Passwords and Maintaining Security
February 2010
A compilation of common passwords suggests that the average user is concerned more about the memorability of a password and less about choosing a strong password which is nigh on impossible to guess or crack.
These days our lives are largely dependent on passwords for shopping online, personal and business banking, email access, computer access, website logins and far more besides. With fraudsters becoming more and more tech-savvy and focusing online to get our money, we hear of security breaches, card fraud, online blackmail, information theft and hackings.
So what are the most common passwords floating around today? They consist mainly of names, teams or keyboard shapes. There are also common passwords with minorities: 'ncc1701' is a particularly common password among Star Trek fans, referencing a certain fictional Galaxy Class spaceship (the suffix A-E is optional, depending on your favourite series).
Anyway, the ten most common passwords are:
10. thomas
9. arsenal
8. monkey
7. charlie
6. qwerty
5. 123456
4. letmein
3. liverpool
2. password
1. 123
What should you do if your password is on this list? Feel silly? No, changing it would be far more beneficial. There are a pile of downloadable 'common password' lists that could be run to access any number of services you use, so a change is suggested.
OK, so if we need a strong password we can remember, what rules can we follow? Here are some basics:
Don't base the password on people, places, pets, objects or anything others know you are partial to. Don't use the same password for everything! Use a simple one for website logins (newsletters etc.), a stronger one for shopping online and your strongest ever for financial transactions.
Mix upper and lower case letters, plus use numbers inconsistently.
Vary the length of your passwords; longer is stronger.
What about memorability? A common trick is to take the words of a poem or song and convert it to a password:
For Shakespeare fans: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" gives 'sicttasd'. Now we can change the 'i' to a '1' and add some capital letters, so we have: 'S1cttaSD?' - very secure (but don't use it).
Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell, line 1: "The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling", gives 'TSasatFah'.
Maybe make up your own: “I like to take my doggies for a walk” can prompt ‘Il2tmD4aw!’.
The eternally classic Postman Pat theme: "Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat" is 'PP3ahbawc' (the '3' is for 'Postman Pat' three times).
So on it goes. You can make your own rules of course, just as long as it stays secure.
Maybe the next time we’re faced with “Choose Password” we can be a bit more secure, yet imaginative too.
Remember, if you have concerns about the security of your network or systems, anyone at Diamond Discovery will be glad to help.
Return to category: Newsletter: Brilliant News - February 2010