Google is developing alternative authorization schemes.
12 April 2013
Google employees say they have begun developing new user authentication technologies that do not use passwords.
The company’s security division released a report on the possible ways of lowering the risk that websites’ authorization mechanisms will be broken into. According to the report, user passwords are no longer a sufficient method for protecting information.
Google’s ideas for protecting its e-mail service, Gmail (and connections to it), include miniature cryptographic USB cards that allow users to be authorized after registration without entering a password. It has been suggested that in time the USB interface will move way to wireless technology that would allow any accessory — watches, rings, etc. — to be used to grant access.

A research by German scientists from the AV-Test information security institute revealed a drastic decrease of the efficiency of anti-virus tools. The research included the testing of 25 anti-virus tools for home use and 8 corporate products.
According to the experts of BitDefender, a developer of anti-virus tools, the hacking of a large number of mailboxes of Yahoo users was the result of a missed update of the WordPress CMS that was installed on the servers of the mail service.
The time that an average user spends to come up with a password is considerably longer than the time needed to break it. Furthermore, 90% of users’ passwords can be broken within seconds.
Experts of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are convinced that the technological progress has reached such a stage that we must revise the rules of protecting children’s online privacy.
A group of hackers called The Hackers Army announced a successful breach of a server belonging to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). They claim to have hacked the authentication server and secured access to logins and passwords of FBI employees.
The thief entered a hotel room by opening its electronic lock using a special device and stole a laptop. Quite naturally, the police found no evidence of a break-in and none of the hotel’s keys were used. The investigation showed that the lock was opened using a special electronic tool. As the result, the police arrested the 27-year-old Matthew Allen Cook, who had been previously convicted for theft. He was caught trying to sell the stolen equipment.
For several years now, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has had a special unit for monitoring social networks all over the world. The official name of this bureau is “Open Source Center”. Its employees are mostly hackers and linguists.
Neil Smith, an IT security expert, found a hidden embedded program in Samsung printers that makes it possible to remotely connect to them, change settings and manage printing. This is a real backdoor created by the manufacturer for the convenience of technical support experts.