Pass****- Is it really safe to have one?

“A password is a word or string of characters used for user authentication to prove identity or access approval to gain access to a resource (example: an access code is a type of password), which should be kept secret from those not allowed access.” Source: www.Wikipedia.org

Too technical for me!

“A password is a combination of numbers, alphabets (lower case &/or upper case) and special characters (i.e., /, #, :, ;. Etc.) arranged in such a way using statistics to prevent 90% of hackers from identifying your password.” Source: Vaibhav Miglani

Now we are getting along with this topic!

Before I start with the concept of statistics in passwords, let’s have quick review on the history of passwords.

The use of passwords is somehow known to be an ancient concept. Soldiers would challenge those wishing to enter a restricted area or approaching it to give a password or watchword, and would only allow the person or group to pass if they knew the actual password. In modern times, user names and passwords are mainly used by people during a log in process that controls access to protected mobile phones, computer operating systems, automated teller machines (ATMs), etc. A typical computer user has passwords for many purposes such as: logging into accounts, checking e-mail, using applications, checking databases, networks, web sites, and even reading the morning newspaper online.

Now, we’ll coming to present.

According to reports by OfCom’s “Adult’s Media Use and Attitudes Report 2013” report, a poll of 1805 people aged 16 and above was conducted and it was discovered that 55% of them used almost the same password for almost all of their websites!

(That means if a person’s account gets hacked, then there is a probability of 0.9 that his/her remaining accounts can too be hacked within a span of short time!)

If this statistics wasn’t scary enough, 26% people said that they use easy-to-remember passwords such as names, birthdays, etc. making their accounts a piece of cake for the professional hackers.

(Someone please tell those “26%” that names and birthdays are not just “easy-to-remember” but “easy-to-hack”. And it’s better, if they want to keep their passwords as names and birthdays, they should themselves tell the hackers their passwords.)

Let’s have a look at some general statistics related to passwords.

1. 64% of people say that they have written their passwords at least once.
2. 80% of people in London never change their bank card PIN.
3. Nearly 18% of internet users share their online banking passwords with their colleagues.
4. Only 4% of people are aware of bank account phishing e-mails. Rest reply to these e-mails.
5. Bank phishing e-mails are able to get the card numbers and PIN from their targeted victims.
6. Around 30% people say that “biometrics” as passwords will make their accounts more prone to get hacked!
7. 65% of workers use same password for every application they use on internet.

A study listed down 10 most used passwords by people, which were

1. Password1
2. welcome
3. password
4. Welcome1
5. welcome1
6. Password2
7. 123456
8. Password01
9. Password3
10. P@ssw0rd

(Instead of using these passwords, it is better to call up the hacker and tell the password yourself! At least you would not regret in the long run that a hacker hacked into your account, because he/she will not. You know why? Because the hacker already knows your password!)

Other keywords included in passwords:

1. Months- 27, 191 passwords consisted names of months
2. U.S. States- 72, 389 passwords consisted of U.S. States
3. Seasons- 74, 368 used seasons in their passwords
4. Baby names- 1,70,013 used the names of babies in their passwords

In 2008, approx. $1 trillion dollars’ (Rs.6, 14, 60, 00, 00, 00, 000) worth of intellectual property was stolen by hackers worldwide.

It takes only 10 minutes to crack a password which is having all characters in lower case.

So, make sure you have different passwords for different applications you use. And, those passwords each should consist of upper case & lower case alphabets, special characters, spaces and numbers AND IT SHOULD NOT BE SOMEONE’S NAME OR BIRTHDATE! If you still wish to do so, then call up the hacker and tell him/her the password yourself. It will save 10 minutes of hacker’s time!