It was not caveated [TurnVerbsIntoNounsWatch] - John Reid, UK Health Minister
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USB Thumbstick doesn't get cracked
IN A COMPETITION held at Swiss gadget maker Victorinox's flagship store in London hackers failed to get into its latest secure USB stick.
Victorinox had already thrown the device at US hackers at a tradeshow, none of whom were able to break its 'elite security standards', and in the UK round of cracking, the company again emerged triumphant.
The USB stick, which includes a knife - so don't try to take it on a plane - a light, a ball point pen, and a screwdriver, has one other key ingredient, a fingerprint scanner.
No good, you say? Because people can chop fingers off? Well, you'd better have a warm bowl of liquid to keep the digit in as the reader responds to temperature. This means that any fingers not attached to their living owners will be about as useful as an unlocking tool as a frozen sausage.
Brute force will not work either, since any attempt to forcibly open the thumbstick penknife will cause its CPU and memory chip to self-destruct.
The event was attended by Victorinox Secure's designer Martin Kuster, a technology insecurity specialist, who presumably had not been paying attention to the competition when asked to provide a comment.
"Life is becoming more digital every day," he said. "And yet people do so little to protect their data. The world's most common password is '12345' - and even encryption can be broken given time."
The Victorinox Secure Pro USB stick is available in three different sizes, ranging from 8GB to 32GB, and prices range from £50 to £180.
Judging by the photos taken at the event the Secure Pro cannot even be hacked by people with artistic beards and pony tails. Which is a good enough recommendation for us. µ
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123456 is about 9x more secure than 12345.
Assuming only digits 0-9 and 5 digits there are 100,000 combinations. With 6 digits there are about 1,000,000 combinations. 10 times as many (9 times more) than with 5 digits.
Mine is six asterisks - hasn't been hacked yet.
2 hours whilst standing at a tradeshow booth was never going to be enough time.
doesn't this use AES encryption, which isn't going to get cracked anytime soon.
and to the american who has never heard of victorinox - have you never heard of a Swiss Army Knife - these guys are the first/main manufacturer.
you could just use a cast impression. or print one out. watch myth busters. everyone's temp is the same so really. hackers are out to steal info, granted. but there not out to blackjack you and take your thumbstick. and a fingerprint wont stop anyone from unlocking it. as you can get into scanners easy.
all we have established here, is that a real hacker doesn't leave there house. and that people must be idiots to have highly valuable data on there persons.
still, i am laughting, as i recall a salesman that recanted how a man purchased a push button to start car. the man a few weeks later went on the Hollywood diet, and after a night of deep grunting and multiple flushes found that his car would not start..
now imagine if you drop this thing.. and it thinks your trying to hack it and auto-destructs... you someone washes it.. or a unsaid multitude of other things we run risk of doing that damage our devises
What about people with cold hands? In winter, my hands can be as cold as Frozen Sausages!!
Well, I can always sit on them for a few minutes...
You may not have heard of Victorinox, but I'm sure even in the US you've heard of the famous "Swiss army knife"... Well Victorinox are the people that make them.
So yes, in Europe they are a well known company.
Do fingers ascend above the laws of physics once detatched from their host hand?
Could one not simpy, dare I say it, warm the digit up!!?? Put it under your armpit for 10 minutes for christ sake!
They were able to beat a fingerprint reader that also measured the temperature etc of the finger. But they probably had more time, money, and kit.
With out map, hard to know. isp spent fortune to hear of old stupid stories, worthless. Stocks can be futerist game. so far Not too bad. Google slipping Up not down, as BUYS own stake, yet cost is great. on 10April know more, yet hard Slam is Hard to Say, Public will ever know, so maybe off any good for any one, maybe chinas' point. encrypt that for imagined what if ....
Next GM did go under & hasn't gone public yet, good sign last rites are coming, especially with costly Volt enroute, warrentee cost more vechile & waste of resources beyond sky high. won't have to worry, already down for count. encrypt that, just in case. ha,ha public knowledge dumbee'.
Lastly, in GM Thought from 2 year ago,Here At: theINQ. was & Now Is: information coming up now. SEARS.
In 2005 Sears combines with K Mart or BIG K. Loss has incrased & sears is trying to buy way away from kressge. BIG K is Religonist front, knowing value of Low Cost, public, FootPrint. Sears Relied upon Psycological imprinting with catalog. just aroma was enough to make person want,want & want.
Sears Attacks Mfg into Label War. Now turned to just walk in store, lets face it, who heck knows where anything is except employee'. People just quit buying.
So Sears is splitting away from Kresgeee & kroger, K. Kroger Long ago thrown out of US, by US Congress, in 1966. & loss is growing, AS Stick SEARS.
Will Sears Go Under was my question from 2008 Commentos', Now prediction is too close to call, yet pundits, like tom foremski,from Financial times, only Today from on Sears in Tribune Group, where Sears is Hq'd, think just be near mortal.
wait & see. Cracking Thumbs since google stayed upwrong.
No Usenet, Much Less Google. forget Area 51, ALL thats' known.
isp Predicting PAST Thru Torture.
forget secrets too, say it, don't write it. & don't ay it, as telco listening, so write it, easier to steal,switch & clobber, well yes Eye Didn't....
Encryption, Complete SHET.
drashek
He's wrong. '12345' used to be the most common password a decade ago, but we've gotten smarter and more security savvy since then. At the last password security survey, the most common password was '123456'. That's a full 20% more secure.
CRIMINAL: boss, here's the usb stick you asked for. we got the guy's finger as well, should be into it in a jiffy.
BOSS: *twirls moustache* excellent, minion, please proceed *lights cigarette*
CRIMINAL: ok boss, let me just grab my coffee from the microwave.
BOSS: hurry hurry, the information on that stick is invaluable! i'm just going to go grab my warm soup out of the oven.
CRIMINAL: oh no boss! the finger is too cold - we can't get into the stick!
BOSS: damn and blast! foiled! if it wasn't for those pesky kids.. [etc]
Who cares whether someone can or can't crack a Victorinox Secure Pro USB stick. I don't know anyone who owns one and being a North American have never even heard of this company. Are they big in Europe?
2 hours only per person to try to hack this thing...?
It is not a question of "how" but "when". Any serious cracker will get the thing and invest the required time to crack it...
In brief, a real stupid test, knowing in advance that no one would break it, and good publicity for the firm...