EveryJoe » password strength http://www.everyjoe.com Sports News - Tech Reviews - Entertainment - Life Tips for EveryJoe Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:51:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Is Your Bank Password Secure? http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/is-your-bank-password-secure/ http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/is-your-bank-password-secure/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:55:44 +0000 Miranda Marquit http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/is-your-bank-password-secure/ Post from: EveryJoe

Is Your Bank Password Secure?

]]> The fastest growing crime in the U.S. is identity theft. So it is little surprise that there has been a great deal of emphasis lately on protecting your information. One of the ways to do this is to create a strong password. This is especially true when it comes to passwords that protect your personal information. Laughable as it may seem, the most popular password is 123456. You can seriously just paint a huge target on your bank account with a password. Take a look at these most popular passwords, according to The New York Times:

32

In order to make a more secure password, one that is strong and difficult to guess, there are some things to think about:

  1. Make it at least 8 characters long (12 characters is even better)
  2. Mix it up with letters, numbers, and non-alphanumeric characters
  3. Mix up the letters between uppercase and lowercase
  4. Try to avoid using words with personal connections
  5. Try to avoid using significant dates or years for the numbers

Another idea is to come up with a couple different passwords. A more difficult one could be used for more sensitive sites like banking sites and bill pay sites. A less complex password could be used for entertainment and social media. Just be careful not to include personal information on those less protected sites!

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Your Bank Password Secure?

]]> http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/is-your-bank-password-secure/feed/ 0 Strong and Weak Passwords http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/strong-and-weak-passwords-2/ http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/strong-and-weak-passwords-2/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:00:21 +0000 Sravan http://www.thatdamnpc.com/?p=1323 Post from: EveryJoe

Strong and Weak Passwords

]]> Every now and then a popular website gets hacked and tons of user passwords are published for everyone to see. On one side, it can potentially lead to huge losses to the users whose passwords have been compromised. On the other, security analysts use the data to gain various insights.

In one such recent attack, Robert Graham, the CEO of Errata Security, came to a few startling conclusions based on the passwords published showing what should not be your password:

  • 16% of passwords matched a person’s first name
  • 14% of passwords were patterns on the keyboard
  • 4% are variations of the word “password”
  • 5% of passwords are pop-culture references
  • 4% of passwords appear to reference things nearby
  • 3% of passwords are “emo” words
  • 3% are “don’t care” words
  • 1.3% are passwords people saw in movies/TV
  • 1% are sports related

You can read the complete report here.

Password management is a big hassle that every Internet user has to deal with today. Apart from the regular ones that I use, I try out new products and services all the time and have over 50 different accounts as I speak. So I use a password management software called KeePass, which is open source. In the past, Jesse suggested several others like Billeo, Vidoop and Passpack. These softwares usually are also capable of generating strong passwords or you can use an online service like the Strong Password Generator to generate a password for you.

The most basic rule is to use a long combination of small and capital letters, numbers and symbols. Read this Microsoft Security article about how to create and use strong passwords.

Post from: EveryJoe

Strong and Weak Passwords

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