Password Security Not Easy 674
mekkab writes "The Wall Street Journal reports (yet again) that despite knowing better, users do dumb things to compromise security. Is seven different 8 character passwords (with numbers and mixed cases) really too much to ask? Do people need training on how to make well known phrase (to them) into a perfect password acronym, or other memory boosting techniques? Or is it that the entire business culture needs to change from within to take digital security seriously?" If you require unmemorizable passwords, you've effectively changed the security requirement from "something you know" to "something you have", and if the required dongle is a note under your keyboard...
As an admin... (Score:5, Funny)
My Password (Score:4, Funny)
No one has ever guessed it.
Spaceballs Password (Score:3, Funny)
[King Roland has given in to Dark Helmet's threats, and is telling him the combination to the "air shield"]
King Roland: One.
Dark Helmet: One.
Colonel Sandurz: One.
King Roland: Two.
Dark Helmet: Two.
Colonel Sandurz: Two.
King Roland: Three.
Dark Helmet: Three.
Colonel Sandurz: Three.
King Roland: Four.
Dark Helmet: Four.
Colonel Sandurz: Four.
King Roland: Five.
Dark Helmet: Five.
Colonel Sandurz: Five.
Dark Helmet: So the combination is one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard! That's the kind of combination an idiot would put on his luggage!
The SlashDot Password Guessin' Game (Score:3, Funny)
1) Take the following five passwords:
- password
- slashdot
- 123456
- password123
- [Username]
2) Attempt to login to as many slashdotters accounts as possible.
3) Post incriminating/stupid/slanderous/troll comments on behalf of users you now 0wn.
4) While the FBI are busy smashing down your door: Take a hammer to your hard-drive's plateaus, and run like a screaming idiot while you think about how stupid you where to follow my instructions.
(Disclaimer: Please don't play this game!)
P.S. If your password was listed above: Change it!
Re:My Password (Score:5, Funny)
My dog is called Pchg65Lb, but he changes his name every few weeks.
even no password at all (Score:1, Funny)
see this anonymous coward, shame on him
Re:I only have 2 passwords (Score:1, Funny)
In case you forget them.... (Score:3, Funny)
I gave my two weeks' notice and this was the first thing my bosses wanted me to do: write down all the passwords for them so they could keep everything on file.
Fantastic.
Re:Known for quite some time... (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah. Bunch of idiots. That's why I drop the last initial.
Easy trick... (Score:5, Funny)
You'll be surprised by how dramatically your capacity to remember passwords will improve once this becomes a regular feature of your workday.
For added effect, construct horribly complex and impossible to remember passwords a few times every day. Over time, basic survival instincts and the urge to avoid the inevitable kick in the balls will overcome the limitations posed by your poor memory.
Re:I only have 2 passwords (Score:2, Funny)
Actually, I have my luggage combination written in sharpie on the outsize, right next to the lock. It's 0-0-0-0. That's so the TSA can open it up if the numbers happen to get bumped away from 0-0-0-0.
Online I have an easy password, which is used everywhere unimportant; a medium password, which is used on sites that I would not want to lose the account for; a hard password used on sites with sensitive and personal information; and a secure password which is used on sites with direct access into my bank account, such as bill pay sites.
At work they require us to have those unmemorizable passwords, so I just tatooed it on my cock where it's always 'handy'. Had a bit of trouble when they increased the length from 6 to 8 letters. Those last two letters hurt quite a lot.
Re:As an admin... (Score:2, Funny)
We all know "real" men just kick down the door after they lock themselves outside.
And real geeks lock themselves inside.
Re:I only have 2 passwords (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My Password (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My Password (Score:3, Funny)
Admit it... (Score:1, Funny)
You sick bastard.
Re:The SlashDot Password Guessin' Game (Score:2, Funny)
(Insert incriminating/stupid/slanderous/troll comments here. Not to mention Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments.)
- notmchugh
Re: Use BIOMetrics (Score:1, Funny)
Linux 2.2 (pts/1)
username: cmdrtaco
cock size: 2inches
Welcome to The Lunix
>
President Scroob... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I only have 2 passwords (Score:1, Funny)
Re:My take : three zones (Score:3, Funny)
Of course, then you call up your bank and all they want is your SSN and mailing address... Sheesh.
Re:Easy trick... The *REAL* BOFH (Score:3, Funny)
[Suddenly the phone rings, disturbing the BOFH's game of Half-Life]
[random_user]Hello Help Desk? I forgot my password. I have to print a powerpoint document for a briefing I am giving in 5 minutes so I need my password reset right now!
[BOFH] Oh....let me check...we can only reset passwords once a day between 6AM & 7AM because it affects the user settings and we can do that after the server's been initialized. Otherwise the server might malfunction and several random files could be deleted from your home directory. Are you sure you can't wait until later?
[random_user][pauses]yes, I need it NOW. I'm briefing our department VP in 5 minutes.
[BOFH]ok... you're the boss...I'm resetting it to "12345678"...try loging on in a few minutes [while typing "del
Re:Just get rid of them... (Score:2, Funny)
Imagine his surprise when he found himself locked out of the system the next morning. Seems he didn't know I ran a password cracker against the password database every morning. 'course, he also didn't know I had caller-id. It took him until mid-afternoon to finally get hold of me, and only then because he got off his fat butt to physically track me down.
He tried to threaten me by saying he'd report me to the company owner. Seems he also didn't know that the company web proxy kept logs of all activity.
I kinda miss that job.
Re:As an admin... (Score:4, Funny)
I change it every week. This week it is 'Pencil'. Don't tell anyone though.
Daily password changes (Score:3, Funny)
The cool thing was that they never implemented any restriction on what the passwords could be.
I think the most common passwords that resulted were Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.
Re:If the required dongle is a note under your kb. (Score:4, Funny)
>d 6K e aY f eP
>g !S h gn i D=
>j Hd k vw l Cb
>m W5 n 4$ o R3
>p x% q 7M r NF
>s +2 t s* u Ay
>v fL w zG x Zu
>y cX z Qr
So what does the output of that Perl script look like?
-- TheMadRedHatter
Re:Biometrics (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Easy obscure passwords (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Special Characters != More Secure (Score:1, Funny)
Is that where your smart-card device is a ring of power? Or where a hobit is required to gain access?