05/03/2013

PASSW0RDS

Ever wondered why passwords are important?

Increasingly we come across innocent users falling fowl of a hacker: spyware, malware, virus, trojan etc. I am sure you have heard of most of these terms. Most of the time a problem is introduced from the user browsing the web and through either a vulnerability or by clicking YES or DOWNLOAD, the user gets something installed on his or hers machine. This thing could be very damaging but mostly its just an annoyance.

However, sometimes it is done via other methods you are not in control of where a strong password may have helped. You see, a hacker can ask a computer to try 1000 passwords a second. At this speed a weak password could be guessed in minutes. A strong password , on the other hand, could take a 1000 years!

Passwords are important because they protect you when you are not looking, when you are not there or when you are not in charge of what’s happening. Also by the same account, because you are not there, the hackers have plenty of time. Think of it as being out of your home for 3 months rather than 3 hours. Generally the longer you are away the more security you need. Same with passwords.

General rule of thumb: If you login with a user name and password just make sure its not a password that appears in the dictionary or is easy numbers like 1234. So, if your password is something like samantha we recommend you change it to something like SaManTh@. A simple change like that could save you one day. Of course you may never know it saved you, much like the new 5 lever deadlock on your front door, because you are not there to see or know. Better safe than sorry.

This is not to be taken lightly – we have seen real examples of blackmail of $5000 to unlock files after a hacker has paid a visit!

You have been warned. Why not change your password now.