My password is "12345"!

mishael (25)in #steemstem • 7 years ago

Based on sensitive research dated and published 6th April 2017, our phones and devices may not be as secure with fingerprint scans as thought. For a full citation of the document kindly visit
"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7893784/".

So what should this mean for you? Well, it’s okay to keep a fingerprint verification enabled on your phone if it’s convenient for you, but it’d be a good idea to set any sensitive apps to require further authorization via passcodes or passwords instead of fingerprints.

Creating a Simple and Secure password

Creating a password can be relatively easy for anyone but with the inflow of malicious softwares easily obtainable by just anyone, your sensitive data and information's could be compromised unless they are smart enough in makeup. Below are a few guidelines to ensure that your passwords are safe and secure:

1.Length: The longer a password is, the less likely it is that a computer program would be able to guess it in a reasonable amount of time. You should try to create passwords that include ten or more characters as long as the program or service you are using allows you to choose long enough passwords.

2.Complexity: A combination of words with unusual capitalization, numbers, and special characters interspersed. Misspelled words are stronger because they are not in the dictionary used by attackers. The complexity of a password also helps prevent automatic 'password cracking' software from guessing the right combination of characters.
The steemit platform computer generated password exemplifies this. A lot of us may not be too happy with the length but I assure you it isn't nearly as complicated a issue as you making one up yourself and getting it stolen with all your earnings within. A password should be difficult for others to figure out. If you believe your keys or password may be compromised, it is a very good idea to change the password, so long as you back it up and put the backups in secure and safe places, just like your original password.

If you have to write your password down because you can't remember it, you may end up facing a whole new category of threats that could leave you vulnerable to anybody with a clear view of your desk or temporary access to your home, your wallet, or even the trash bin outside your office.

To avoid compromising your security if somebody gets a hold of your password list, don't write the passwords in their entirety. Memorize one part and write down the other. You can use the memorized part of your passwords for several accounts to help make it easier to remember; only the written parts would be different. This method will help you create specific passwords for different websites without the trouble of having to memorize every one of them.

3.Personal Details!: Your password should not be related to you personally. Don't choose a word or phrase based on information such as your name, social security number, telephone number, child's name, pet's name, birth date, or anything else that a person could learn by doing a little research about you.

4.Keep it secret: Do not share your password with anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. depositphotos_119372628-stock-illustration-young-woman-whispering-secret-to.jpg Something I do quite often if I must share a password with a friend, family member or colleague, is to usually give them a temporary keepsake password and change it when they are through using it to my permanent secure one. Keeping your password secret also means paying attention to who might be reading over your shoulder while you type it or look it up in a secure password database.

It should be unique: Avoid using the same password for more than one account. Otherwise, anyone who learns that password will gain access to even more of your sensitive information. This is particularly true because some services make it relatively easy to crack a password. If you use the same password for your Windows user account and your Gmail account, for example, someone with physical access to your computer can crack the former and use what they learn to access the latter.

We're going to take a look at the following user generated passwords.

John41@!
Pay Pal (correctly) considers it a weak password. iCouch (as well as Dropbox) considers this a weak password!. Citibank considers this a medium-strength password . eBay, Yahoo and Gmail consider this strong or very strong. Here are the analysis

It would take less than a second for a hacker to crack on a powerful computer.
It would take about 3 hours to break on a normal computer.
It would take 10 days to break with an online-only attack.

Boardclothmotorsandal
Citibank would consider this weak because there’s no number. PayPal also considers this weak, eBay doesn’t allow it, Yahoo considers this weak. Gmail considers this good.
iCouch and Dropbox both consider this a very strong password.
There are 4 words in this password. Each of those 4 words would not only have to be guessed, but they’d have to be guessed in the correct order. Here are the analysis
1.an offline attack would take centuries to crack this!
2.An online attack would also take centuries. Even a dedicated cluster of supercomputers (such as used by NASA or the NSA) would take a minimum of 8 hours to crack this.

I'm quite confident that hackers lld find it harder to get your sensitive data now so the next time a friend tells u their data got compromised kindly share this with them. Sharing is caring👌