DaveRant

Poodle attacks SSL3 encryption

By Dave Bunting, Shopper Editor

Our communication between our computer, tablet or smart phone and a web site is transmitted through, relayed by, many, often dozens of computers, as it travels through the maze of links called the “web.”

Every one of those computers must read every digit of our communication in order to retransmit each digit on ahead. Also anyone with access to any of those relay computers could also read every digit of our communication.

Encryption codes the digits of our communication into different, apparently meaningless gibberish digits, but gibberish that only our intended receiver can decode, gibberish such that all those intermediate web relay computers along the way cannot read, cannot decode, cannot understand.

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is the encryption method that can be used by our computers, tablets and smartphones and web sites computers.

However, SSL encryption is used only when we are communicating with those web sites that have the “s” after the “http”, thus “https”, at the beginning of their URL address.

Until recently, many web sites used no encryption, they are just “http,” so our communication to and from them was readable by them and by anyone else who could see it en route.

Because more and more criminals are now trying to get our private info as we send it, internet leaders recently recommended that all web sites use SSL, all be https, requiring our computers/tablets/ smartphones to encrypt or encode communication to and from them. All of our computers/tablets/ smartphones are built capable of this SSL encoding.

And in response to the recommendation, most web sites now use SSL, are https.

SSL has an important second benefit: it also enables the computers at both ends of the communication to verify definitely the identity of the computer at the other end.

There are several ways of doing the SSL encryption, SSL3 being the oldest and weakest now in use. Many web sites still use old SSL3.

Now criminals wanting our private info like credit card numbers have found a way– called “Poodle”– of reading our communication if it is encrypted using old SSL3.

All communication now, if it is to be secure, must use the SSL method with at least the next higher security level, which is called “TSL1” or simply “TSL.”

So all of our computers, tablets and smart phones, if our communication is to be secure, must now require the web site to which we’re communicating to use at least TSL1 security. Most, but unfortunately not all, of the web sites with which we communicate are capable of TSL1.

Thus the recommendations in this article:
https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/980/0/the-poodle-sslv3-threat

Note: The information in this linked article is provided to us by our friends at StartPage.com, the search engine that is very much more secure, protects our privacy very much more than Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc., because it makes no record of our search terms or sites we open. The other search engines keep extensive records of all of our search terms and sites we ever visit, sometimes possibly including such info as our credit card number or social security number, then sell that information about us. Those records are also then available to governments or criminals who gain access to them by legal or criminal means.

We always strongly recommend that our readers who value their privacy change the search engine in their web browser from Google, Bing, etc. to StartPage.com. See how in your browser at: Internet Explorer, Chrome, FireFox or Safari (more difficult).

Let’s get behind and really push  the below Republican Eleven POSITIVE Points and Speaker Boehner’s Five  POSITIVE Points in these last weeks before the election!

Remember- WE MUST DEFEAT LIBERALS! Defeating liberals is now of supreme, almost eternally crucial importance!

DO NOT attack or in any way oppose or criticize or weaken Republicans who are opposing LIBERALS!

DEFEATING THE LIBERALS IS OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE!

Another victory by liberals will lose not only all American but all world freedom forever!

Quit the negative attacks on Obama & Co.’s outrageous errors- oh how true and obvious and disgusting and ruinous they are–  and how fun to scorn and ridicule them– but negative does not win the moderate middle-road voters.

NEW WORDS TODAY:  Remember that Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America” promised to America a list like the Republican positive points below, and we accomplished not only getting elected but also many items on the list– after 40 years of Democratic rule– and even though it was under a Democratic president! We can do it again– not only get elected but return the United States to real goals, real values, real progress, real jobs, real families, real security, real happiness!

Speaker Gingrich is one of our best thinkers and speakers. Watch his July, 2014 enthusiastic review of that incredible success, pushing us toward doing it again. It’s 52 minutes long BUT SUPREMELY WORTH WATCHING. 

Bless and encourage yourself by watching it- it’s super RAH RAH for us, like hearing from our football coach. These are the best words you’ll hear in this election cycle:

Newt Gingrich July 14, 2014 Review of the astoundingly successful 1994 “Contract With America”

Speaker Boehner’s  Five  POSITIVE Fixes:  

 This just my Dave B’s summary of his points

1.  Fix the Tax Code: Make it pro-growth and pro-family.  Bring down the rates for every one, clear out al l  loopholes,  let people do their taxes on two sheets of paper.

2.  Fix Entitlements:  Our entitlement programs weren’t designed to deal with all of us retiring at once as most of us born post-WWII are now doing , and they weren’t designed for us to live to well past 80.  We  won’t throw these programs away , but gradually put them on a more sustainable path without radical changes.

3.  Limit Damages in Lawsuits:  I’m all for taking care of people who have been injured, but we ought to establish reasonable limits on lawsuits and compensation.

4.  Reduce Regulations:  Other countries focus on  just what’s truly necessary and feasible , which means fewer regulations,  only the more important and more easily implemented.

5.  Improve Education:  That’s why we created the first federally-funded private school choice initiative in America, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.  And I’ll tell you what: it is succeeding beyond even our highest expectations. 97 percent graduating from high school.  A 92 percent approval rating among parents.  Why wouldn’t we go ahead and start expanding this initiative to the rest of the country? –

Republican Party’s Positive Principals for American Renewal:

Constitution: Our Constitution should be preserved, valued and honored. We need to return to our democracy with three equal branches of government with laws made by Congress elected by the people.

 Economy: We need to start growing America’s economy instead of Washington’s economy so that working Americans see better wages and more opportunity.

 Budget/Debt: We need to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, make government more efficient, and leave the next generation with opportunity, not debt. Borrowing 40¢ of every dollar we spend is madness.

 Healthcare: We need to reform healthcare , reduce its costs, and put patients and their doctors in charge, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington.

 Veterans: Our veterans have earned our respect and gratitude, and no veteran should have to wait in line for months or years just to see a doctor.

 Security: Keeping America safe and strong requires a strong military, growing the economy, energy independence, and secure borders.

 Education: Every child should have an equal opportunity to get a great education; no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing school.

 Poverty: The best anti-poverty program is a strong family and a good job, so our focus should be on getting people out of poverty by lifting up all people and helping them find work.

 Values: Our country should value the traditions of family, life, religious liberty, and hard work.

 Energy: We should make America energy independent by encouraging investment in domestic energy that will lower prices and creat e jobs at home.

 Immigration: We need an immigration system that secures our borders, upholds the law, and boosts our economy.

Read Newt Gingrich’s 2013 $3 book “Breakout”

He recommends we read a $5 book by a liberal Gavin Newsome “Citizenville”

He points to the huge  1981 $56  1,093-page book by 250+ experienced conservative elected officials “Mandate for Leadership”

And oh how I wish WordPress did not add all the space between paragraphs and make other peculiar changes to my formatting!

Soon heading out a hundred miles to take my wonderful daughter to dinner tonight at the best beef steak and prime rib place in the area! Yum Yum Yum! Even on my low-carb diet: meat and salad! Need to renew my driver’s license en route. Also if I have time go to big feed store to pick up 50# or larger quantities of wheat and other grains, beans, salt, sugar, Crisco, yeast, etc. to renew my store of emergency food.

Update Oct. 21:

Ecstasy continues! As of Oct. 1, after 11 weeks I was down 17 pounds! It is SOOOO easy on this low carb diet. I don’t feel I’m sacrificing at all. Eating great food. Sixteen pounds to go!

From Sept 2:

I am ecstatic!
Today I’m down 12.5 pounds in seven weeks!!
In just the past one month, I’m down seven pounds and two inches in girth!!

I’m on the simple low-carb diet aiming for under 50g of carbohydrates per day.

I more or less follow the dietary suggestions used and recommended by Steve Gibbs on this site:
https://www.grc.com/health/lowcarb.htm

and Steve’s podcasts with Leo LaPorte- if you’re interested, first watch at least the first podcast #124 below:
www.twit.tv/show/twit-live-specials/124
www.twit.tv/show/twit-live-specials/125

This is similar or identical to the 20-year-old Atkins Diet and the many more recent modifications of it- many are now called “ketosis” diets, as all are based on our metabolism converting from sugar/glucose-based to ketones-based.

It has been easy!
I’m almost never hungry.
The near-painful sugar craving I’ve had for years is gone! It disappeared almost the first day I started the diet.
I don’t think I’m looking gaunt in the face like I have dieting in the past.

I just intentionally eat almost NO:
Bread or other grain products
Pasta
Potatoes
Sugar (Pepsi/Coke etc., candy, fruits, honey, etc.)

While I am easily quite diligent about staying off bread, pasta, potatoes, Pepsi, candy, etc., I do break the diet eating the fruit I love now in this wonderful fruit season– four nectarines daily is 56 carbs but apparently that hasn’t damaged the diet.

I also break it periodically when rarely, for example I go out to eat with friends– with no full-service restaurant remaining here in Packwood, I go to our Pizza parlor and enjoy pizza. But most restaurant dinners are easy- I eat and fully enjoy just the meat, vegetable and salad with dressing.

It has seemed as though I’ve been so non-diligent in these ways that I was literally scared to get on the scale this morning for my monthly weigh-in. I actually said a little prayer that I’d be down at least a pound or two. But SEVEN POUNDS in one month!! I AM THANKFUL!! AND ASTOUNDED!

The diet works!

Notes about the diet: For low-carb to work, one must keep carbs below a certain level (differs among people, maybe 50 to 90 carbs) every day and at every meal- just reducing carbs a little bit across the board DOES NOT produce the low-carb effect, won’t lose weight- you remain on glucose-based metabolism. Though the American Heart Association once recommended against such a meat-heavy diet, they have now determined that for most people the diet is OK. The abbreviation “carb” means one gram of carbohydrate food.

My diet now is mostly among: meats, cheeses, sausage, cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, and the fruit. I make no effort to avoid fats.

Twenty pounds still to lose!

I just posted on FaceBook:

Good news! The scale says I’ve lost 5 1/2 pounds in three weeks on low-carbohydrate diet. My pants are already noticeably less tight! And with it 10 points down in my thankfully always normal BP!

And without hunger or discomfort!!

They say the average person loses about 5 pounds of water in our first ten days on low carbs, as our body changes from using mostly sugar to using mostly ketones. Water loss is not real fat loss, and such good weight loss may not continue. But I am pleased!

I’m essentially following the diet recommended and discussed in these two podcasts:
www.twit.tv/show/twit-live-specials/124
www.twit.tv/show/twit-live-specials/125

That means, try to be below 50g carbohydrates per day: no breads or other grain foods, no potatoes, no sugar (no Pepsi, candy, cookies, etc.), and limiting fruit. I can’t eliminate fruit now in wonderful fruit season!

I was at BMI 30.2, just barely into “obese” range. Already with my 5 1/2 pounds loss, I’m at BMI 29.3 near the top of “overweight” range. When I climbed Mt. St. Helens seven years ago, I was at BMI 25.3 low in the “overweight” range after having lost 20 pounds in four months on NutriSystem. My goal is to be no more than BMI 24.9, the maximum for “normal” which requires I lose total 33 pounds. I hope it’s possible to reach loss of 33 pounds by around November.

If you’re interested in calculating your BMI visit:
http://1.usa.gov/1sbGMFV

Typical meals: For breakfast I often eat just four of the little frozen Jimmy Dean sausage patties (zero carbs), just thawed and eaten as finger food- I almost never take time to prepare a breakfast. Eggs are also good zero carb breakfast. For lunches or brunches I often eat three slices of summer sausage with three slices of medium cheddar cheese, or if at home, a gas-grilled 4 or 5 oz lean hamburger patty, all of those being zero carbs, but plus fruit. For supper three or four fish filets or chicken patties, or an 8-oz lean burger steak, all of those again zero carbs, plus a big 12oz glass of V8 and plus fruit. If at restaurant, meat entree plus cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes and green salad with dressing. Most days my only real sugar/carbs is fruit. I’m surprised- so far at least, these are all meals I enjoy a lot! No more Pepsi- now I drink iced tea. This is similar to the well known old Atkins Diet.

And like Steve Gibson says in the podcast, I never get hungry!

But warning- the American Heart Association warns don’t go too extreme in low carbs. We all must consume 1600 to 2300 calories to fuel our bodies and brains. In reducing our carb calories, we must replace those calories with protein or fat calories. So if you go to low carbs, try to make up your required calories more in protein foods than in fat foods.

Gosh I don’t know how you all put up with FaceBook! I almost can’t read what I’m writing because of the FaceBook non-closeable pop-ups almost forcing me to enter farther into their clutches.