I HATE passwords! There, I said it. I hate trying to remember them, and having to change them after so long. When I worked for technology companies the IT Police in our company always wanted secure passwords, must change them every 90 days, they cannot be the same, and on and on...
Then when I worked at an Internet provider they started making customers have passwords that were not dictionary words, and must have 8 characters and Upper and lower case, and numbers and symbols...
Wow! That just makes my head swim, especially when they are talking stuff like e8[2W7!9. My brain cannot remember stuff like that, I know some people can do it, but I just can't get my gray matter around that kind of nonsense.
Seriously though, passwords are critical for your safety online, and to protect you, your information and identity.
Many people use simple, easy passwords so they can remember them, I have been guilty of this in the past myself. But over time the IT Police has worn me down, along with seeing how bad identity theft and virus infections have become.
I wanted to share this interesting information on the top ten passwords people use on this particular site called Rockyou.
This study found that that the shortness and simplicity of passwords means many users select credentials that will make them susceptible to basic forms of cyber attacks known as "brute force attacks."
Nearly 50 percent of users used names, slang words, dictionary words or trivial passwords (consecutive digits, adjacent keyboard keys, and so on).
Here is a lit of the top ten most used Passwords on the rockyou site:
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou *
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123
Recognize any of these? Remember, the rockyou password is in the list because this study was from the rockyou website. So it would reason that Facebook, myspace, etc, would be other similar top passwords.
Then when I worked at an Internet provider they started making customers have passwords that were not dictionary words, and must have 8 characters and Upper and lower case, and numbers and symbols...
Wow! That just makes my head swim, especially when they are talking stuff like e8[2W7!9. My brain cannot remember stuff like that, I know some people can do it, but I just can't get my gray matter around that kind of nonsense.
Seriously though, passwords are critical for your safety online, and to protect you, your information and identity.
Many people use simple, easy passwords so they can remember them, I have been guilty of this in the past myself. But over time the IT Police has worn me down, along with seeing how bad identity theft and virus infections have become.
I wanted to share this interesting information on the top ten passwords people use on this particular site called Rockyou.
This study found that that the shortness and simplicity of passwords means many users select credentials that will make them susceptible to basic forms of cyber attacks known as "brute force attacks."
Nearly 50 percent of users used names, slang words, dictionary words or trivial passwords (consecutive digits, adjacent keyboard keys, and so on).
Here is a lit of the top ten most used Passwords on the rockyou site:
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou *
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123
Recognize any of these? Remember, the rockyou password is in the list because this study was from the rockyou website. So it would reason that Facebook, myspace, etc, would be other similar top passwords.
So what do you do, how do your protect yourself?
Some may disagree with my points here, but I try to balance having a secure password with something I can remember and not have to write down, and also being reasonable.
Most of us over the age of 30 may not be privy to all the cool slang and shorthand that the "kids" use today, and honestly, that is a good start. They use numbers and sometimes symbols to describe things or write shorthand over text or computer messages.
If you have no clue, check out this link explains leet speak AKA l33t speak - This is a good example of replacing letters with numbers. These acronyms can be part of a good password, or at least the concept works really well in coming up with ideas for a good password.
Most of us over the age of 30 may not be privy to all the cool slang and shorthand that the "kids" use today, and honestly, that is a good start. They use numbers and sometimes symbols to describe things or write shorthand over text or computer messages.
If you have no clue, check out this link explains leet speak AKA l33t speak - This is a good example of replacing letters with numbers. These acronyms can be part of a good password, or at least the concept works really well in coming up with ideas for a good password.
Use Word Pictures/Symbols
For example, a 3 looks like an E backwards. So start with meager1 It could be spelled m3ag3r1, replacing the e's with 3s, and guess what, you now have a word that makes no sense, and no would could just guess easily.
For example, a 3 looks like an E backwards. So start with meager1 It could be spelled m3ag3r1, replacing the e's with 3s, and guess what, you now have a word that makes no sense, and no would could just guess easily.
But this is still not strong enough. Add in a Capital letter, use @ for a, add symbol or two... and you have !m3@G3r1! - now that is a good, strong password.
When you look at the word, you can still kind of see the original, but it is way different and very difficult for hackers to find out a password like this. This is not as strong as a 14 character password, but it still is harder than 12345 or princess!
Toss the Dictionary
Remember to stay away from dictionary words. Using the first letter from a sentence or stuff works well too. Take for example "My dog is a Golden Retriever and was born in 1989" How about 19mD1AgR89 ? Here I just put the 19 in front, the 89 in back and upper and lower cased the letters. I replaced the i with a 1. This is also a good, strong password.
Here is a great link to a Microsoft site that will allow you to test the strength of your password. In my book, getting to the STRONG category is good and where you want to be at least.
Keep 'em Different
The second tip I have is to have a separate password for each bank account, or other financial account such as Paypal or eBay. This way if somehow someone gets your password, they can only get into one account.
Make a different password from your financial ones for everyday stuff. Logging into your favorite Social Network Site, checking out a discussion forum, or whatever. Make it different than the really important stuff.
Change 'em Up Periodically
Change up your passwords every few months or so. Come up with variations on your password, or something completely different, and keep them in a rotation. I know I will get flack on this one, but this in my opinion is the only way to do this sanely and not go crazy and still be safe.
The bottom line here is that "password" or using common names or terms is not sufficient any longer to protect yourself. Get a few good passwords, remember them, don't write them down, and rotate them periodically.
When you look at the word, you can still kind of see the original, but it is way different and very difficult for hackers to find out a password like this. This is not as strong as a 14 character password, but it still is harder than 12345 or princess!
Toss the Dictionary
Remember to stay away from dictionary words. Using the first letter from a sentence or stuff works well too. Take for example "My dog is a Golden Retriever and was born in 1989" How about 19mD1AgR89 ? Here I just put the 19 in front, the 89 in back and upper and lower cased the letters. I replaced the i with a 1. This is also a good, strong password.
Here is a great link to a Microsoft site that will allow you to test the strength of your password. In my book, getting to the STRONG category is good and where you want to be at least.
Keep 'em Different
The second tip I have is to have a separate password for each bank account, or other financial account such as Paypal or eBay. This way if somehow someone gets your password, they can only get into one account.
Make a different password from your financial ones for everyday stuff. Logging into your favorite Social Network Site, checking out a discussion forum, or whatever. Make it different than the really important stuff.
Change 'em Up Periodically
Change up your passwords every few months or so. Come up with variations on your password, or something completely different, and keep them in a rotation. I know I will get flack on this one, but this in my opinion is the only way to do this sanely and not go crazy and still be safe.
The bottom line here is that "password" or using common names or terms is not sufficient any longer to protect yourself. Get a few good passwords, remember them, don't write them down, and rotate them periodically.
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