Security

Is there anything more annoying than infrastructure that turns on you?

For years we've been warned about the specter of hacker-induced nuclear power plant meltdowns, breached electric-grid control systems or Samsung TVs that let hackers watch you. We've even heard we could lose our data to juicejacking, when all we want is an emergency phone charge.

Passwords are a constant headache, a headache that will one day grow so bad that—if infomercials can be believed—your grandmother will pound a table in frustration. How to manage them? Early this year, one of the largest as-seen-on-TV companies produced its innovative answer: the Password Minder.

Despite the grandiose name, the Password Minder is a blank notebook. It has a black cover. You write all your passwords in it. It costs $10 (plus shipping and handling).

The security community is one that thrives on controversy, drama and debate. For years–decades, really–no topic satisfied this desire like vulnerability disclosure. Long after every possible argument had been forwarded and the horse was not just dead but buried and the grave covered by a strip mall, the debate has limped along, like Happy Days post-shark jump. Now comes the flood of bilious opinions regarding the commercial exploit market, a discussion that feels even more pointless than the disclosure debate because there’s absolutely nothing to debate.