Small Business | Forum « How secure is your password?

How secure is your password? (9 posts)

Topic tags: passwords, security

Rich Brooks said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
I read this article last night in Wired about how easy it is to hack a password and I FREAKED!
Do you use the same password for multiple sites?
Is your password something easy to guess?
Do you feel that replacing numbers with vowels is tricky? (I.e., p4ssw0rd)
Do you think a longer password will help?
Well, if you said YES to any of these, definitely check out this article.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/ff-mat-honan-password-hacker/all/
I’m going to update all my passwords right now! (Just not convinced that it will help.)
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Joan Muschamp (Fagnani) said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks You have just scared me silly, and I haven’t even read the article yet! I shall read and hopefully figure out how to heed.
@joanmuschampfagnani | # | Top
Madeline Vazquez said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
None of my passwords were ever hacked but about a few weeks ago, somebody posted something on my wordpress account. I think I forgot to sign out. My wordpress account was linked to my twitter account. I noticed a tweet that I didn’t post and when I saw where it came from, it was my own wordpress account. I changed the password and now sign out every time. One thing I think about is how someone out there can completely ruin your online reputation in seconds. It sucks. I am also against the cloud because strange things are happening since it came alive and I can’t explain them. Thanks so much for the eye-opening article. @rich-brooks
@mchillemi | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
Wow! @rich-brooks
Great article — but is sounds like changing passwords won’t do much good with the way the cloud connects all our information online.
I recently asked Google to sync two laptops here and boy was I surprised to find that my “last pass” account, along with all the information housed “securely” was transferred to the newer laptop, in the blink of any eye.
I love Last-Pass and thought it was making my life so much easier – and will continue to use it, however, I also see that if someone wanted to get that account and erase all my data, it would not be that hard to do.
Last Pass
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Diane Bianchi said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
I had my email account hacked twice so I started logging out every time and it hasn’t happened since. It is scary how this can happen. We just have to take the proper precautions.
@dianebianchi | # | Top
Jules Webb said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
Nice share, thanks.
I do Enable two-factor authentication when offeredHadn’t thought of giving bogus answers to security questions, it’s a great idea.
I don’t use a cloud service to keep track of my passwords. I use KeePass which is a free, open source, light-weight and easy-to-use password manager. It’s a no frill tool you can keep on your computer. They have a version that runs without any additional installation and won’t store any settings outside the application directory. It has it’s own password generator so I can easily come up with random alpha numeric strings. And a field for notes on each entry.
There is also an iphone app which I use in conjunction with dropbox so I always have access to my passwords.

Of course all my passwords are protected by one password and as Mat Honan points out in his article, passwords give limited security.
@juleswebb | # | Top
Geoffrey Gordon said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks I am with @supereb in this one I use Last Pass. I have tried many but settled on this one. The great thing about lass pass is the also have android, ipad, desktop, etc… apps so you can access your secure data from multiple platforms. Really handy if you need your passwords on the go.
@geoffrey-gordon | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks I use upper/lowercase, numbers and symbols only when asked by the account. I log into a couple using Twitter. My Facebook account had an attempted hack last year (via Romania) so it’s separate. @mchillemi @dianebianchi I will do better about logging out of accounts after hearing your stories.
Do you also have a passcode on your phone and tablet? That’s what I worry about because it’s more easily lost than my desktop!
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Saumitra Ghotikar said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks:-
This summer I learned how to get into, well, everything. With two minutes and $4 to spend at a sketchy foreign website, I could report back with your credit card, phone, and Social Security numbers and your home address. Allow me five minutes more and I could be inside your accounts for, say, Amazon, Best Buy, Hulu, Microsoft, and Netflix. With yet 10 more, I could take over your AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon. Give me 20—total—and I own your PayPal. Some of those security holes are plugged now. But not all, and new ones are discovered every day.
This was horrible to read !
I don’t know really how much safe I am
@saumitra-ghotikar | # | Top