Mission of security

So the first thing done is creating an encrypted drive. Using BitLocker on win 7.

I created a password that is unique, although shared by one unconnected service on the webinet, and stored the key restoration as a file, encrypted the key restoration file as a zip, and uploaded it to a secured cloud storage.

 

Apparently [citation needed-wiki] there is no back door to get through to the secured drive, I think it may even have brute force protection, although that can be managed by a sophisticated enough service [like the FBI (MAYBE)].

 

Once this was done, I found that it wasn’t relocking on hibernate, thanks microsoft. So I found this article that describes attaching an event to trigger at sleep activation. I just needed to add this command line. I ended up just doing it on login. It doesn’t work. A batch can be added to the desktop and run as administrator to quickly lock the drive again.

 

The next level of security is backing up my personal notes. I have begun tearing out pages from my notebook and storing them away for now, next I need to digitise and summarise. This would be easier if there is an app that puts pictures straight to evernote! Skitch is the only program I know for this, but it has some overhead when trying to use it.

Post theft security stress

I recently had my laptop stolen, what a pain that is, surely you can all imagine. As is the usual case with the theft of these devices, my concern wasn’t about the physical device, but the data.

I did have 99% of my data backed up locally, in fact, the only information I lost was in my handwritten notes that were in the stolen bag. The terrifying problem I have is that there was a lot of unencrypted sensitive data.

I had the data all stored on a separate partition / drive on the laptop, making it obvious that it was the sensitive data. I had a windows password, but that is effectively useless because the boot order was unlocked. It was so unencrypted, that a smart individual could have gotten in to it within about 5 minutes.

In this data we had password hints and photos of various official documents and cards. I think that a smart person would be able to find a photo of several of my credit cards within about 30 seconds. The passwords were safer, there were no plaintext passwords except for those in the Chrome browser saved passwords. They would need the user account login before being able to access that information.

I noticed that my bag was gone within minutes of the event, and changed my primary account password immediately, then secondary accounts shortly after. As long as my primary account was under my control, I could regain control of almost any other account thereafter.

So, that is the story. What happens next is my obsession with securing my devices and what I have found…

Recent reddit post to christianity

I’m pretty proud of this

After the debate, a list of “messages” were posted of creationists question to atheists. [Can be found here](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/messages-from-creationists-to-people-who-believe-in-evolutio). First question, what do you guys think of these messages, does it scream of trolling? Am I right in thinking that some of the questions are just too ridiculous to be genuine?

I’m always interested in understanding how people form their beliefs. My beliefs as an atheist come from the observation and study of chaotic systems, which our observable universe and existence fits comfortably in. Before I had understanding of these things, my ideas came from what I was told when I was younger; in particular, that there needn’t be discrete reasons for the way things are, and everything can be questioned and improved. I spent a long time thinking about the existence of god, heaven, and hell. It left me in a somewhat agnostic state until I was old enough and had the education required to really reason about the problem.

I’m particularly interested [in this question](http://i.imgur.com/u61dKxB.jpg), I’m told that this is something those with a Christian background are taught, and is not a sign of stupidity. But I cannot really understand what she is saying, and if she is saying anything, what lesson does this translate to?

Thanks for your help and understanding.

Link can be found [here](http://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1x4mxb/hey_guys_im_trying_to_understand_the_otherside/)