Web security protocol HSTS wins proposed standard status | Security & Privacy – CNET News.
A Web security protocol designed to protect Internet users from Internet hijackings due to unencrypted Web sites has won approval as a proposed standard.
A steering group for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)gave its blessing to a draft of HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), an opt-in security enhancement in which Web sites prompt browsers to always interact over a secure connection.
Web browsers complying with the policy will automatically switch insecure links to a secure version of the site, using “https,” without the Web surfer having to remember to type that in the URL bar.
HSTS is designed to deflect HTTP session hijacking, in which limited encryption used on many popular Web sites put user accounts at risk of compromise by someone snooping on session traffic between the user’s computer and the site’s server. Sites typically encrypt the username and password as they are transmitted, but unless the entire Web session is encrypted with “https,” or secure hypertext transfer protocol, someone sniffing the network could capture the cookie information and use that to access the accounts.
The technology is already supported by sites and services such as PayPal, Blogspot, and Etsy. It’s also included in the Chrome, Firefox4, and Opera 12 Web browsers. However, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari have not yet embraced HSTS.Whether the proposal is accepted as a standard depends on its degree of technical maturity and whether there is a general consensus that the protocol provides significant benefit to the Internet community.
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Due to widespread piracy of the Windows operating system, Microsoft implemented strict measures since the advent of Windows Vista to ensure that piracy can be curbed. This includes adding a minimum limit to the number of times a key can be used for activating Windows. While this might restrict piracy, it can become quite inconvenient for users. If you for instance run out of the activation limit of your Windows 7 key due to frequent re-installation of the operating system, you will have to either call Microsoft support for resolving the issue or purchase a new activation key. A better alternative to repeatedly activating Windows and running out of your allocated limit can be to use 7Token Manager. It’s a one-click solution to backup all important information and then restore it to activate Windows 7 offline.
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To backup Windows key, certificates and tokens, click Backup.
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