Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Password Security Not Easy

Posted by michael on from the duh dept.

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...

7 of 674 comments (clear)

  1. As an admin... by 0racle · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hate people that put their password under their keyboard. Like damn people, on the underside of the desk, is that so much to ask.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    1. Re:As an admin... by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I write mine on the yellow note paper taped to the pull out section above the top right drawer.
      I change it every week. This week it is 'Pencil'. Don't tell anyone though.

  2. My Password by Greenisus · · Score: 3, Funny

    My password is weu@$9JKcpw34.

    No one has ever guessed it.

    1. Re:My Password by Spudley · · Score: 4, Funny

      I use my dog's name as my password.

      My dog is called Pchg65Lb, but he changes his name every few weeks. :-D

      --
      (Spudley Strikes Again!)
  3. Spaceballs Password by vivin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Best password/pin ever:

    [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!

    --
    Vivin Suresh Paliath
    http://vivin.net

    I like
  4. Easy trick... by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Get someone to kick you in the nuts everytime you forget your password.

    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.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  5. Re:If the required dongle is a note under your kb. by TheMadRedHatter · · Score: 4, Funny

    >a E9 b ?p c &m
    >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

    --

    while(1)
    {

    }

    Ah, the story of life.