Questions tagged [security]

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

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76 votes
3 answers
16k views

The origin of "99 cents"

I've seen two competing theories on the origin of pricing products at $<desired dollar amount minus 1>.99 (i.e. charging $19.99 instead of $20, of $5.99 instead of $6): Psychological pricing ...
Billy ONeal's user avatar
24 votes
1 answer
2k views

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%" ...
Tyler Durden's user avatar
28 votes
2 answers
23k views

Can mobile phones be tracked when they're switched off?

Seeing as mobile phones aren't sending signals when switched off, is it possible to track a mobile phone when it's switched off? NSA growth fueled by need to target terrorists By September 2004, a ...
Jan Vladimir Mostert's user avatar
20 votes
1 answer
6k views

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 ...
puppybeard's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
12k views

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), ...
gerrit's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
17k views

Is the trending Facebook "privacy notice" necessary and/or effective?

This facebook post has gone viral among my friends PRIVACY NOTICE: Warning - any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to ...
Binary Worrier's user avatar
27 votes
1 answer
4k views

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 ...
Lagerbaer's user avatar
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23 votes
1 answer
3k 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" ...
Dr. belisarius's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
2k 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 ...
Larry OBrien's user avatar
  • 15.1k
14 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can cardiac rhythms be used to uniquely identify a person?

Nymi, claims: "Like a fingerprint, your heartbeat is unique", and "Your Nymi lets you use your unique cardiac rhythm to authenticate your identity" Is it true that heartbeats are unique, like ...
Oded's user avatar
  • 243
7 votes
1 answer
682 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. season ...
Gandalf's user avatar
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