Passwords From PHPBB Attack Analyzed

Robert David Graham writes "The hacker who broke into phpbb.com posted the passwords online. I was sent the password list, so I ran it through my analysis tools and posted the results. Nothing terribly surprising here; 123456 and password are the most popular passwords as you would expect. I tried to be a bit more creative in my analysis, though, to get into the psychology of why people choose the passwords they do. '14% of passwords were patterns on the keyboard, like "1234" or "qwerty" or "asdf." There are a lot of different patterns people choose, like "1qaz2wsx" or "1q2w3e." I spent a while googling "159357" trying to figure out how to categorize it, then realized it was a pattern on the numeric keypad. I suppose whereas "1234" is popular among right-hand people, "159357" will be popular among lefties.'"

Comments

159357 popular with lefties?

[LordKaT]

The numeric keypad is on the right ... how exactly does this work out?

Re:159357 popular with lefties?

[Majik Sheff]

I don't have a right hand you insensitive clod!

Re:159357 popular with lefties?

[auric_dude]

Nothing too sinister about being left handed.

Re:159357 popular with lefties?

[Scaba]

You just aren't experienced at recognizing left-handed porn.

passwords

[kohaku]

What the hell, Slashdot? Stop posting all my passwords!

Re:passwords

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's a nice list you can pick others from...

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Left and right reversed?

[argent]

That's the first time I've heard of one-handed typing being commonplace. I thought it was restricted to certain kinds of websites. :)

Inaccurate

[DarkAnt]

Sex and God are not even on the list.

Re:Inaccurate

[MRe_nl]

from a link/article:(Pearlady said, on January 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am)
"Just had to mention hearing about the man who wanted to use "Penis" as his password, but the computer threw it out because it wasn't long enough.....

Re:Inaccurate

[Zwicky]

Problem solved. My password is 'sexgod'

What? I can dream!

Re:Left and right reversed?

[cslax]

I use the mouse with either hand, if the hand gets tired I switch hands.

Can be misinterpreted in so many ways.

even on /. I'm a weirdo!

[Scrameustache]

I'm a leftie, and my mouse is on the right, like.. well.. all the other lefties I know. Actually, I have never seen someone use a mouse of the left, though I'm sure that weirdo exists.

I have mice on both sides.
I'm almost ambidextrous so this way I can reach for a mouse with whichever hand isn't currently holding my coffee.

I do get a lot of "oh, you're left handed?" from people who see me reach for things with my left hand though. I never understood why people limit themselves to 50% of their usable hands.

Re:Left and right reversed?

[swilly]

Are you suggesting that those sites aren't commonplace?

Who needs this?

[Javagator]

Who needs a list of the 500 worst passwords. What we need is a list of the 500 best passwords.

I keep my password simple....

[Anonymous Coward]

I keep it the same as my cat's name, so it's easy to remember. My cat's name is HZpn8BINlP5Lows2Y@z2I%L!Cvlga&GE128 but I change it every month.

No Geek Card For You!!!

[supernova_hq]

Dude, you actually had to google 159357 to realize it was a num-pad thing? Time to hand in his geek card Robert!!!