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I’ve been testing Google Apps Premier for the last month and this note details my likes and dislikes about the service offering. Overall, while I think Google Apps holds promise, its smartphone support is lacking and might not be the best choice for all companies.
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As you may already know, I am a huge believer in two-factor authentication. You should keep in mind that two-factor authentication is not the absolute answer to Internet security problems. It is critical that you keep your computer patched with current antivirus software and that you browse and use email with care.
I won’t get too much into the technology other than to say it involves using two of the three factors: a) something you know, b) something you have, and c) something you are. The majority of Internet two-factor authentication implementations use the first two factors, since determining something you are (such as a fingerprint or retinal image) involves considerably more logistics than is reasonable for a remote service. The something you know portion of the system is trivial and widely accepted as username/password combinations. Of course, password complexity is extremely important and will be the topic of a future post. That leaves us with something you have as the simplest and most common second factor.
It is worth noting that a second username/password combination can never be considered a second factor. Theoretically, an infinite number of passwords is still part of something you know. The primary reason that this is important is malware, particularly key-logging software. This is the reason I am disappointed in PayPal’s two-factor implementation, as described in my previous post on the subject. If you do implement two-factor authentication with PayPal, you should make sure you never bypass it or you risk exposing your account.
There seems to be a lot of hype out regarding Microsoft’s next version of their PC operating system. The public opinion of Windows Vista—however flawed it might have been—clearly left a deep impact on Microsoft. Whether people arguing the criticism regarding Vista is founded or not, there is no argument that the general populous views Vista as a failure.
With that in mind, this is Microsoft’s big chance of redemption. When Windows 7 was announced, people were immediately excited to see if Microsoft could make the dream operating system for PC users. I have been running the Windows 7 Release Candidate for several months now, and here are some quick thoughts.
Let me point out that Microsoft spent a whopping 6 billion dollars on development with Windows Vista. So anyone who thinks this isn’t Windows Vista at heart, is completely wrong. Windows 7 is an advanced version of Windows Vista. Microsoft has also deployed the biggest OS beta testing process in the history of operating systems. What does this mean? They are definitely looking to get Windows 7 right in the public’s eye. Read the rest of this entry »
