diceware_presentation/slides.rst

Surviving phishing
------------------
Password reuse, password managers and strong passwords
======================================================
.. contents:: :depth: 1

Why is Password Reuse a Problem?
--------------------------------
.. image:: password_reuse_1.png
   :height: 6.5cm

Consider the following hypothetical users that reuse a strong password in
most places and the following common scenario:

+------------------+--------------------------+
| User             | Password                 |
+==================+==========================+
| mark1@gmail.com  | QUo5Qt+1Wa/Q1smDJRDbFg== |
+------------------+--------------------------+
| mark2@gmail.com  | +9Hz+/20rVkSkbcsmgdVFw== |
+------------------+--------------------------+
| mark3@gmail.com  | wnYkRcbi7Kkh7Fx2uR8EeA== |
+------------------+--------------------------+

#. User registers an account with a careless service, eg Facebook, Yahoo,
   Google, Equifax etc. etc.
#. The service is hacked and the password database is leaked
#. The hacker logs in to the email accounts
#. The hacker resets passwords on all important accounts tied to that email 
   address


About password strength
-----------------------

How is strength measured?
=========================
'Entropy' `s` depends on the size of the alphabet `a` and the length `n` of the 
password:

.. math:: 
        s = log_2(a^n)

* 0889234877724602 -> 53 bits
* ZeZJieatdH -> 60 bits

Why are weak passwords problematic?
===================================
Weak passwords are trivial to crack in many situations. A password with 53 bits
may be cracked by a criminal organisation in less than an hour.


What about strong passwords?
============================
They are difficult to remember, a problem especially when you use a different 
strong password for every service.  You are also tempted to write them down, or 
reuse them.

It's surprisingly difficult for humans to generate good passwords!

A strong password, as of 2019, has at least 80 bits of entropy.

Password Managers to the Rescue!
--------------------------------
Password managers allow you to create a unique and strong password for every
service.

Additional benefits:

* Remembers passwords for you
* Generates passwords for you
* Automagically fills in passwords on websites for you, this is important!
* Makes passwords available on all your configured devices
* Can store additional related data, usernames, answers to security questions,
  pins for debit/credit cards

Any of the mainstream password manager is equivalent in the above respects.

Can you trust password managers?
--------------------------------
Yes*

How do they keep passwords secure?
----------------------------------
1. User supplies a password
2. A slow function derives an encryption key
3. The encryption key is used to encrypt/decrypt your passwords

Security of the encryption depends on the strengh of your
password:  

+---------+------------------------+
| Entropy | Time to crack,         |
|         | assuming 1 second per  |
|         | attempt per typical    |
|         | CPU                    |
+=========+========================+
| 50b     | < 1 Month              |
+---------+------------------------+
| 60b     | ~ 50 Years             |
+---------+------------------------+
| 70b     | ~ 50,000 yers          |
+---------+------------------------+

Generating a Strong Password
----------------------------
Passphrases are better than passwords:

* Tr0ub4dor&3 -> 28 bits of entropy, hard to remember
* correct horse battery stable -> 44 bits of entropy, easy to remember

Use passphrases everywhere you have to remember.

Generate passphrases with Diceware
==================================
1. Roll 5, 6 sided, *physical* dice
2. Read the numbers left to right
3. Find the word with that number on a list 6^5 (7776) words
4. Repeat until desired length is reached.  For a password manager, use at 
   least 7.
5. Write down your passphrase on paper and keep it somewhere secure
6. If you are 100% confident that you will not forget the passphrase, destroy
   the paper by burning

What about phishing?
====================
* A password manager will refuse to fill out a password on a spoofed website, 
  for instance faceb00k.com vs facebook.com
* Using different passwords on every service protects all other services even 
  if phishing is successful on one of them
* Good password managers will navigate to the login page for you, reducing the
  risk of spoofed websites


Other advice
------------
In no particular order:

* Only log in on webpages that you navigated to by typing in the url yourself,
  by searching on google, duckduckgo or some other reputable search engine or 
  from a bookmark.  If after clicking a link in an email you are directed to a 
  log in page, it's probably a phishing attempt
* Only log in to webpages that are protected by SSL/TLS (HTTPS).  Look for a 
  green address bar, or a green lock icon or similar in your browser
* Use two factor or two step authentication everywhere if possible
* Turn of automatic image rendering. Better still, disable HTML rendering and 
  authoring entirely
* Be suspicious of *all* emails. Risky things: HTML email, images, unknown 
  sender, poor spelling/grammer, 'Your email client can't display this email,
  click here to view in your browser' or similar attempts to coerce you to click
  on things