Amazon and DRM changes

[ZodWallop]

I'm not a gambler. But even so, I would be willing to wager that the vast, vast majority of pirated ebooks are not stolen from legitimate customers.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm not a gambler. But even so, I would be willing to wager that the vast, vast majority of pirated ebooks are not stolen from legitimate customers.

I'd agree completely. A thief stealing your laptop or ereader isn't going to spend the time. They'll wipe and sell.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by rashkae

It would be *really* difficult to expose Calibre server to the Internet by accident. If you have Windows PC directly on the Internet with no firewall or NAT, (which would specifically need to be configured to allow access,), then you have far far greater concerns that your books.

It is probably easy to expose it to the Internet. Just install the server to a Root server and you will have a problem.

[DNSB]

Have you ever tried to access one of the 13 root servers other than through DNS?

Personally, For over 15 years, I haven't allowed any of my servers/computers direct access from the Internet without a hardware firewall(*) in the middle other than one server which runs my collection of honeypots VMs and has no internal access. We all need a hobby.

* Any internal device that needs to be accessed from outside the LAN gets firewall rules and network address translated through a hardware firewall ( I do like Palo Alto's devices).

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm not a gambler. But even so, I would be willing to wager that the vast, vast majority of pirated ebooks are not stolen from legitimate customers.

An author I follow marked her ARC’s (Author Review Copies, sent out before release date) and one of those ended up on a pirate site

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

An author I follow marked her ARC’s (Author Review Copies, sent out before release date) and one of those ended up on a pirate site

But was the copy at the pirate site stolen, or instead uploaded by the user the book was sent to? I know which of those I think is more likely.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

But was the copy at the pirate site stolen, or instead uploaded by the user the book was sent to? I know which of those I think is more likely.

I think it was the user the book was sent to. I think the author thought so too. She stopped doing ARCs after that.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

But was the copy at the pirate site stolen, or instead uploaded by the user the book was sent to? I know which of those I think is more likely.

Or a recipient of the ARC sends a copy to a friend who passes it along to another who then uploads it far and wide.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Or a recipient of the ARC sends a copy to a friend who passes it along to another who then uploads it far and wide.

"Sharing" an ARC with a friend is the same irresponsible as uploading it yourself.

[Ma'am-I-Am]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

An author I follow marked her ARC’s (Author Review Copies, sent out before release date) and one of those ended up on a pirate site

Books acquired from reader magnets often have your email address or similar in the text.

[A Lurker]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Some quick rules for keeping your data and computers secure.

1. Use effective passwords and change them REGULARLY! If you are using the same password in more than one place, shame on you!

The idea that you need to change your passwords regularly isn't really pushed by security experts anymore, so long as the passwords you're using are sufficiently long (a minimum of 14 characters) and unique (used only once).

Basically, the two most common ways a hacker can hack into your accounts are:

1.) They already have your password from an earlier breach. That's why it's important to use unique passwords. Even if hackers get your password for one site, they won't be able to crack other sites.

2.) They use brute force to crack your password, meaning they use a program that runs through every possible combination of digits. This is why length is far and away the most important factor. Each digit added to your password exponentially increases the number possible combinations.

All other password advice and tips might help on the margins, but aren't going to make as big a difference. And seeing how many of those other tips make creating and remembering passwords damn near impossible, they may do more harm than good. For example, people end up writing their passwords on sticky notes and attaching them to their screens!

Even the idea of having a complex password consisting of number, symbols and capital letters is no longer as strongly advocated. Again, that might help slightly improve the security of your password, but it's not going to make anywhere near as much difference as the length of your password.

For example, "G00gle!", despite having a capital, two numbers and one symbol, is a terrible password because it's too short.

"thecatatethemouse", despite having no numbers, symbols or capitals, is literally millions of times more secure because of its length. And, being a phrase, is easy to remember. Could you make it slightly more secure by adding a capital, number or symbol? Sure. But because of its length (17 characters), it's already practically impossible to crack with brute force. You really wouldn't be adding much.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by A Lurker

Spoiler:

The idea that you need to change your passwords regularly isn't really pushed by security experts anymore, so long as the passwords you're using are sufficiently long (a minimum of 14 characters) and unique (used only once).

Basically, the two most common ways a hacker can hack into your accounts are:

1.) They already have your password from an earlier breach. That's why it's important to use unique passwords. Even if hackers get your password for one site, they won't be able to crack other sites.

2.) They use brute force to crack your password, meaning they use a program that runs through every possible combination of digits. This is why length is far and away the most important factor. Each digit added to your password exponentially increases the number possible combinations.

All other password advice and tips might help on the margins, but aren't going to make as big a difference. And seeing how many of those other tips make creating and remembering passwords damn near impossible, they may do more harm than good. For example, people end up writing their passwords on sticky notes and attaching them to their screens!

Even the idea of having a complex password consisting of number, symbols and capital letters is no longer as strongly advocated. Again, that might help slightly improve the security of your password, but it's not going to make anywhere near as much difference as the length of your password.

For example, "G00gle!", despite having a capital, two numbers and one symbol, is a terrible password because it's too short.

"thecatatethemouse", despite having no numbers, symbols or capitals, is literally millions of times more secure because of its length. And, being a phrase, is easy to remember. Could you make it slightly more secure by adding a capital, number or symbol? Sure. But because of its length (17 characters), it's already practically impossible to crack with brute force. You really wouldn't be adding much.

Interesting. That's basically what I've always done. I have long, unique passwords for all the important sites (where I keep important personal data and/or credit card info). I don't save them in browsers or use a password manager; I write them down on a paper which I keep hidden in my home. I remember most of them, so I don't always need that paper. I haven't bothered to change most of those passwords in years.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by A Lurker

The idea that you need to change your passwords regularly isn't really pushed by security experts anymore, so long as the passwords you're using are sufficiently long (a minimum of 14 characters) and unique (used only once).

The browsers I most commonly use (Firefox, Edge and, unfortunately, Chrome) will generate passwords if asked, so I've been using that. I just have to remember when I generate a password in one to save it in the others.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by A Lurker

"thecatatethemouse", despite having no numbers, symbols or capitals, is literally millions of times more secure because of its length. And, being a phrase, is easy to remember. Could you make it slightly more secure by adding a capital, number or symbol? Sure. But because of its length (17 characters), it's already practically impossible to crack with brute force. You really wouldn't be adding much.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

XKCD reader?

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/password_strength.png

Now, just to make sure, please do not use "correcthorsebatterystaple" as your passord. That one is no longer secure.