Hackers crack 16-character passwords in less than an HOUR
By VICTORIA WOOLLASTON
PUBLISHED: 11:17 EST, 28 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:15 EST, 28 May 2013
Although this blog is from 2013, the message is on point TODAY!!! How many of us are using even 15 character passwords?? I attended a terrific presentation yesterday at the Atlanta ISACA meeting which hosted four wonderful speakers, two of whom addressed cybersecurity. It was clear that anything less than 15 characters was not only vulnerable, it was not smart. More on this later.
“A team of hackers has managed to crack more than 14,800 supposedly random passwords – from a list of 16,449 – as part of a hacking experiment for a technology website. The success rate for each hacker ranged from 62% to 90%, and the hacker who cracked 90% of hashed passwords did so in less than an hour using a computer cluster. The hackers also managed to crack 16-character passwords including ‘qeadzcwrsfxv1331’.”
This is a great read, complete with definitions!
Do you want to be smart? Change ALL your passwords now! Don’t wait. According to our presenters, over 70% of US Citizens have their information in the hands of hackers. Here is a reputable website that will generate passwords for you. Remember to always change a letter or number from whatever password generator you use, just in case the good guys get hacked, you won’t suffer. Do not be lazy about this. If you are smart enough to travel the web, you must be smart enough to protect yourself and your family. Not using strong passwords is comparable to walking around with cash hanging out of your pockets.