encryption

Sample Linux password files and how they work.

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The /etc/passwd file contains each user, one on each line. And the user ID number, then the home directory and the shell used by that user. /etc/passwd1 2 3 4 5 sifiso:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/sifiso:/bin/bash info:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/info:/bin/bash sales:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/sales:/bin/bash admin:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/admin:/home/commitec siphiwos:x:1794:1790::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/siphiwos:/home/commitecsifiso:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/sifiso:/bin/bash info:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/info:/bin/bash sales:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/sales:/bin/bash admin:x:554:554::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/admin:/home/commitec siphiwos:x:1794:1790::/home/commitec/mail/commitec.co.za/siphiwos:/home/commitec Then the /etc/shadow file contains the username again, then the encrypted password. The password is … Read more

New encryption bill would force app developers to put backdoors in HTTPS connections.

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The new bill passing through parliament in Australia, would force app developers to put backdoors in apps intended for communication that use SSL to encrypt communications from one person to another. One of the ways #AABill gets access to systems is by commandeering employees of companies to write backdoors. But they’re not even allowed to … Read more

Politicians still talking about banning encryption on the Internet.

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Politicians are still talking about banning encryption on the Internet, this will allow them to monitor all communications that would otherwise be unreadable due to the encryption used, whether SSL or GPG encryption, but SSL is necessary for securing banking sites, validating a website so that the user knows that they are actually connecting to … Read more

Turnbull government plans to access encrypted messages. How they plan to do this.

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The Australian Turnbull government plans to ask encryption software developers to install back-doors in their software to enable the Police or government agencies to access the encrypted messages. Does this include GnuPG and other encryption software that is open-source? There is the PGP software, but this is now owned by Symantec and their software is … Read more

Encryption under threat after latest Paris terror attacks.

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The latest Paris terrorist attacks are the impetus for more discussion about encryption. It is claimed that the terrorists used services such as TOR or a VPN to hide their traffic on the Internet when discussing their plans before the attacks. This will of course lead to more plans to tighten Internet monitoring and restricting … Read more

How to encrypt a file with gpg on Linux and then decrypt it later.

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The gpg utility for Linux is used to create public and private key pairs to encrypt files for secure transmission over the Internet. To initialize this utility; run this command. homer@deusexmachina ~ $ gpg –gen-key gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.14; Copyright (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software: you are free to change and … Read more

Some useful Linux tips for users that want the most out of the command-line. How to work with zipfiles.

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How to unzip files into a specific directory on your system. Just type the unzip command like this: unzip [zipfile.zip] -d [directoryname] homer@deep-thought ~/Downloads $ unzip gzdoom-bin-1-8-02.zip -d myfolder/ Archive: gzdoom-bin-1-8-02.zip inflating: myfolder/fmodex.dll inflating: myfolder/gzdoom.exe inflating: myfolder/brightmaps.pk3 inflating: myfolder/gzdoom.pk3 inflating: myfolder/lights.pk3 inflating: myfolder/licenses.ziphomer@deep-thought ~/Downloads $ unzip gzdoom-bin-1-8-02.zip -d myfolder/ Archive: gzdoom-bin-1-8-02.zip inflating: myfolder/fmodex.dll inflating: myfolder/gzdoom.exe … Read more

Ubuntu 12.10 to include full disk and LVM encryption and a unified disk image.

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The Ubuntu 12.10 Linux distribution from Canonical is set to include a feature that the Fedora distribution has included for a long time; full disk encryption and Logical Volume Management encryption. This brings the Canonical distribution in line with Fedora. The ability to encrypt the / folder and not just the /home folder is a … Read more

Ubuntu Security tips. Very useful webpage.

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There is a very useful posting here: http://rationallyparanoid.com/articles/ubuntu-10-lts-security.html That gives many useful tips on how to secure your Ubuntu distribution during installation and how to properly configure it afterwards. There are tips on setting the title-bar buttons back to the right of the window and how to properly re-enable the root user.