How secure is your operating system?




Ever wonder how secure your information really is? What security protocols do you practice? Maybe create a password? Lock your computer so others can’t access your data? Bypassing Windows passwords only takes a minute or less and the Windows 10 installation disc. So far, I have had success using Windows 10 disc to bypass account passwords and even enable disabled accounts in Windows Server 2012, Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. I have yet to try the technique to bypass locked computer accounts in Windows XP and Vista, but I do not foresee any complications with those operating systems.

Before you think this makes it more secure because it uses Mac OS X. I have also been able to bypass root-level account passwords on a MacBook Pro, running the Mac OS X (10.10) Yosemite operating system, using Apple’s built-in commands. This method also took less than a minute to perform.

The security implemented in an operating system and accounts always has a level of vulnerability. Most safety measures are feel-good methods. Username and passwords, for example, represent single-level authentication, identifying who you are, the username, and the proof that you are who you are, the password. Modern security protocols are said to require that the username be unique and that the password be a minimum of 16 characters long and that a random combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters be used. 16 digits the average person’s reach to remember their own passwords. With the increasing technological advancements of computers’ processing power, such passwords will eventually be able to be broken in shorter periods of time, eventually rendering them completely useless. Most operating systems store username and password combinations as hashes in specific files that can be viewed as plain text, resulting in the need for passwords to be eventually out of date.

Stating those facts doesn’t mean “So why bother?” with username and passwords. Passwords prevent the average person from gaining access, and some level of security is better than no level of security. There are, of course, other ways to better protect your operating systems, preventing the method mentioned here from being used. Encryption of data at rest, for example, is an option at the operating system level. This means that a decryption process must occur before the operating system starts.

2 and 3 factor authentication also increases the security level of your operating system. CAC (Common Access Cac) cards, commonly used by the Department of Defense and other government agencies, are an excellent example of 2-factor authentication. The first factor, which requires the card itself that maintains encrypted certificates to identify who you are and who you claim to be, plus the second factor of a pin as secondary proof. 3-factor authentication would include features like biometrics. Keep in mind, even with all these methods in use. There is no 100% secure system.

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