Net Work August 2024

In this month’s column I explain how the use of passkeys improves online security and eliminates password logins. The author also transfers data to a new phone and shares some hints and tips.

Much has been written about the need to use a mix of special characters that makes passwords harder to guess.  The old idea of substituting alpha characters with numbers (called ’leetspeak’) such as p455w0rd has fallen out of fashion, and probably the best practical advice is to use a ‘passphrase’ of several words and maybe a special character at the end, such as bread-coffee-7281#. A longer string of random words makes passphrases even harder to guess, for example tulip.sugar.lawn.yoyo.

A limited choice of online password managers is available that automates the task of logging in or filling in online forms. In the author’s case, having accumulated over 400 different logins over time, online security has been managed for 15 years with Roboform password management software. Roboform has been established 25 years and is something of an unsung hero in my opinion, as without it, life at a busy desk would soon grind to a halt; it’s one of the very few online services that I’m happy to invest time and money in, and it also works across mobile devices. It’s a powerful programme with many features and a few quirks, and you soon wonder how you managed without it. Learn more at www.roboform.com

Other password managers to try include highly-rated NordPass (https://nordpass.com) and 1Password (https://1password.com). Obviously, you must also safeguard access to your PC and any password manager software as well, so explore those security options carefully.

^ ‘Take Five’ is a UK Government campaign with lots of resources to highlight the risks of scams, fraud and identity theft.

The Government advice to guard against online threats is to ‘Take Five’, see https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/. It contains many educational resources, web banners and information that can help to spread the word: if you’re involved with a local Facebook group or have vulnerable friends or relatives, the Take Five campaign is a timely reminder of these potential risks and it’s worth directing them to it.

With QR codes also becoming commonplace, as I explain this month the UK’s NCSC offers advice at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/qr-codes-whats-real-risk which is worth recalling before you go and ‘snap’ a likely-looking QR code on, say, a car park ticket machine.

No pesky passwords – get a Passkey

^ Major websites such as eBay offer to create passkeys for users – they’re far more secure and easier to use than passwords, and are worth setting up on your device.

Some web sites are beginning to offer alternatives logins using much more secure passkeys. These are fully encrypted and use a unique ‘private’ key on the user’s device together with a corresponding ‘public’ key stored by an online service. Websites including PayPal, eBay and Amazon now offer to set up passkeys as logins and they are an excellent idea for safeguarding security. Passkeys also make logging in from a device much simpler, as there’s no password to remember. Amazon has a useful primer on how passkeys work at https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-passwordless-sign-in-passkey

A Token gesture

^ These Yubico security keys provide a physical ‘touch token’ that protects your logins securely against fraud or ID theft. Both USB-A and USB-C types are available.

Other methods of enhancing security include the use of physical devices or ‘tokens’ such as the USB security keys produced by Sweden’s Yubico. These are used by all Google’s staff and contractors for secure computer and server logins, Yubico says. I covered Yubico’s secure keys in the June 2020 issue of Net Work and more details of these hardware devices are online at https://www.yubico.com.  Yubico keys are available in USB-A and USB-C styles, and a tiny ‘Nano’ version is designed to reside in the port.

The buzzword here is ‘FIDO authentication’ which is a powerful encryption protocol at the heart of Yubico secure keys. You can learn more about FIDO at https://fidoalliance.org/how-fido-works/ and a catalogue of products and services that are ‘Yubico-aware’ is at https://www.yubico.com/works-with-yubikey/catalog/?sort=popular. Gradually I expect to see more acceptance of hardware tokens like these as online security becomes ever more challenging.

Time to swap phones

^ The Samsung Switch app worked flawlessly when transferring data and apps from an old mobile phone to a new Samsung smartphone.

In the past few weeks I finally upgraded my Huawei P20 smartphone as it was showing its age and was starting to buckle under the workload. The next task was to transfer its contents to a new Samsung Galaxy 5G. In this month’s magazine column I’ve summarised my experience of upgrading a phone, with hints and tips that I hope will help readers to prepare for the same eventuality.

For anyone interested, details of the Samsung Switch app I mentioned in the text are explained in full at https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/apps/smart-switch/ which will give readers a good insight into compatibility and how it works.

^ You can safeguard a smartphone camera lens with a low-cost tempered glass protector. (Image: © Author)

Fun with FLIR

^ A FLIR heatmap showing power dissipated by some electrical gadgets. The more intense the image, the more power they generate. The big item is a Devolo PLC adaptor (Powerline Communications – Internet through the mains electricity supply).

This month I tried an old CAT Smartphone with built-in FLIR (Forward-Looking InfraRed) camera that was given to me, and found it pretty useful for tracking down ‘vampire’ electrical appliances. The more intense the thermal heatmap, the hotter they are, so the more power they consume (waste). It was also fun tracking and tracing hot water in the central heating system.

Ariane 6 takes flight

^ The first test flight of the European Space Agency’s Arianne 6 heavy lifter is scheduled for early July. (Image: ESA)

The inaugural flight of the European Space Agency’s long overdue Arianne 6 heavy lifter is scheduled for the 9th July, launching from French Guiana on the South America coast.

The ESA has striven to replace Soyuz launches with Arianne ever since co-operation with Russia ceased following the Ukraine invasion. Space fans can however marvel at the Soyuz ‘User’s Manual’ still available on the ESA website at https://tinyurl.com/mv7zpukd. It contains a fantastic wealth of detail plus a history of USSR Soyuz rockets, starting with Sputnik’s launch 67 years ago, an accomplishment that heralded the start of the space race, and in turn saw the creation of a new, resilient, self-healing packet-switching data network – what became known as the Internet.

And finally…

The arrival of the 1990s ‘Internet’ for consumers is where I came in, with the first column appearing in the August 1996 ‘Everyday Practical Electronics’ (EPE) when the world-wide web barely existed. The new medium of the Internet was exploding and there was much online to see, learn and do! This month’s Net Work column is sadly the last one to appear under the auspices of the current Editor and Publisher, Matt Pulzer. Matt has edited PE successfully since 2008 and also became the Publisher in 2018, when Matt, Ian and I held a meeting in my dining room to discuss the way forward. Matt has worked tirelessly to bring PE readers the widest choice of projects, tutorials and interesting topical features. Navigating us safely through the stormy waters of pandemics and lockdowns, which could not have come at a worse time, Matt’s dedication and expertise has given each issue a touch of finesse and class.

With Matt’s encouragement Net Work grew into a feature bringing readers news and trends covering the Internet, technology, space, energy and more. Matt explains in this month’s magazine issue what’s in store for your favourite hobby electronics magazine, so here’s my personal ‘thank you’ to Matt for supporting Net Work throughout all these years, and more importantly, for bringing readers their copy of Practical Electronics every month. Good luck, Matt!

Net Work will itself be changing in coming months as I’ll explain in next month’s issue.