Questions tagged [identification]
88 questions
76
votes
12 answers
Why do people hide their license plates in the EU?
I often recognise that people blur their license plates on pictures on the internet in Germany. I can't figure out what's the fuss. The information is public nevertheless (I mean it's on your vehicle), nobody but appropriated authorities can get any…
OddDev
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57
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6 answers
How do I deal with companies that call and ask for personal information?
Several times I get a phone call from a company- my bank, utility companies etc. Many times they are just cold calling me, but once or twice they were calling for legitimate reasons (ie, something to do with my account).
The problem is, all these…
Shantnu
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34
votes
8 answers
Why Say IP Addresses Are Harmless?
Whenever I see someone on the internet ask the question, "Can someone find out my IP Address from my tweets/my tumblr/facebook posts/whatever else", the response I always see is, "Who cares! An IP Address doesn't even tell anyone anything! It's just…
Anon
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21
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1 answer
What's this kind of authentication scheme called?
In the past I've heard about a scheme to prove your identity online in places like forums, without having to create an account.
When posting, the user would enter a password which is then heavily hashed and displayed publicly along with the post.…
Luc
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19
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6 answers
How to verify that someone is who they say they are online?
I am working on an online job application web app and the question has come up about how we will verify that someone submitting an application is who they say they are.
For example, we don't want Jon Smith submitting an application for Abe…
Abe Miessler
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19
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8 answers
Difference between authentication and identification [Crypto and Security perspective]
I am always confused by the way the word authentication is used in security literature (i.e., outside the crypto realm). Most of the time I understand that they are actually implying identification.
For example from Wikipedia: Central…
Jus12
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13
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2 answers
Why do some companies ask last 4 digits of my SSN or a scan of my ID? What are my risks?
Yesterday I found out that some major service provider (online rentals) that I use now requires proof of my identity if I want to continue and make a booking. I was offered 2 options:
Enter last 4 digits of my social security number and answer…
nightcoder
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10
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4 answers
How to suspend a user from my website and prevent them from creating a second account?
I am an outsourcing person, not a programmer. My website is a shopping website (think eBay). My website will need a user suspension feature, in case a user violates the terms and conditions. The problem is to detect users who create a second…
ahmed amro
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8
votes
1 answer
Anonymity of sneakernet: identifiable information on removable storage
Alice, an anonymous informant, would like to transmit digital documents to Bob while maintaining her anonymity.
For whatever reason, she chooses to copy the documents to some kind of physical removable storage, for example: USB flash drives,…
twisteroid ambassador
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8
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3 answers
Why would a website allow answers to security questions to be used interchangeably?
I needed to reset my password on a website that uses security questions for the purpose, and I noticed something strange. My hypothetical security questions are (not the ones I actually use) are:
What is your name? John
Where do you live?…
John Bensin
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7
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7 answers
Is providing a website password over the phone any less secure than other identifying information?
I've been dealing with two separate banks for completing a 401k rollover (I do not have any other accounts with either of the two banks), and I've encountered something with both that I've never seen at any of the banks I usually work with. Both…
xdumaine
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6
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1 answer
How to use TPM to identify a computer for licensing purposes?
I've been comissioned to use TPM to add a licensing system to an existing software project. The idea is to use TPM to uniquely identify the computer (that runs GNU/Linux, probably CentOS/RHEL/Fedora) so that the license file can only be used in that…
José Tomás Tocino
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5
votes
1 answer
Are internal patient identifiers considered PHI under HIPAA?
We use GUIDs to internally to identify patients in our system. I'm having a debate with our regulatory people on whether these identifiers can be used in query strings to REST calls.
They are claiming any patient identifier becomes PHI once exposed…
MvdD
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5
votes
1 answer
How does sound signature recognition work and how to override it?
Today a lot of websites that allow the upload of media content are implementing automatic sound signature checks to prevent the illegal distribution of videos containing copyrighted content.
How does the sound recognition system work?
How could…
Ucodia
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5
votes
2 answers
Very strange gibberish strings with Cyrillic characters that appear in random websites and elsewhere
In my work with online orders, I started noticing an extreme abnormality in a few orders. In one field that wasn't restricted there appeared a string of over 3 million characters that were totally gibberish consisting mostly of Cyrillic characters.…
Khris
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