Some major websites--such as Facebook, Vox and others (but not Metafilter!)--have users enter username & password on an http page rather than an https page. Is this as secure as logging in via https:// and if so, why?
posted by mono blanco on Dec 1, 2009 - 18 answers

I have noticed that there seems to be a split between some banks/financial institutions who maintain complex security around their on-line account access and others who seem to have actively migrated towards a much simpler approach. Is there any evidence that the "simple" approach is either more or less secure than the "complex" one? [more inside]
posted by rongorongo on Jun 6, 2008 - 7 answers

In Vista, how do I turn off the user login/passwords every time the computer goes to screensaver? [more inside]
posted by YoungAmerican on May 10, 2008 - 4 answers

Google Desktop Search won't Login to Gmail when I give it the correct account details. The same credentials work in Gmail and across the Google system, but not in GDS. What is going on? [more inside]
posted by Popcorn on Nov 15, 2007 - 1 answer

My HP Pavillion dv4000 is not allowing me to log into the computer. It did this once before saying i lost my password and i had to have my ex do some trickery and it was fine. Now it is doing it all over again. This time I did not have a password..it has just locked me out completely. [more inside]
posted by eve28 on Jun 17, 2007 - 9 answers

Why are many financial institutions moving to a two-step login process, where you enter your username on one page and then your password on the next? For instance, Vanguard and ING. Their rationale is just that it's "more secure", but that's not much of a reason.
posted by smackfu on Aug 20, 2006 - 13 answers

I have a desktop that is located in a semi-public place. I have a bios password and a windows password on it. Sometimes I leave it logged out of windows so that I can leave in the middle of a project without restarting everything again. I was wondering how hard it would be to get my data? Short of stealing the actual hardware, is there a way to get past a bios password and access my data without me knowing? (From what I understand, resetting the cmos would clear the password so I would know if someone got in.) Also, is it possible to get in if I leave it logged out of windows with a password? How safe is my data?
posted by D Wiz on Jun 5, 2006 - 28 answers

Windows 2000 users and passwords: Is it possible for Windows to start up without any password prompting, yet have the OS [reasonably] safe from a bot logging in as an admin? [more inside]
posted by rolypolyman on Jul 18, 2005 - 4 answers

How do I gain access to a Windows 2000 computer when I've forgotten the password both to my account and the admin's?

I have physical access (it's here next to me) and it has a disk shared (can't remember if it's C: or a subdirectory, and can't look because it prompts for a password). I have other Linux and Windows machines available on the same network. However, it was kept up-to-date with patches until about 6 months ago. [more inside]
posted by andrew cooke on Feb 5, 2004 - 5 answers

blogger woes: I've been trying publish (for the very first time) via Blogger, but every single time I press 'publish' I get the same error - "There Were Errors in Publishing. dk.eos.net.FtpError: Login incorrect." I know for a fact that the ftp username and password Im using are correct, so what the heck am I doing wrong?? I've been fidding with this for over an hour and I'm losing my mind!! I thought Blogger was supposed to be easy!
posted by anastasiav on Jan 11, 2004 - 9 answers