Google Chrome’s Password Security is Absolutely Zero

But One Expert Says Password Information Can Still be Secured

Photo by by Dev.Arka, Flicker Creative Commons License

By Jehangir Khattak

Google’s Chrome may be one of the most popular browser in the world, but it may have another distinction too -- It is one of the most vulnerable in terms of password security as well. Google acknowledges the huge security flaw but has no plans to rectify it, reports Charles Arthur in the British daily The Guardian.

The flaw, says Charles Arthur, offers unrestricted password access to anyone with access to user’s computer because plain text logon details for email, social networks and company systems are stored in the browser's Settings panel.

Besides personal accounts, sensitive company login details would be compromised if someone who used Chrome left their computer unattended with the screen active.Seeing the passwords is achieved simply by clicking on the Settings icon, choosing "Show advanced settings…" and then "Manage saved passwords" in the "Passwords and forms" section. A list of obscured passwords is then revealed for sites - but clicking beside them reveals the plain text of the password, which could be copied, or sent via a screenshot to an outside site.But the head of Google's Chrome developer team, Justin Schuh, said he was aware of the weakness and that there were no plans to change the system.

Chrome is one of the three most widely used web browsers in the world. Web designer Elliot Kember discovered the flaw while exploring the privacy settings of the Chrome.

According to Eric Lubbers, the Mobile Editor of The Denver Post, despite Chrome’s absolutely zero password security, there are still ways to secure the password information. In his blog, Eric identifies four precautions for personal information security on the Chrome. These include:

• Make sure your computer is password locked at all times
• Don’t let anyone use your computer. Ever.
• Use an encrypted password manager like LastPass or 1Password
• Turn off Chrome’s password manager

Online privacy and digital security has turned out to be the most hotly debated subject following disclosures by whistleblower Edward Snowden about National Security Agency’s massive “prism” surveillance program. It is this growing concern and public debate that lead to the announcement of a major reform of the program by President Barack Obama on August 9.  

Some critics are calling the reforms as insufficient, yet many more are calling it as a step in the right direction. There is a near consensus on the importance of the program for the American national security in the Congress.

The online security debate has also brought business bonanza for some little known search engines such as DuckDuckGo. The main reason for the overnight popularity of this 20-person Philadelphia-based business offers what none of the big search engines do: zero tracking.

Charles Arthur in another recent article in The Guardian noted: “If the NSA demanded data from DuckDuckGo, there would be none to hand over.’

Click here to read the full article.

Deserts' Photovoltaics Promise

Glittering Deserts From California to Gujarat and Saudi Arabia Offer Huge Untapped Resource -- Why Can't Pakistan Embrace Unfolding Solar Revolution? 

A view of solar power project at Charanka in the Indian state of Gujarat, completed with US help in 2012. -- Photo American Center Mumbai, Flickr Creative Commons License) 

By Staff

A global race is on to tap solar energy for long-term sustainable energy security by countries around the world. Many developed and developing countries are building new solar power plants in their desert backyards. 

In the US, a vast glittering Ivanpah solar facility will be commissioned by the end of this summer. It will produce 392 megawatt electricity, making it the largest concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in the world.

In the desert near Abu Dhabi, Middle East's first large CSP -- Shams-I -- has already been commissioned, producing 100MW of electricity. The Saudis have bigger and ambitious plans for electricity from renewable sources. They want to produce 54,000MW from renewable sources, including 41,000MW from solar, by 2030.

In South Asia, India inaugurated a 600MW solar power generation facility at Charanka in the western state of Gujarat on April 19, 2012. The project was completed with the US help. 

Energy-starved Pakistan also has vast deserts but little plans to harness this abundantly available cheap source of energy. Pakistan can learn a lot and benefit tremendously by embracing the new technology to tap solar electrons. But despite facing crippling power crisis, it still lacks political will. The recently-announced energy policy offers little hope for its photovoltaics future as the policy has no major initiative to tap solar energy. 

Europe, with its mostly overcast skies unfit to pull electrons from sun rays, has even bigger dream. It wants to generate solar power in Africa and transport it through undersea transmission cables to the continent to meet its future energy needs. 
This emerging reality of today was fiction of yesterday. Photovoltaics is the promise of today and tomorrow. But this exciting promise has its own challenges which are explained by Dave Lavitan in this beautiful article published in Scientific American.

The Root of Washington’s Ills

Thanks largely to thousands of lobbyists, Washington
 has become the wealthiest city in the nation. 
Photo by by Rollinho, Flickr Creative License

In 1990, Ramsay MacMullen, a distinguished Yale historian of Rome, published a book that took on one of the central questions of his field: Why did the greatest empire in the history of the world collapse in the 5th century? The root cause, he explained, was political corruption, which had become systemic in the late Roman Empire. What was once immoral became accepted as standard practice, and what was once illegal was celebrated as the new normal. Many decades from now, a historian looking at where America lost its way could use “This Town” as a primary source.
An excellent opinion piece by Fareed Zakaria in Washington Post.