Tagged Questions

2
votes
1answer
99 views

User Authentication API

I'm developing a web API for a user database that will be used to verify a given username / password combination is valid. I'm just looking for comments / criticism on the following method that I'm ...
6
votes
3answers
194 views

What is the value in asking for a second password for sensitive operations?

When a user has logged in to a system using their primary password, is there any value in asking for a distinct second password when performing sensitive functions? Does it provide any benefit over ...
2
votes
1answer
119 views

UUID and Open_id in cookie 'good' enough?

I am using Tomcat 7, jsp to build a small website. I am new to security and it is a school project so using Spring Security is not an option. I am attempting to store UUID and Open_id in the clients ...
10
votes
3answers
427 views

How much information about the reason for an unsuccessful login should a web application give?

After an unsuccessful login attempt, should I inform the user about its reason? Or more generally, how much information about the reason for an unsuccessful login attempt should a web application ...
2
votes
7answers
234 views

How to provide security for passwords stored in Database? [duplicate]

Passwords of end Users are stored in Database which is encrypted (using one way hash like MD5). Apart from me, there are 'other' people belonging to other teams who have access to Database which means ...
4
votes
3answers
375 views

Encrypting user data using password and forgot my password

I am planning to do a web application which stores a lot of personal stuff (info, photos...). And to give users a sense of protection, I want to encrypt the data before storing it to the database. ...
3
votes
4answers
172 views

Securing opensource web application

I have an open source website. I need to add an admin section to the website which is accessible to only one person. To make it secure, I was thinking about providing a login page which checks if the ...
7
votes
4answers
189 views

When changing a password using a WebPage, must the old password be entered on the same screen?

There is a convention to always prompt for the old password on the same page as the one where the old password is being changed as shown below. Is it acceptable from a security perspective to allow a ...
15
votes
5answers
956 views

From a security standpoint should users be asked to confirm their password when registering?

Is it advisable to have users re-type their password to confirm it's correct? On User Experience the general consensus seems to be no but I'm wondering if this has security ramifications? EDIT: my ...
3
votes
2answers
189 views

Is there a site like plaintextoffenders.com that shames companies that force insecure passwords?

I recently came across http://plaintextoffenders.com/ and I liked the idea. I wondered if there was a similar site that shames websites that force insecure passwords? I personally have a list of a ...
2
votes
1answer
134 views

Updated list of bad/overused passwords [closed]

I am building a website, and I'd like to make sure the users don't put an overused password like password or password1.. or any of these Is there a place that constantly analyzes hacked websites ...
1
vote
1answer
128 views

Is there formal guidance that requires all sessions to be logged off when a user changes their password?

Often when an account is hacked, security guidance is to change your password. However I've noticed that changing a password sometimes isn't enough to log out of other sessions that are active. Is ...
17
votes
6answers
1k views

Why do we ask for a user's existing password when changing their password?

In a web applications context, when a user wants to change their current password, generally they would have to enter their current password first. However at this point, the user has already been ...
5
votes
3answers
157 views

Does a 'reset password' website facility give away too much information?

If a website has a reset password facility (which will e-mail the account holder a reset link), does this facility reveal too much information by allowing someone to probe who holds an account by ...
5
votes
1answer
324 views

Practices for storing username/password in Web applications

I have read the following question: Storing password in Java application but I don't find the answers useful for my case. So here is my question somehow related to that. I have a Java Web application ...
3
votes
3answers
148 views

What are some ways to steal a password/PIN using this system?

http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2007/posters/p147_lim.pdf Essentially uses an on-screen keypad that does not show the complete keypad numbers at a time. The image is refreshed at the rate of the ...
17
votes
4answers
549 views

Should I be concerned when a “Forgot Password?” tool sends my password in plaintext?

Some sites I have been a member of in the past don't go through the normal "Forgot Password?" process. Instead of e-mailing me a unique password reset link or something of the like, I have received ...
15
votes
4answers
537 views

My credit union is reducing its maximum password length to 10 characters

I just received an email from my credit union saying they are redesigning their online banking service and that I will need to change my password by October 22 to conform to the new limit of 10 ...
4
votes
8answers
544 views

Is this a good way to store passwords in a Web Application?

I've been tasked with finding a better way to store passwords and came up with this Algorithm. My understanding of Crypto is not strong enough but can someone check this please? Inputs: Username ...
6
votes
2answers
239 views

Is it proper to be prompted that I entered an old password

I changed my Facebook password a few days ago. Today, I entered the old password chronically, and saw the prompt: Sorry! You Entered An Old Password And even shows the date&time when I ...
2
votes
2answers
96 views

Bad planning causing weak passwords

The athletic department at my university has a facebook page and on it they said "the first 500 people to register for this event will get free t-shirts". When registering one has to create an account ...
2
votes
3answers
345 views

Password Vault - Enterprise

I want to be clear from the get-go that I am NOT looking for a user password management solution. My organization already uses AD for that. What I am looking for is a password vault. Up until now, ...
3
votes
4answers
470 views

Is it okay for API secret to be stored in plain text or decrypt-able?

Aren't API keys considered usernames and API secrets considered passwords? Why is it that API servers like Amazon Web Services allow you to view your API secret in plain text? It makes me think they ...
13
votes
7answers
3k views

Why do people still use/recommend MD5 if it is cracked since 1996?

It's still commonly recommended way of hashing passwords, even if it's insecurity had been proven in 1996 Therefore we suggest that in the future MD5 should no longer be implemented in ...
0
votes
1answer
176 views

Password manager tool for company [closed]

We have in our company (60 people) a big problem with managing our passwords. None of all the password manager tools (e.g. thycotic, 1password everywhere, etc..) is good for us. We are searching for ...
5
votes
2answers
572 views

Considering that SRP is better than SSH and Basic Auth, how can it be implemented in a website?

SRP is short for Secure Remote Password protocol, and provides a better way for passwords to be sent over the internet. I've read the information at it's Stanford University home page, the Wiki ...
7
votes
2answers
315 views

Should user be allowed to save password in browser?

The auditing company found a bug "The Auto-complete form attribute is set in password field". They suggested to disable autocomplete for this field to prevent disclosure of it "when working on shared ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views

https security - should password be hashed server-side or client-side?

I am building a web application which requires users to login. All communication goes through https. I am using bcrypt to hash passwords. I am facing a dilemma - I used to think it is safer to make a ...
12
votes
2answers
161 views

Would suggesting a random passphrase during sign-up hurt overall security?

I've been looking for ways to improve security and security awareness for both internal and external clients and I happened upon the idea of generating a one-time, random "password suggestion" on the ...
32
votes
11answers
3k views

What to do about websites that store plain text passwords

I recently received an email from a popular graduate job web site (prospects.ac.uk) that I haven't used in a while suggesting I use a new feature. It contained both my username and password in plain ...
5
votes
3answers
650 views

Attack vectors for brute-forcing website passwords

When talking about password security, a lot of discussion centers on the risk of a password being guessed in a brute-force attack. For websites where a user has registered an account, what are the ...
6
votes
4answers
236 views

Is there any added security benefit to username complexity requirements?

I've come across several sites lately that have complexity requirements for usernames like "must be 8 characters long and contain at least 2 numbers". Is there any real added benefit to this from a ...
15
votes
3answers
2k views

Should I have a maximum password length?

I'm creating a webapp, and part of my authentication method is password length. Should I put one in place? (say, 50 characters?) Or should I just put a minimum length (Currently at 6). Are there ...
7
votes
6answers
941 views

Facebook account keeps getting hacked, can't seem to figure out why or how?

One of my mate, she has a lot of friends on Facebook, uses it for marketing. Her account keeps getting broken into. Her password gets reset and/or gets locked for changing resetting password too many ...
12
votes
6answers
527 views

Is This Login Security Enough?

I'm coming up with my next login system for admins of an ecommerce website to have login form is SSL secured password is converted to sha256 before being transmitted (bcrypt is too slow still for ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views

Should security question answers be case-sensitive?

Question In the case of security questions being used to reset an account password, what is considered best practice for handling case-sensitivity on the security question answers? Scenario An ...
6
votes
7answers
832 views

What chars should I not allow in passwords?

I am planning to develop a website that require that the users register a username and a password. When I let the user choose a password, what chars should I allow the users to have in the password? ...
16
votes
5answers
818 views

Why do some websites and programs restrict password characteristics?

There are some websites and even programs that I use that have rediculous password restrictions. Lots of forums for instance restrict passwords to ~32 characters. Others enforce a restricted charset. ...
4
votes
2answers
394 views

Storing third-party auth info securely

Suppose there's a multi-user web application that requires access to user's mailbox (on third-party service, like gmail, etc.). This access needs to be persistent. Which means we'd have to store user ...
26
votes
5answers
2k views

Are GUIDs safe for one-time tokens?

I see a lot of sites use GUIDs for password resets, unsubscribe requests and other forms of unique identification. Presumably they are appealing because they are easy to generate, unique, ...
13
votes
7answers
262 views

Is a “security measure” that doesn't provide a security benefit actually harmful?

If a security measure is implemented that doesn't provide any additional security benefit, can it be considered harmful? As an example, consider a login page where the user is asked to enter their ...
7
votes
4answers
525 views

If I am obliged to store a password/certificate on a client side, how can i make sure that it is protected?

In certain cases we need to establish a key/password/certificate as a first timer and then as a client we need to use this key/password/certificate to get authenticated. Therefore the ...