National Institute of Standards and Technology

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Guy Who Wrote the Book on Passwords: I Was Wrong
Guy Who Wrote the Book
on Passwords: I Was Wrong
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Aug 12, 2017 10:51 AM CDT

Guy Who Wrote the Book on Passwords: I Was Wrong

Bill Burr says using special characters, plus frequent changes, was off base

(Newser) - The security expert who wrote widely accepted advice in 2003 about online passwords—use special characters and change the passwords regularly—now acknowledges that he misfired. "Much of what I did I now regret," Bill Burr, who is 72 and retired from the National Institute of Standards and...

Cop Tried to Cook Meth at Federal Science Lab

His lawyer says it was a 'training experiment'

(Newser) - A former federal police officer is set to plead guilty to trying to manufacture methamphetamine at a federal science lab in the Washington suburbs and causing an explosion. Christopher Bartley, 41, is due in court today and his lawyer says he'll enter a guilty plea. The explosion occurred July...

Hackers Exploit Security Flaw Bigger Than Heartbleed

Old (but newly discovered) 'Shellshock' bug makes common software vulnerable

(Newser) - Remember the Heartbleed bug that made the Internet a sitting duck for hackers? We're now experiencing another security breach that's as bad or worse, reports CNET . One weird aspect, at least to laymen: The flaw has been around for 22 years but went unnoticed until this week. Known...

World Gets a New Most-Accurate Clock

US timekeepers unveil new technology

(Newser) - The official US timekeepers are upgrading their systems. Since 1999, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has determined the time based on an atomic clock known as NIST-F1. Now there's a new and improved version of the clock—and it's "the most accurate clock of its...

World Gets Its Most Accurate Clock

Loses just one second in 50B years

(Newser) - Most clocks lose minutes over time and need to be reset—but if you're a scientist or an engineer, you need clocks that are just a bit more reliable. And now researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have created the world's two most accurate atomic...

Team Proves Einstein's Relativity Affects Aging

Gravity's effect on time means your hair is aging faster than your feet

(Newser) - People age faster—very, very slightly faster—the higher above ground they live, according to scientists testing Einstein's theory of relativity. Researchers using ultra-precise atomic clocks found that time, as Einstein predicted, is slowed down by gravity even over minuscule distances. The scientists found that just moving a couple of...

Verdict Near on Collapse of Third 9/11 Building

Group of experts still points to controlled demolition

(Newser) - Experts probing the collapse of a third World Trade Center tower are expected to announce that fires brought it down, the BBC reports. The tower, known as WTC7, fell hours after the Twin Towers came down. No steel-framed skyscraper has ever collapsed due to fire, and a group of scientists,...

Über-Precise Atomic Clocks Are Half-Past a Revolution

Smaller, cheaper, and mysterious

(Newser) - Forget the Swiss—the world's best clocks sit in a Colorado lab where a team of scientists is shaping them into über-precise gadgets with broad-reaching implications on medicine, navigation, and surveillance. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has built a clock the size of a grain of rice...

Perps Catch Themselves on Candid Camera

DAs using criminals' own cellphone pics to put them away

(Newser) - Criminals may want to think twice the next time they feel like snapping photos of their exploits: authorities nationwide are using the indecent exposures as evidence against them, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We pray for those kinds of cases,” said an assistant state attorney, while a small-town...

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