Password

Our friend in the UK got this via a contact. It was from a Twitterer who obviously had his Twitter login stolen: (Twitter apparently is filtering this URL at this point.) The link led to a phishing page that used the deceptive tactic of showing an error message: “Wrong Username/Email and password combination.” You login, it steals your Twitter password, sends the above Tweet to all your contacts and continuing rounding up passwords. ...

The Inquirer security news site were reporting that the 25-year-old arrested by French police for hacking a Twitter data base and accessing U.S. President Barak Obama’s account guessed the admin’s password. The unemployed man, who went by the handle “Hacker Croll.” is not a genius, the news site concluded. “Apparently it was a doddle to do. He simply guessed people’s passwords by working them out from information on their blogs or online pages they had created about themselves,” it said. ...

It’s not possible to emphasise enough the importance of using sensible passwords on your network. Not just on the areas of your network that you don’t want your users to traipse through, but also on the default network shares that are present on installations of commonly used operating systems like Windows NT/2000/XP/2003. One of the ways in which the Conficker worm (also known as Confick or Downadup) uses to spread is to try and batter its way into ADMIN$ shares using a long list of different passwords. ...

Treat your passwords with as much care as you treat the information that they protect. Use strong passwords to log on to your computer and to any site where you enter your credit card number, or any financial or personal information—including social networking sites. Never provide your password over e-mail or in response to an e-mail request. Internet “phishing” scams use fraudulent e-mail messages to entice you to reveal your user names and passwords, steal your identity, and more. Learn more about phishing scams. Do not type passwords on computers that you do not control Computers such as those in Internet cafes, computer labs, kiosk systems, conferences, and airport lounges should be considered unsafe for any personal use other than anonymous Internet browsing. Cyber criminals can purchase keystroke logging devices which gather information typed on a computer, including passwords. Don’t reveal passwords to others Keep your passwords hidden from friends or family members (especially children) who could pass them on to other, less trustworthy individuals. Protect any recorded passwords Don’t store passwords on a file in your computer, because criminals will look there first. Keep your record of the passwords you use in a safe, secure place. Use more than one password Use different passwords for different Web sites and services.

Strong passwords are important protections to help you have safer online transactions. Keys to password strength: length and complexity An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers. Whenever possible, use at least 14 characters or more. The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better. Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or see most often. Create a strong password you can remember There are many ways to create a long, complex password. Here is one way that may make remembering it easier: ...