Abstract: A method of authenticating a user to a computer in an adverse environment includes receiving the user's password in a trusted user device, such as by the user typing the password, and encoding a keyword with a hash of the entered password to create an encoded keyword. The encoded keyword is sent from the trusted user device to the computer using a physical communication channel perceivable by the user; and the encoded keyword is compared in the computer with a keyword encoded with a known hash of the user's password in the computer to authenticate the user.

Abstract: A system persistently presents consistent properties of devices on a local network based on observed values for the network devices, and values derived from the observed values. The observed values may be received from an agent based on scans of the local network. Even though some scans may be faulty resulting in missing or incorrect data, a user can be consistently presented with properties of the device, even when the missing or incorrect data would otherwise cause a change to the property. For instance, the system may replace a data value that is either missing or determined to be incorrect with a value that is determined, based on historical or lab observations, to be the likely correct value based on the assumed state or likely state of the observed device.

Abstract: Phone numbers can be identified as being associated with spam callers. Data associated with previously identified spammer phone numbers is analyzed to obtain one or more input parameters for a classification engine. The classification engine uses the input parameters to identify one or more phone numbers in data associated with currently active phone numbers as being associated with spam callers. The one or more phone numbers identified as being associated with spam callers can be provided to call blockers of end-user telephone devices.