CS50: Securing Accounts || June 10, 2025
CS50: Securing Accounts EQ: What are the threats to online accounts? What are the defenses to keep online accounts secure? Building Blocks of Security: Authentication: The digital process of proving who you are Not enough alone to keep a system secure User may not need access to the specific item Authorization: Should said person have access to said item once they’ve proven who they are Works in tandem with Authentication Usernames: A name to uniquely identify a user Often public Passwords: Allows users to authenticate themselves, by knowing both username and password. Should be distinct and not reused Types of Attacks: Dictionary Attacks: Testing several plain words as a password in an attempt to gain access to a restricted account Brute-Force Attacks: Using software to try all possible passwords. Passwords that are too short are vulnerable to these Ex. 4 digit passwords Only about 10,000 possible combinations Takes only a few milliseconds to crack Could be improved by us...