secure than open-source?
My computing teacher told us that closed source software is more secure than open source software, because with open source "anyone can modify it and put stuff in." This is why they do not want to use ...
20
votes
1answer
4k views
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
...
5
votes
1answer
358 views
Has the U.S. Transport Security Administration been an effective deterrent for terrorist attacks? [closed]
How effective has the TSA been in preventing terrorist attacks in planes travelling to and from the United States?
