Tokyo airport employee loses handwritten passcodes ahead of Obama visit

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The dangers associated with writing passwords down were expertly demonstrated by a Japanese airport worker over the weekend as the country prepared for the first visit by a US president in almost 20 years.

Rubbish bins and luggage lockers have been sealed and over 16,000 police officers have been mobilised in the capital city of Tokyo ahead of President Barack Obama's visit Wednesday night - but it may be the loss of several passcodes that has caused the biggest security headache so far.

Speaking on Tuesday, a transport ministry official said that an employee of Skymark Airlines at Tokyo's Haneda International Airport mislaid a printout containing key passcodes on Sunday.

The document was found just thirty minutes later on the floor of the departure lobby but the Japanese government were not prepared to take any chances.

Whilst there is no word on which areas of the airport would have been accessible with the lost codes, the ministry instructed the company that manages Haneda International to change them immediately in order to avoid even the slightest chance of a security breach.

The security faux pas comes at an awkward time for the airport, as it is just one month since the Metropolitan Police Department created a dedicated counter-terrorism unit tasked with securing the facility after the number of international flights was increased by almost fifty percent.

The same airport is also set to become a key destination when the Olympic games are hosted in the city in 2020.

It also comes at a time when airport security in general is under the spotlight following the news that a 16-year-old boy had survived a five-hour flight in an aircraft's wheel well. The lad had jumped a fence at San Jose airport and was able to gain access to the plane's undercarriage without alerting security.

But the Tokyo airport isn't alone in having a problem with remembering security codes or passwords without the need to write them down – other organisations have had a good go at embarrassing themselves recently too.

Two years ago a televised ESPN interview took place in front of a wall which proudly displayed two passwords, and in February a CBS Super Bowl report clearly displayed the TV station's WiFi username and password in the background.

You may also remember the Polish television broadcast that featured a woman being interviewed in front of a whiteboard that displayed the company's login credentials and Prince William's RAF photos that showed off an incredibly lame password choice.

So how can you choose a password that is both strong and easy enough to remember without having to write it down?

This video from Sophos gives some great practical advice on doing just that.

As said in the video, it would be foolish to then reuse that same password across the entire web because, should it be compromised in any way, the bad guys will then have access to ALL of your accounts.

Therefore, it would be wise to also use a password manager, such as KeePass or LastPass, which will allow you to store many complex passwords whilst only needing to remember one - and, whatever you do, don't write it down!

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Image of Tokyo Airport and password courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Microsoft devours Nokia and charges ahead with Windows Phone 8.1

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Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar deal to acquire the devices arm of mobile phone maker Nokia is finally done, and smartphones under the name Microsoft Mobile will soon be rolling out of Nokia's former factories.

The acquisition, which will be finalized on Friday 25 April 2014, gives Microsoft complete ownership of Nokia's Windows Phones, including the flagship Lumia.

Nokia's web and social media properties will continue for up to a year under Microsoft, along with the bulk of its manufacturing facilities, Microsoft's General Counsel and Executive Vice President Brad Smith said in a blog post.

According to a leaked letter from Nokia to its suppliers, the company's official name of Nokia Oyj will be changed to Microsoft Mobile Oy ("Oy" denotes that it's Finnish Limited company).

What Microsoft is hoping to get out of the deal is a chance to make Windows Phone the alternative to the iPhone and popular Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy.

Windows Phone 8.1 steps up to the competition with consumer-friendly features such as Cortana, the virtual assistant that is Microsoft's answer to Siri on the iPhone.

Smith said the deal will "accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones."

The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones. In addition, we look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones.

With BlackBerry falling off the charts, Windows Phone is still a distant third to Apple and Android smartphones, at around 3% marketshare in 2013, but projected by IDC to reach about 4% in 2014 and 7% in 2018.

The Nokia Lumia series of devices mirrors the iPhone, but Microsoft also gets the Nokia Asha, a feature phone version of that's really popular in emerging markets, where Windows Phones have taken off.

On top of that, Microsoft is giving away Windows Phone 8.1 to equipment and device manufacturers, in an effort to take some of the OS market share away from Google's Android.

Microsoft's commercial spots advertising the Nokia Lumia series of Windows Phones target the younger, social media and photo sharing buffs, highlighting its 41 megapixel camera and sharing apps.

But it's not just consumers Microsoft is eyeing - industry watchers observe that Windows Phone is poised to make inroads in the enterprise market and presents an attractive alternative to Android.

Microsoft says Windows Phone 8.1 is its most business-friendly version yet.

It has all the native Microsoft apps built in, for free, on devices with screens smaller than nine inches, and helps Microsoft move closer to a universal OS for Windows PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

Windows Phone 8.1 brings a lot of features that should appeal to enterprise customers who need to meet data security requirements, including full-device encryption, remote lock-and-wipe, app control, secure VPN, and more options for device, app, and certificate management.

Businesses can manage updates from a mobile device management system from Microsoft, or use third party software.

As Timothy Green wrote for The Motley Fool, with Windows Phone 8.1 Microsoft has finally caught up to Google in terms of features, and the growth potential in the mobile market is "significant" (and he's not the only one saying that).

Presumably because of its small user base, Windows Phone isn't currently attracting much attention from cybercriminals, but security is obviously still a concern and incidents still happen.

In March, Microsoft's app market - Windows Phone Store - mistakenly approved several fake Google apps before taking them down from the store.

Malicious or phony apps appear from time to time in Google Play, and although Google's system for policing apps in the Play Store has kept malware apps out pretty well, abusive advertising practices have been hard to control.

Microsoft has developed its own program for finding apps that violate its terms of service for advertising, and according to the MIT Technology Review, Microsoft's "Monkey" program uncovered that 1,000 of the Windows Phone Store's 50,000 apps violated the terms.

So, does Windows Phone 8.1 get security right?

Naked Security writer Paul Ducklin says the Microsoft approach, with its locked down mobile OS and closely monitored app market more closely resembles that of Apple than Google's more diverse and widespread Android ecosystem.

Of course, there are security risks no matter which OS you have on your smartphone, including Windows Phones.

If you upload the right file to the wrong person, or lose a smartphone without having encrypted or locked it, or type in your banking password on an imposter site, you may end up in harm's way regardless of your operating system.

Will Windows Phone 8.1 security features help Microsoft make inroads to the enterprise market?

Whatever happens, it's going to be interesting to see how the Microsoft-Nokia integration goes and if the market responds.

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Images of Nokia Lumia smartphones and Nokia seal courtesy of Microsoft.

Tags: adware, Android, BlackBerry, Google, Google Play Store, Microsoft, Mobile device management, Nokia, Samsung, Windows 8.1, windows phone, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Phone Store

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