Article: Strengthening Passwords
Shawn
list and want to make sure I use a strong enough password to protect
myself. What can I do to improve the strength of my passwords?
Ken's Answer: For those that missed the recently published list of the
most commonly used passwords, here they are: #1 - password #2 - 123456
#3 - qwerty #4 - abc123 #5 - letmein #6 - monkey (speculation is
because it's an easy to remember 6 character word) #7 - myspace1 #8 -
password1 #9 - blink182 (a popular music group) #10 - (your first
name)
There is always a trade-off between security and usability whenever
you try to protect anything. This list of passwords shows how common
it is to lean in the direction of usability over security by many
users.
It goes without saying that if you are using any of the passwords on
the list, it's time to make a change.
Amongst the easiest passwords to break are those that use real words
because hackers can use readily available computer programs to run
"dictionary attacks" which try every word in the dictionary on your
account.
Full story here:
http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=52&sid=527701
Shawn