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Recently I got an e-mail from Amazon telling me to change my password because someone out in cyberland was sending out spam e-mails using my address. I hastened to change it immediately; I'm sure we've all had this happen at least once, and possibly more than once. I've often wondered WHY people steal e-mails, but I never gave much thought to HOW they do it. The fact is, there is actual code-breaking software that people can use to figure out your passwords and hack into your online files.
This site reminds us that one should never use actual words for a password--they're easy to figure out. Also, it recommends that your password be longer rather than shorter, since shorter passwords, no matter how much you mix in letters, numbers and figures, are easier to decode than longer ones.
On this site, a real hacker talks about how easy it is to get your password. He points out that even though your bank password might be hard to get to, you probably use the same password for a lot of things (I've been guilty of this, mainly because I can't remember 90 different passwords). So, even though he can't hack into your bank file, he can go to something else that has less security--your online greeting card company, for example--and decode that password, then try it out on your more secure files.
He also suggests that a full 20 percent of people will use very predictable passwords--names of loved ones, dates of important events, names of pets, even the word "password." These, obviously, make a hacker's life easy.
It seems the best way to survive online hackers is to indulge a bit of paranoia--to set hacker traps in the form of inscrutable passwords, and to try not to repeat those words too often. It's good that Amazon warns us when our e-mail is being compromised, and that at this point changing a password can make that problem go away; but there are other things we have online that are not so easily remedied once they are hacked.
Make a hacker's life hard! Choose your passwords with care, and even though you love your cat Fluffy, don't let her be the reason that someone empties your bank account. :)
7 comments:
I have four pages of passwords, for a wealth of uses--writing, on-line purchasing, memberships, etc. There is no way I could remember them all. If I craft a unique password for each use, the odds of inputting it incorrectly increases, thereby generating frustration, which I don't need.
And a truly dedicated hacker can figure it out anyway? How does he or she know the names of my pets? Are they watching me? Are there bugs planted somewhere in the house? There was that UPS delivery guy who hauled in some heavy boxes for me--did he leave something else behind?
Isn't there a program that will generate your passwords for you, and then help you access your accounts? But then, that could be hacked too, right? You can't win.
It's true, Sheila--it's a frightening world. And because a lot of people have notebooks with various passwords written in, I suppose a savvy burglar could hunt for those, too.
Anybody who wants to know the names of my pets only has to visit my website or Facebook page. And that's true for most of us, probably. We underestimate the amount of personal information that's out there about us.
I keep passwords in an address book. I don't change them as often as I should. I'm guilty of using the same password for more than one site -- but only less important sites. Anything involving money warrants greater care. But honestly, don't we all regard passwords as the bane modern existence?
I think we do, and should. :)
It does make you wonder what aspects of technology will be different in five or ten years. How will hacking change the world as we know it?
And will my children, when they're young professionals, laugh at the days when they needed various cables to charge everything?
Thank you - thank you - thank you - for this excellent wake-up call!!! We get so comfortable in our little grooves. I have been sloppy about passwords and what you have said really is a much-needed push!!! Merci! Thelma Straw in Manhattan
Thank you - thank you - thank you - for this excellent wake-up call!!! We get so comfortable in our little grooves. I have been sloppy about passwords and what you have said really is a much-needed push!!! Merci! Thelma Straw in Manhattan
I agree, Thelma! This information is making me re-think a lot of my choices.
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