Guess we gotta change our passwords!!!!
1/30/15, 07:14 AM
#1
FR500 Member
Thread Starter
Guess we gotta change our passwords!!!!
Your Password Should Probably Be a Bit More Complicated Than "Mustang"
Ford takes the "honor" of having the most popular car password.
Ford takes the "honor" of having the most popular car password.
By: Andrew Krok
Web2Carz Senior Writer
Published: January 28th, 2015
There are a good deal of folks out there that still use super-basic alphanumeric passwords to protect their online identities, whether it’s for shopping, banking, or anything else you can do online these days. Recently, a company specializing in password management released a list of common passwords. Of the 25 that SplashData listed, only one is related to cars, but it happens to be one of the most popular American cars on the road. If your password is Mustang, you should probably change it.
Mustang was rated the 16th most common (and therefore the 16th worst) password that average folks rely upon. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; not only is it a popular car, it’s an easy thing to remember, which is exactly why it’s a problem. Other passwords on the list include such gems as 123456, baseball, and — no surprise here — password.
For those of you wondering why this is a problem, using common words or strings of numbers makes it very easy for even the most dimwitted hackers to take control of your accounts. If a less-than-savory individual sets up a program that just runs through the dictionary to take a whack at your password, it’ll come upon Mustang (which, don’t forget, is also a common noun referring to a feral American horse) in very short order.
This doesn’t mean you should abandon your pony-car password entirely; there are ways to strengthen it against hackers. The most basic step would be to include numbers or random capitalizations, but you can further protect yourself by including acronyms or special characters (e.g. #, %, &), if the site allows that.
This doesn’t mean you should abandon your pony-car password entirely; there are ways to strengthen it against hackers. The most basic step would be to include numbers or random capitalizations, but you can further protect yourself by including acronyms or special characters (e.g. #, %, &), if the site allows that.
If you have a hard time remembering strings of more-or-less random characters, you can always take the slightly-unsafe-but-at-least-it-isn’t-digital method of writing all your complicated passwords down on paper and keeping them on your person. If that doesn’t jive with your tinfoil-hat lifestyle, there are a number of digital password managers out there. You can also look into two-factor authentication, but that’s slightly more involved and may not be the best for some users who haven’t been plugged into the digital realm their entire lives.
So if you happen to be one of the “lucky” folks who claim the dubious honor of having an all-too-common password, look into strengthening it. Ford appreciates the popularity, but something tells us they would prefer you not have your identity stolen by some digital pirate halfway across the planet.
1/31/15, 07:23 AM
#3
Legacy TMS Member Eu Edition
This thread reminded me of this joke post I once found:
Hi,
my boss has asked me for comments and improvements on his new password security policy. To me, it seems a bit severe. If anyone can offer any additional suggestions please do, here goes...
For immediate issue: Password changing guidelines V2.2b
Due to new security policies, the following guidelines have been issued to assist in choosing new passwords. Please follow them closely.
Passwords must conform to at least 21 of the following attributes.
1. Minimum length 8 characters
2. Not in any dictionary.
3. No word or phrase bearing any connection to the holder.
4. Containing no characters in the ASCII character set.
5. No characters typeable on a Sun type 5 keyboard
6. No subset of one character or more must have appeared on Usenet news, /dev/mem, rand(3), or the King James bible (version 0.1alpha)
7. Must be quantum theoretically secure, i.e. must automatically change if observed (to protect against net sniffing).
8. Binary representation must not contain any of the sequences 00 01 10 11, commonly known about in hacker circles.
9. Be provably different from all other passwords on the internet.
10. Not be representable in any human language or written script.
11. Colour passwords must use a minimum 32 bit pallette.
12. Changed prior to every use.
13. Resistant to revelation under threat of physical violence.
14. Contain tissue samples of at least 3 vital organs.
15. Incontravertible by OJ Simpsons lawyers.
16. Undecodable by virtue of application of 0 way hash function.
17. Odourless, silent, invisible, tasteless, weightless, shapeless, lacking form and inert.
18. Contain non-linear random S-boxes (without a backdoor).
19. Self-escrowable to enable authorities to capture kiddie-**** people and baddies but not the goodies ("but we'll only decode it with a court order, honest").
20. Not decryptable by exhaustive application of possible one time pads.
Due to the severity of the restrictions, if the password is entered incorrectly 3 times at login time, you will be asked if you would like to pick a new one.
Please add guidelines to the above and adjust the minimum conformation requirement, if applicable.
my boss has asked me for comments and improvements on his new password security policy. To me, it seems a bit severe. If anyone can offer any additional suggestions please do, here goes...
For immediate issue: Password changing guidelines V2.2b
Due to new security policies, the following guidelines have been issued to assist in choosing new passwords. Please follow them closely.
Passwords must conform to at least 21 of the following attributes.
1. Minimum length 8 characters
2. Not in any dictionary.
3. No word or phrase bearing any connection to the holder.
4. Containing no characters in the ASCII character set.
5. No characters typeable on a Sun type 5 keyboard
6. No subset of one character or more must have appeared on Usenet news, /dev/mem, rand(3), or the King James bible (version 0.1alpha)
7. Must be quantum theoretically secure, i.e. must automatically change if observed (to protect against net sniffing).
8. Binary representation must not contain any of the sequences 00 01 10 11, commonly known about in hacker circles.
9. Be provably different from all other passwords on the internet.
10. Not be representable in any human language or written script.
11. Colour passwords must use a minimum 32 bit pallette.
12. Changed prior to every use.
13. Resistant to revelation under threat of physical violence.
14. Contain tissue samples of at least 3 vital organs.
15. Incontravertible by OJ Simpsons lawyers.
16. Undecodable by virtue of application of 0 way hash function.
17. Odourless, silent, invisible, tasteless, weightless, shapeless, lacking form and inert.
18. Contain non-linear random S-boxes (without a backdoor).
19. Self-escrowable to enable authorities to capture kiddie-**** people and baddies but not the goodies ("but we'll only decode it with a court order, honest").
20. Not decryptable by exhaustive application of possible one time pads.
Due to the severity of the restrictions, if the password is entered incorrectly 3 times at login time, you will be asked if you would like to pick a new one.
Please add guidelines to the above and adjust the minimum conformation requirement, if applicable.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Antigini-GT/CS
2005-2009 Mustang
5
10/5/15 09:43 AM
DerekShiekhi
2015 - 2023 MUSTANG
1
9/30/15 06:59 AM