Virtual Key
Passwords play a vital role in cyber authentication, a virtual key, giving access to immense amounts of data. In creating a password, one must keep the following factors in mind:
• Length- the longer a password, the more difficult it is to crack, therefore making it less profitable to the criminal • Variety- include upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols • Predictability- do not use common words such as dog, phrases such as oh noes, or personal data like one’s name, as these are easily guessed. Try a random password generator or translate into 1 of about 7000 foreign languages • Change passwords often, so by the time somebody discovers it, the keyword will be ancient history • Have different passwords for OS login, email, and other accounts, so that if one is disclosed, your life won’t be ruined • Enter passwords using a virtual keyboard, via clicking onscreen letters, to prevent against keylogger bugging • Update your PC’s operating system, firewall, antivirus, antispyware, and other software so they stay secure and free of exploits.
The worst case scenarios are “password”, “123”, or leaving blank. Such carelessness is only helping cyber criminals go for personal information.
Cracking passwords
Password cracking has many applications. While it can be used to recover legitimate codes, criminals unauthorized access a system or account. Methods range in complexity, from simple guessing to computer hardware attacks. Outlined will be the principle methods of exploiting a password as well as their pros and cons.
A Touch of Luck
Guessing can be a quick effective way of exploiting a password, that is, if its creator is unwary. Popular passcodes include leaving the field blank, the username, names of relatives, pets, or close friends. “Password” is another common one. Successfully guessing a user’s password proves the owner’s neglect. If randomly trying at a pass code fails to work, technical methods require the password’s hash.
Sniff the Hash
Just about all password systems make use of cryptographic hashes. Though algorithms are made public, there is no way to decrypt a hash string, making it very difficult to crack, even if obtained. When a user first sets his or her password, the plaintext is encoded in to hash form, and stored on a secure portion of the harddrive or web server.