Creating a Stronger Password

During the last week and a half we have been investigating the sorry state of password security.  Now for some more hopeful information.  In this post, we will look at the current recommended standards for creating a secure password, and policy recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Our recommendations for password strength is to use passwords with at least 12 or more characters.  The reason is that longer passwords are more secure in the face of automated ...

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20
JUN
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, passwords

How I Got Your Password – Part 2

Did you know that the easiest way for me to get your password is just to ask for it? This is one way that cyber-criminals can get one of your passwords. In  our last post we focused on password cracking.  Today we will look at all the other ways that an clever attacker can compromise your password.

  • Social Engineering – Sometimes the easiest way to get password information is just to ask for it.  Social engineering is a type of con ...
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18
JUN
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, Identity Theft, passwords, Phishing, social engineering

Weekend Update

A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.

World’s first and oldest cybercrime (1830) predates electrical telegraphy.  Read how two French bond traders hacked France’s military semaphore telegraph.

Forget VPNfilter – here’s BACKLASH, a networking hack from way, way back

With a name like BACKLASH, you might think this hack comes from the era of mechanical devices, with gears and pulleys. You’d be right!

A pair ...

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16
JUN
0

Apple, cybersecurity, passwords, Web Design, Weekend Update, WordPress

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How I Got Your Password – Part 1

In our last post we looked at the frighteningly short amount of time that it takes to crack a typical password.  Today we will look at all the different password cracking methods that a clever attacker can use to compromise your password, and how to defend against these attacks.

Password cracking

There are several types of automated password attacks that can be combined to make the process quicker, or to configure for a certain type of password attack.

  • Dictionary attack – This is ...
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15
JUN
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, passwords, Phishing, Security, social engineering

Most Passwords Can Be Easily Cracked

Did you know that the most popular passwords can be cracked in minutes?   And that passwords with 8 characters or fewer can be cracked in a few seconds?  This is why I say that passwords by themselves are no longer a useful form of security.  Today is the second of a five part series on password security, and focuses on the methodology used by password cracking software programs.

Cyber-criminal groups who specialize in password cracking generally harvest huge lists of user ...

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13
JUN
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, encryption, passwords

Why Passwords Are A Soft Target

I have said it before, and I will repeat it now:  passwords by themselves are no longer a useful form of security.  The only option that makes passwords secure is two-factor authentication.  Today we embark on a two week investigation into passwords, why they are so easy to break, how your password might be compromised, and how to create a password system that is less vulnerable to exploitation.

Why are passwords so easy to crack?  Some of the answers we have ...

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11
JUN
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, passwords

Where Does Cell Phone Location Data Go?

Have you ever wondered what happens to the location information your smartphone is collecting about you?  Who has access to that information, and for what purpose?  As it turns out, as told in a recent report by Brian Krebs, this information is available to pretty much anybody.

A related article in Sophos’ Naked Security blog pointed to a ...

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8
JUN
0

Android, Apple, Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, Identity Theft, smartphones, Software vulnerability

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