As a growing abundance of our personal information is stored online, we have struggled to keep private data, well, private. Companies that hold that our information work around the clock to build more secure servers and protocols. Users are advised more and more urgently to make complicated passwords that brute-force methods cannot crack. And as one last defence against intruders, newer encryption methods make it near-impossible for hackers to read your files, even in the event of a security breach.

The most common form of hacking is repeatedly guessing at a person’s password until it finds one that works, usually referencing a dictionary of common words that the average computer user would use as his or her password. This is why members of popular websites are always advised to use numbers and letters in a password.

This growing trend of “Security Questions” has caused internet security to take a giant step backwards.  This is leaving a critical vulnerability in our online banking, email, and social networking sites. Just as with a password, a security question response can be guessed. Now, instead of one difficult to determine word, someone wanting your bank account information only needs to hack through two, guaranteed, easy ones.

Letting this new vulnerability sneak right under our noses is unacceptable. The person who invented and implemented this system has set back internet security by over a decade. Web sites need to cease this practice immediately; not force their users, themselves, to open the hole.

As some of you may know, I work at Plates Eatery & Catering in Courtenay, BC. I am the lowest paid cook in the Comox Valley and consequently view my boss as a half-step up from a common petty thief. Well, today he walks up to me and says, “We can talk after work if you want.” Thinking that the wording was weird, I just said, “Ok” and continued what I was doing. As a lot of you don’t know, when my boss is in a sour mood, his face locks in a permanent glaring position quite similar to a 4 year old glaring when he can’t have a chocolate bar during a grocery shop. Soon after the exchange, I noticed that he was locked in “Perma-glare mode” and quickly became nervous about the chat to come. And then I remembered the key words: “If you want”. Immediately after my shift ended, I quickly and quietly made my way up the stairs and passed the office and oversized mirror to get to the bathroom. I took off my work shirt, through on my coat, put on my backpack, and flew down the stairs. If he calls me on it tomorrow, I’ll just reply that the wording made the chat seem optional.

So I’ve decided to start up the blog again. Hopefully this time the site won’t be devastated by some random Russian hacker. I’m not sure what I did to deserve being brought down by the Russians. If the guy was considerate enough to post his message in English, maybe I would know why he took down my site.

Anyways: I hope people get something out of this. Enjoy.